LOOT OF THE IMPERIAL SUMMER PALACE AT PEKIN. 635 



from the bits of their blouses. The Chinese had buried thein alive 

 upright, bound, but with the head alone exposed, and the dogs had 

 come and begun by licking their faces, then by biting, and then by 

 eating off their heads. 



In a village 4 kilometers from the walls of Pekin, the European 

 prisoners were finally returned both to the English and to us. "We 

 are bringing them all back to you," said a little mandarin who pre- 

 ceded the carts, and we saw these specters in the coffins together, 

 for they had conscientiously returned to us the remains of those who 

 had succumbed to their tortures. All the coffins were opened and the 

 identity of the putrid remains was established. In all, the Chinese 

 had taken at Tangtcheou 26 of the English and returned 13 alive and 

 13 dead; they had taken 13 French and returned 6 alive and 7 dead. 



[The Comte D'Herisson pursues this horrible subject further and gives ample evi- 

 dence of the truth of what he states. It is not necessary to quote here more than we 

 have done, but we may add that the allied forces decided after this to return and 

 destroy the summer palace, though, as has been said, the immense scene of plunder 

 we have described took place before these aggravating circumstances were known. ] 



