LOOT OF THE IMPERIAL SUMMER PALACE AT PEKIN. fi.Sl 



Part of our soldiers were wide-awake and part were but ovororown 

 children; the latter in the majority. The clever ones had supplied 

 themselves with jewels, the coined money, and the dollars, bonbon- 

 nieres, snuffboxes, dishes of gold, and collars of pearls. The others 

 had been principally tempted in the midst of unheard-of riches by 

 these mechanical toys of European origin, all of which had been most 

 g-enerously left them by the Englishmen. 



Therefore, the second night that we passed near the summer palace 

 was exciting, insensate, head-splitting. Each trooper had his bird, his 

 music box, his monkey, his clock, his trumpeter, or his rabbit. The 

 clocks struck continuously, in every tone, at all hours, now and then 

 accompanied by the sad snap of a spring broken by inexperienced 

 hands. Multitudes of rabbits playing on their tambourines formed a 

 bass, accompanied by the cymbals of monkeys playing four thousand 

 waltzes and quadrilles, together with as many music boxes, which 

 dominated the cuckoo clocks, the sweet notes of the flute, the nasal 

 notes of the clarionets, the screeching of the cocks, the notes of horns 

 and cornets, as well as the heart" bursts of laughter coming from the 

 easily amused crowd. 



It was a nightmare. 



At sunrise the plimderi ng began again. In front of the tent of the 

 general had been placed one of the two pagodas of massive gold found 

 in the Emperor's oratory; it was destined for Napoleon III. The 

 other had been secured by the English. On the top of this pagoda an 

 enormous diamond scintillated. It was guarded by two sentinels. It 

 had not stood there two hours before the great diamond had disap- 

 peared. It was never known who had taken it. 



The pillage of the summer palace lasted two days. Toward the 

 close of the second day General Montauban, to stop it, adopted an 

 ingenious scheme. He walked into the midst of his soldiers, who were 

 disguised as mandarins and impeiial princesses, and said: 



"Boys, leave all those things alone; you can't carry them off'. 

 And what would you do if Ave should encounter the enemy, and they 

 should beat us? Believe me, we are going to Pekin, and there will be 

 things enough there for everybody. You will see." 



I heard him make this little speech to an artilleryman who, being 

 convinced, threw to the ground that which he was carrying in his 

 arms, tore off his fancy costume, and resumed his uniform. 



The artillerymen, on this occasion, it must be admitted, liad tlie 

 largest share, "for they had the use of horses, caissons, and the wagons. 

 They made use of every corner of the caissons, and when they were 

 full they filled the buckets in which the rammers were plunged to 

 clean the cannon shot. 



This little address of the General, however, with its pious fraud, 

 usually produced an effect, and nearly all the soldiers imitjited the 

 artilleryman. 



