Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-05-11

human hands on the globe visible from the
moon. q take no responsibility for either of
these statements.) The Chinese name for it is
Wdn-li-ch 'ang-ch'enq, 1.-The wall ten thousand Ii
long," And the gate on this highway is called
Pd-td-ling. and is about fifty miles northwest of
Picking and 1000 feet above the sea. Beyond
it lies Mongolia.
on THE WALL.
Hall an hour after this first glimpse I stood
upon the wall itself. The gateway is a large
double one, with a square tower upon il, pierced
with oblong openings for cannon. of which a
dozen old ones lie in a heap. showing that at
one time the road was seriously defended at
this point. A rough stairway leads to the top
which is about 20 feet wide. with crenelated
parapet on each side, and you can walk along it
as far as you can see, with here and there a
scramble when it has fallen in little. On the
whole 1t Is in excellent repair, having. of
course, been mended and rebuilt many times
Every half mile or is little square tower
OF two stories. The wall itself varies good deal
In height according to the nature of the ground.
averaging probably 40 feet. On one side Mon
golla, as you see it, is vast uudulatng brown
plain; on the other side China is perfect sea
or brown hills in all directions. and across
these stretches the Great Wall. On the hill top,
through the valleys, up and down the sides, it
twists In an unbroken line, exactly like huge
earth-worm suddenly turned to stone For
many miles it is visible in both directions and
when you can no longer trace its entire length
:,
after another into the remote distance.
COLOSSAL ACHIEVEMENT.
And when you reflect that it is built of bricks,
In almost inaccessible places. through uninhab-
tied countries, that each brick must have been
transported on a mans shoulders enormous
distances, and that it extends for 1900 miles or
one-twelfth of the circumference of the globe,
you begin to realize that you are looking upon
the most colossal achievement of human hands.
The bricks are so big and heavy that had to
hire a little donkey to carry off two of them
This IS the only piece of vandalism to which
plead guilty on this trip, but the temptation
was irresistible and ''they never will be
missed" Nowadays, of course the wall serves
no defensive purpose whatever and is not
guarded in any way. Not soul lives within
miles of it at most points and it is but land
mark for the Mongols camel trains. stupen-
dous monument to the great past of China and
an evidence of Celestial greatness and enter
prise gone never to return.
ToMBs OF THE MING DYNASTY.
After taking dozen photographs and reflect
ing how comical now were the learned argu-
ments produced in England couple of years
ago to prove that there was no such thing as a
great wall of China, we turned lack to Nam
kou, reaching there at nightfall. Next morn
ing before daylight we started for the tombs of
the great Ming dynasty, Ii miles away, and as
famous in China as the wall ITSELF These lie
IN pleasant green valley surrounded with an
almost complete circle of high wooded hills
an ideal spot for an emperor's grave. There
are thirteen of them, called the Shih-san-ling
disposed In the form of a crescent but the
crescent Is so extensive that only four or five
OF them can be seen at once. / visited the
largest, the tomb of Yung-lo, who reigned
about 400. square of perhaps 200 yards
across the face is surrounded with high wall
of plain red brick. The side of the hill forms
the fourth side, and entrance is had through a
pair OF ordinary wooden doors. When you
enter, the spectacle is not at all striking
There are few little pavlions on either side
or an inscribed tablet, and in front long low
temple-shaped building with an approach of
steps and balustrades in carved white marble.
IN THE GLOOMY INTERIOR.
Inside is gloom, through which you family
discern the magnificent outlines of thirty-two
enormous wooden columns, each solid log of
hewn and polished teak II feet round and 80
feet high. Where they came from-unless it
was from Burmah-or how they were conveyed
hither, nobody knows, but their grandeur is
lndlsputable. In the center, upon a sort of
stone table, stands a perfectly plain tablet of
red lacquer, a couple of feet high and foot
wide, bearing the posthumous title Of Yung-lo
THE perfect ancestor and literary emperor"
But the ancestor himself is not here. Passing
out behind the great columns and again cross
ing the garden, at the edge of the hillside
there is a solid square tower of brick and gran
ite, KIM OF ODeUSk. The
cophagus itself is deep in the hill, and upon
the obelisk long inscription narrates the
deeds and eXtols the virtues of the long-de-
parted Ming. On the whole, however, China
dlsappoints you here once more, as everywhere
and always. The situation is finely chosen for
the last resting-place of immortal emperors,
but mans handiwork rather weakens than en-
hances the effects of nature. There is no sug-
gestion, for instance, of the solemnity of that
cathedral aisle
Where the warriors in the gloom
watch DER Maximilian's tomb"
and there is nothing to arrest the hasty foot
step, lest even "the hushed tread
should burst the bands of the dreamless sleep,
That hold the mighty dead"
QUICK JOURNEY.
AS you ride away you pass through an avenue
of stone carvings, where pairs of knights and
courtiers and lions and camels and elephants
glare at you from each side. They are enorm-
Gus, being some Is feet high and carved out of
a solid block of stone; and wonderful for YOU
cannot imagine how they were transported
But they are utterly dwarfed by the hills
around them, and soon your only recollection
OF them Is only that your pony positively re-
fused to pass between them and ended by
boiling with you. And may as well conclude
by giving my little Polar bear of a pony credit
for the way in which he trotted back to Picking,
SO as to get there before the gates closed, in ali
40 miles in four hours, with three-quarters of
an hour for rest and food l have known
costlier horsefesh make poorer progress. And
when we got back again at last to Tientsin nv
mafoo sold him to the inkeeper for twice what
he maid for him ur~nv Non,..~,