270 ACROSS MONGOLIAN PLAINS 



be on a hill or in a valley, was made to grow crops and 

 to be cultivated by Chinese farmers. 



The wanton destruction which is being wrought at 

 the Tung Ling makes me sick at heart. Here is one of 

 the most beautiful spots in all China, within less than 

 one hundred miles of Peking, which is being ruined ut- 

 terly as fast as ax and fire can do the work. One can 

 travel the length and breadth of the whole Republic and 

 not find elsewhere so much glorious scenery in so small 

 a space. Moreover, it is the last sanctuary of much of 

 north China's wild life. When the forests of the Tung 

 Ling are gone, half a dozen species of birds and mam- 

 mals will become extinct. How much of the original 

 flora of north China exists to-day only in these forests 

 I would not dare say, for I am not a botanist, but it 

 can be hardly less than the fauna of which I know. 



If China could but realize before it is too late how 

 priceless a treasure is being hewed and burned to noth- 

 ingness and take the first step in conservation by making 

 a National Park of the Eastern Tombs ! 



Politically there are difficulties, it is true. The Tung 

 Ling, and all the surroundings, as I have said, belong 

 unquestionably to the Manchus, and they can do as they 

 wish with their own. But it is largely a question of 

 money, and were the Republic to pay the price for the 

 forests and mountains beyond the Tombs it would not 

 be difficult to do the rest. No country on earth ever had 

 a more splendid opportunity to create for the genera- 

 tions of the present and the future a living memorial to 

 its glorious past. THE END 



