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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



THK DRAGON THRONE, MUKDE;N PAI^ACE : THE DAIS COMPLETELY COVERED WITH 

 PILES OF IMPERIAL YELLOW PORCELAIN BOWLS AND PLATE (SEE PAGE 309) 



palace compound and set up a mud fur- 

 nace at its edge. Then, melting the in- 

 gots, they poured the treasure down the 

 well until it was full to the curb with a 

 solid cylinder of pure metal. They ce- 

 mented that well over and filled another 

 and others with more bullion in safe cold 

 storage. 



When the rainy day should arrive, the 

 Manchus were to retreat to Mukden, and, 

 chipping away at the silver treasure, nib- 

 bling at their precious silver cheese, live 

 on in happy idleness forever after. In 



Mukden they scofif at this story of buried 

 treasure, but one does not like to give it 

 up. It is so plausible, so characteristic, 

 so Manchu, that even Prince Ching 

 might have devised it last week. 



NEGLECTED EOR 100 YEARS 



Tao-kwang was the last emperor to 

 visit the ancestral home. After his stay 

 in 1805 the caretakers assiduously neg- 

 lected the palace, dusting out a corner 

 or two every ten years, when the imperial 

 prince, who could not escape the honor- 



