The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1890-08-15
LATTER FROM ma. JAMES n
MEAL


Peking this noon in time for tffln Qunch
and are hoping to get away toward Chi
nanfu early day after tomorrow by natlv'
house-boat. Iwrote mother from Pekinl
a week ago Saturday when our visit ther,
was about ended and we were expecting
to start the following Monday for th,
Great Wall. Well we got away as we ex
pected, our party consisting OF MIR. Lang
don, one of our young missionaries in Pek
ing, Miss Woodberry, a nice New England
girl who is governess in a Mr.. Drew's fam
| lily, and Dora Drece and Edith Wherry
each about twelve. Mrs. Neal and Miss
Woodberry had each a mule litter and Mr.
Langdon and cart between us, while
besides we had two donkeys. OF COURSE
we changed about a good deal. We had Q
charming trip of four days, going TO SEE
some interesting sights every day but the
last, and finding our party very congenial
the little girls especially being so interested
in everything and enjoying the excursion
so much II was great pleasure to have
them with US. The first day we went only
about ten ii before stopping for lunch in a
temple where there is very large bell,
perhaps twenty feet in height, wonderful
not so much for its large size as for the de.
licscy Of the characters which are cast up
on it, both inside and out, there being
thousands OF these characters and all OF
| them as clear cut and as distinct as II CHS
| eled out by hand; 1t was really wonderful
| to think of such perfection in casting. The
legend Of the bell is that former emperor
ordered such bell cast, but the first man
who tried it failed and was beheaded and
likewise the second, but the third was
wise enough to consult an oracle, and was
informed that to insure success hum an
blood must be mingled with the molten
metal. Accordingly when all was ready
and the casting about take place the mans
daughter threw herself into the boiling
mass and the result was successful cast.
AS she was about plunging in some one at
tempted to catch her to hold her back but
succeeded in retaining her shoe, SO now
the saying goes that whenever the b,ll
sounds 1t is the maiden wailing for her lost
shoe. From this temple we travelled on
all the afternoon oyer frightfully dry and
dusty roads across the plain towards the
hills, not finally reaching them, however,
until nearly noon the next day, when we
entered the pass which for fifteen miles
winds in and out among the hills, passing
near Its northern terminus, through the
Great Wall Of China, said to be several
thousand miles long, and built to resist
the hordes from the North which finally
did prevail, Notwithstanding al the pre-
cautions taken, and now hold the Empire
of China in subjection. You may possib =
ly not know it, but it is a fact that at!many
points in China, Tartar garrisons are kept
constantly on duty to guard against any
attempt to overthrow the established su-
thority. Such camp exists near Ching
chow fee in Snowtung, and is little city
in itself. rode through it once and as re-
member, it was over mile across and was
occupied exclusively by Tartars and their
families. In Peking there are two separ-
ate and distinct cities, both very large, one
| called the Tartar city, though great many
Chinese also live IN 1t, and all the mission =
aries I believe, and the legations, and
another which is distinctly Chinese. In
side the Tartar city is the Imperial City,
and inside Of that still is the Forbidden
City, into which no foreigner is allowed to
enter and only few Chinese. But to re-
t,,r, 70 ha ha n do tbrnnuh ~ q
most interesting, though the scenery was
not so grand as 1 had expected it to be and
the ascent was extremely gradual, being
not at all precipitous and the road very
good most of the way for carts. At the
southern mouth, as it is called in Chinese,
were number Of signal towers, square
piles of brick intended to be used for sig.
| nal fires in case of alarm, and 80 1t was al
the northern mouth, but in between they
must have depended upon using the tops
of the hills on either side, as no towers
were to be seen. The profusion Of walls
| however, in the pass was marvellous, they
seeming to have run walls up the
sides of the hills whenever the notion
struck them, finally eliminating in th
Great Wall, which we came to after travel
ing about thirteen miles Up the pass snt
within couple of miles of where we spent
our second night. 1t is built in the most
favorable location right on the divide be
tween north and south, where no gap hat
to be left for the passage of streams, a
was the case with the shorter walls. TIL,
sight Of this great wall was most inspiring
to see it climbing the most rugged hill
and going on and on as far as the ey
could reach and stopping at nothing as to-
difficult or too inaccessible. l have seen
goodly number Of city walls in China bu
nothing that has impressed me one quartz
as muchIas this tremendous feat of strengt
and endurance in thus scaling the mos
difficult hill tops, not merely with bress
work OF earth but with wall OF soliI
masonry, and that too in the loneliest G
country far away from the hsbitations @
men and everything which would max
such an undertaking easier. The plac
where we struck the wall was a large gat,
way with secondary inclosure, such a
they have about most city gates for bett'
protection, and for the use Of troops in d,
Tending the gateway. Here we climbe
upon the wall and walked along its tc
, for perhaps three-quartsrs of a mile, al
. miring the grand view of hills and mouI
t tains and examining the fine workmanshi
displayed in the wall. Here 1t was bui
OF square pieces Of dressed stone, bot
north and south sides being alike, perhaI
twenty feet high, surmounted by parapet
OF brick, Inside the parapets there is
clear space of perhaps fourteen feet pave
with tiles, everything being laid n VIII
has been apparently very good lime. b
side the wall proper, counted within N
, view seventeen bastions which were lit
houses built above the level of the wa
: and jutting out beyond the front of Il
wall so as to give complete command
the wall 10 either direction, and affoI
good protection to soldiers Here ar
there were also stone steps leading dow
i to openings in the inside Of the wall I
a ingress and egress. 1t was really mo
; wonderful. would not have missed sc