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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



and his men came in sight of the Great Buddha, we paused and rested 

 from our journey at a point near one of the gates to the walled city 

 which lies in the valley below. As our eyes turned to the great face, 

 which has been gilded until it shines like metal, as the imnlense size and 



A WdNDEKFUL TAGODA, WITH TILED ROOFS, IN WESTEEN CHINA. 



perfect preservation of the idol made their impression, the thought that 

 came to my mind was, " How far more marvelous is this than many of 

 the world's boasted wonders." I thought of the Colossi at Thebes and 

 the Sphinx. What are they? Scarred, ruined and defaced by the hand 

 of man and the effects of time, they are scarcely recognizable as images. 

 They are little better than lumps of battered rock. But far in the west 

 of China sits this old Buddha, remote from the tracks of travel, un- 

 noticed and almost unknown; yet greater in size than the Egyptian 



