LOOT OF THE IMPERIAL SUMMER PALACE AT PEKIN. 621 



tlioso on ])isliops' cope.s; it is a brilliant display of })ir(ls. l.utterflies 

 and Howcrs fresluT than those in the sun, Avith\liain<.n<I dcwdrops in 

 their perfumed calixes. 



Here and there footstools of strange shape allow the ladies-in-waiting 

 to reaeh the high shelves where the toilets are, and offer nest-like 

 cushions to their little crippled feet. 



His Imperial Majesty, as everj^one knows, does not content himself 

 with a single wife. He has concubines, whose quarters are opposite 

 his private apartments. These ladies, into whose rooms we throw a 

 passing glance, our powers of attention being already wearied, are 

 apparently almost as well cared for as their sovereign, and drink their 

 tea from cups almost as precious as his own. When the Son of 

 Heaven takes a cup of tea here he must perceive no difference. 



At last w^e have finished with this endless fairy story and find our- 

 selves face to face with nature, with fountains, and with foliage. 

 What a magnificent park! It is immense, with high walls extending 

 about eight and a half miles around it. Those who designed it took 

 special pains to arrange picturesque views, giving impressions which 

 were sometimes gentle and tender, sometimes savage and theatrical; 

 and the}" succeeded. 



But they assisted nature ])y architectural effects also, and this park of 

 Yuenmingyuen (literally "residence of the original splendor") con- 

 tains a little of everything — isolated palaces, temples, pavilions, pago- 

 das, pyramids, porticoes, colonnades, artificial mountains, grottoes, 

 lakes, rivulets, islands, groves, labyrinths, observatories, and kiosks. 

 The artificial rock work, so fashionable among us a few years ago in 

 Paris gardens, is here — immense, striking, monumental, and unicjue. 



Here, for instance, is a mountain built up of rocks; in niches cut in 

 its sides are images of all sorts of infernal divinities, who grin and 

 squirm in the midst of unheard of vegetation. It dominates the entire 

 park, its summit is crowned by a little pagoda, about 25 feet by 20, 

 surmounted with roofs entirely of white porcelain, decorated with 

 stars; it is dedicated to the Chinese Virgin; Koua Him, who, from tiiis 

 culminating point, seems to extend her protection over all the i)alaces 

 lying at her feet. She is represented l)y a statuette of gilded ))ronze, 

 seated in the midst of a lotus flower; on each side watches a fully armed 

 warrior; these two sentinels are engaged in hideous contortions and in 

 making horrible faces. 



On the right of this artificial mountain, following a labyrinth whose 

 tortuous paths easily lead one astray in a space of 50 square yards, 

 rises a large building; it is the imperial library. Its roof, with yellow 

 tiles, resembles that of the throne room, and like it is peopled with a 

 menagerie of black faience dragons chasing other chimerical monsters. 



The hall, 40 feet high, 30 wide, and 120 long, has its walls lined with 

 cases in which are most curious and ancient manuscripts. In the hall 



