VIEWS FROM THE OBSERVATORY. Chap. XXI. 
north the Tartar city lay spread out before us, 
having the Imperial city and its palaces, with 
their yellow-tiled roofs, in its centre. King-shan , 
a charming little hill, called by foreigners “ Pros- 
pect Hill,” with its temples and summer-houses, 
presented a very pretty object. This hill is said 
to be artificial, and formed almost entirely of coal, 
which had been stored up to be used in case of a 
siege. As we looked over the immense city we 
observed that, as in other Chinese towns, the 
houses were all about one uniform height, and 
the whole place was green with trees. The tree 
most common here is the Sophora japonica already 
named as one which grows on the plain of Tien- 
tsin. We could trace the walls and ramparts on 
all sides of the city, and discern the different gates, 
marked as they were by the huge guard-houses 
erected over each of them. Far away to the west- 
ward appeared some pagodas and minarets ; and 
in the Chinese city, to the south, we could see the 
tower of the temple sacred to the God of Agri- 
culture, to which the Emperor is said to repair 
once in every year to worship and to hold the 
plough. 
The Tartar city has nine- gates, is oblong in 
form, and is about three miles from east to west 
and four miles from north to south. The Imperial 
city, situated inside the Tartar city, is of a square 
or rather oblong form, and encloses the palaces 
and gardens of the Emperor, and the pretty little 
“ Prospect Hill ” already noticed. It is situated 
