1901.] With the Allies in China. 683 



from Tung-chow. They found the country clear of the enemy, and 

 entered the wall of the Chinese city of Pekin by the Shan-huo gate. 

 They met with no opposition, the heavy gates being opened with the 

 help of the Chinese from inside. I 



An immediate advance was made towards the south Tartar gate. 



Scouting parties were despatched in every direction to look for 

 Chinese soldiers, but none were found ; so General Gaselee, with his 

 staff, and half a company of the 7th Rajiputs, made a reconnaissance 

 through a lane leading towards the wall, about half-way between the 

 Ch'ien gate and the Ha-ta. 



They discovered that the portion of the wall near the Legation 

 was held by foreigners, and three flags — the Russian, the British and 

 the American — were flying together on it, the British in the centre. 

 This was a pre-arranged signal, communicated to General Gaselee at 

 Tung-chow, by which he was to understand that the Legations were 

 still holding out. 



They were signalled to come up by the Sluice — an arched outlet 

 through the wall, and leading directly to the Legations. Hardly a 

 shot was fired at them, except by snipers inside mud-houses along the 

 road. 



They were signalled by the besieged that the wall was clear of 

 Chinese and was in the hands of the Legation guards. Taking 

 advantage of this, a company of the 7th Rajiput Infantry forced a 

 passage through the wall by the Sluice. Helped to no mean extent 

 by besieged Chinese Christians and a couple of Europeans from 

 inside, they cut an opening in the rotten wooden gate. 



Some forty Rajiputs, followed later by a handful of British, made 

 an entry, cheered by the crowd of Christian converts who had come 

 to meet them, and soon after greeted by the frantic hurrahs of 

 the white men, women and children, awaiting them with open arms 

 at the gate of the Legation — only a few yards further up on the left 

 side of the canal. 



The Legation was triumphantly entered. 



Considerable excitement prevailed when the Rajiputs, waving 

 their rifles, rushed into the British Legation. 



The enthusiasm reached its maximum when General Gaselee and 

 the 24th Punjab Infantry came in, and then the 1st Sikhs and the 

 Bengal Lancers and the 9th and 14th American Infantry, who had 

 come unopposed along the Tartar wall by the Ha-ta gate. 



In Pekin there are four cities in one — the Chinese, the Tartar 

 the Imperial city and the Violet or Red Forbidden city. 



In the very centre of Pekin, and within the wall of the Imperial 

 city, stands the " Forbidden City," containing the Emperor's audience 

 halls, his private palaces, and those for the court, officials and 

 attendants. 



The Allied forces had entered the Chinese and Tartar city, and 

 captured the Imperial city ; they had destroyed, burned and looted 

 wholesale the houses of friends and foes alike ; but the Forbidden 



