444 
(CSL ey eile 
peal ed oe 
THE PEKINESE. 
BY THE LADY ALGERNON GORDON-LENNOX. 
“ 4 crush-nosed, human-hearted dog. 
“EW of the 
L many 
breeds of 
foreign dogs 
now established 
in England 
have attained 
such a measure 
of popularity in 
so short a time 
as the Pekinese. 
Of their early 
history little is 
known, beyond the fact that at the looting 
of the Summer Palace of Pekin, in 1869, 
bronze effigies of these dogs, known to be 
more than two thousand years old, were 
found within the sacred precincts. The 
dogs were, and are to this day, jealously 
guarded under the supervision of the Chicf 
Eunuch of the Court, and few have ever 
found their way into the outer world. 
In writing a true account of the breed it 
may be unavoidable to dispel some of the 
existing impressions with reference to the 
so-called ‘‘imported dogs.” Pekin Spaniels 
can be imported without difficulty, as they 
abound in the various towns of China, but 
in the case of the Palace dog it is an alto- 
gether different matter, and the two should 
on no account be confounded, as will presently 
be explained. 
So far as the writer is aware, the history 
of the breed in England dates from the 
importation in 1860 cf five dogs taken from 
the Summer Palace, where they had, no 
doubt, been forgotten on the flight of the 
Court to the interior. Admiral Lord John 
Hay, who was present on active service, 
gives a graphic account of the finding of 
MRS. DOUGLAS MURRAY'S 
AH CUM (IMPORTED). 
yy 
BROWNING. 
these little dogs in a part of the garden 
frequented by an aunt of the Emperor, 
who had committed suicide on the approach 
of the Allied Forces. Lord John and an- 
other naval officer, a cousin of the late 
Duchess of Richmond’s, each secured two 
dogs ; the fifth was taken by General Dunne, 
who presented it to Queen Victoria. Lord 
John took pains to ascertain that none had 
found their way into the French camp, 
and he heard then that the others had all 
been removed to Jehal with the Court. 
It is therefore reasonable to suppose that 
these five were the only Palace dogs, or 
Sacred Temple dogs of Pekin, which reached 
England, and it is from the pair which lived 
to a respectable old age at Goodwood that 
so many of the breed now in England trace 
their descent. 
Many years ago Mr. Alfred de Rothschild 
tried, through his agents in China, to secure 
a specimen of the Palace dog for the writer, 
in order to carry on the Goodwood strain, 
but without success, even after a correspond- 
ence with Pekin which lasted more than 
two years; but we succeeded in obtaining 
confirmation of what we had always under- 
stood: namely, that the Palace dogs are 
rigidly guarded, and that their theft is 
punishable by death. At the time of the 
Boxer Rebellion, only Spaniels, Pugs, and 
Poodles were found in the Imperial Palace 
when it was occupied by the Allied Forces, 
the little dogs having once more preceded 
the Court in the flight to Si-gnanfu. 
The Duchess of Richmond occasionally 
gave away a dog to intimate friends, such as 
the Dowager Lady Wharncliffe, Lady Dorothy 
Nevill, and others, but in those days the 
Pekinese was practicallyan unknown quantity 
