Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1889-05-22
and 2.n0O feot ahoye the sea. Beyont

ones lie IN Hehp, showing tnhb 81 Ouo
time the road was seriously defended ut
this point A rough stairway leads to
the top, which is about twenty feet wide,
with a crenellated parapet on each side,
and YOU can walk along it rs far as you
can see, with here and there a scramble
where it has fallen in little. On the
whole it il in excellent repair, having OF
course been meuded and rebuilt many
| times. Every half mile or so is lit
| tie square tower OF two stories. Tho
/ wall itself varies good deal in height
according to the nature Of the ground,
averaging probably about forty feet.
| On one side Mongolia, rs you see 1t, il a
vast uhdulating brown plain; on the
other side China is a perfect sea Of
brown hills in all directions, and aero !
these stretches the Great Wall. On the
/ hilltop. through the valleys, mp and
I down tho sides, it twists in an unbroken
/ line. exactly like a hugo earth-wOrm
suddenly turned TO stone. fOr many
miles it is visible in both directions, aud
when you can no longer trace It's entire
/ length you can still discover it topping
the hills one after another into the remote
/ distance.
A COLOSSAL ACHIEVEMENT.
And when you reflect that il is huilt Of
| bricks. III almost inaccessible places,
through uninhabite1 countries, that each
brick must have Deen transported on a
mans shoulders enormous distances.
and that it extends for 1000 miles, or
one twelfth of the circumference OF the
globe, you begin TO realize that you are
looking upon the most colossal achieve
ment Of human hands. The bricks
ere so big and heavy that | had 10
hire little donkey to carry off two OF
them. This is the only piece OF vandal-
ism 10 which | plead guilty on this trip,
but the temptation was irresistible, and
"they never will be missed. Nova
DAYS. of course the wall serves no de
fensiye purpose whatever and is not
guarded in any way. Not a soul lives
within miles OF it at most points, and 1t
is but q landmark for the Mongois'
camel trains. q stupendoUs monument TO
the great past Of China and an evidence
OF Celestial greatness and enterprise
gone never to return.
a.
rejecting how comical were the learned
arguments produced in England a con.
pie of years ago to prove that there WIS
no such thing rs a Great Wall OF China
We turned back 10 Nank'ou, reaching
there at uightfall. Next morning before
daylight We started for the tomos OF the
great Ming dynasty, thirteen miles away,
and as famous i'm China as the wall TO-
self. These lie in pleasant green val
ley surrounded with an almost complete
circle of high wooded bulls -au
ideal spot for an emperors grave.
There are thirteen of them, called
the Shih-san-hug, disposed in the
form of crescent, but tht
crescent il so extensive that only
four or five OF them can Dee seenat once
| visited the largest, tine tomb o.
, Yung-lo, who reigned about ll0O j
square of perhaps 200 yards across 'h'
face is surrounded with high wall o.
/ plain red brick. The side ot the hh
, forms tue fourth side and entrance Is ina,
/ through Il pair of ordinary wooden
D. doors. When you enter the spectacle
is not Mt all striking. There are few
little payiii0us on either side of you
each covering carved stone tortoise o.
al inscribed tablet md in front ion.
, low temple-shaped binding with an APP
proach of steps and balustrades u
3 carved white marble.
T GLOOMY NAGNIrICENCr.
Inside is gloom, through which yol
) family discern the magnificent outline
! Of thlrty-two enormous wooden columns
s each e solid log Of hewn and pollshe
{ teak twelve feet round and thrty-tw
7 feet high. Where they came irOm-un
= less it was from Burmah. or how the
| were conveyed hitler nobody knows
/ but their grandeur is Indisputable. Il
, the centre, upon a sort OF stone table
, stands a perfectly PLAIN tablet of re-
t lacquer, a couple Of feet high and foo
, wide, bearing the posthumous title d
1 Nung-lo, The perfect ancestor and Int
- rary Emperor" But the ancestor him
self ia not here. Passing ont behind IN
great columns and again crossing tn
garden. at tine edge of the hillside Their
q iss solid square tower OF brick au
granite supporting kind OF obellsk
p The sarcOphagus ltself Is deep IN the bal
d and upon the obelisk a long Inscription
D narrltes tho deeds and eEtols the virtue
d; Of the long-deIarted Ming. On Tia
1 whole. however, China disappoints yo
3 here Once-more, as everywhere and al
{ ways The situation is finely chosen 70
= the last resting place Of immortal EN-
Y perors, but mans handlwork rathe
r weakens than enhances the effects Of Oh
70 ture. There is no suggestion, for IN
, stance. of tho solennlty Of that cathe
o dral isle,
= "Where tie wurr.o-s in tho gloom
b Watch DER MaxImtlans tomb
a and there is nothing TO arrest the hast
o !ootstep lest even " the hushed tread '
{ ~Should burst the bands Of no drcsnioss seo
That hold tho mighty dead
D.. As YOU ride away you pass through a
avenue of stone carvings where pairs G.
o KNIGHTS and courtiers and stone lions an
\ camels and elephants glare at you fror
n ench side. They are enormous, BEN
+ some fifteen feet high and carved out q
"a solid block of stone and wonderful
"a for you cannot imagine how they wer
/. transported. But they are utterI
v dwarfed by the hills around them al
= soon your only recollection Of theI
y il only that your pony positively Re
\ fused to pass between them and ende
by boiling with you. And | may as We
+ conclude by giving my little Polar bea
i of pony credit for the way in which b
trotted back 10 Picking. so as to get theI
= before the gates closed, IN all forty mile
i in four hours, with three quarters Of a
r. hour for rest and food.
IQHlA INII n IVA ia mn