588 WONDERS OF ART. ^,.( 31 * 
many parts it is doubled or trebled, to command is* 
passes ; and at the distance of nearly every hundred ) ' ^ 
tower or massive bastion. Its extent is computed * 
miles; but in some parts, where less danger is appt® V' 
it is not equally strong or complete, and towards 
consists merely of a strong rampart of earth. Near 
it is twenty-five feet in height, and at the top 
feet thick : some of the towers, which are square, 
eight feet high, and about forty feet in width. 
employed in the foundations, angles, &c. is a stro 
granite ; but the materials for the greater pa*" 
of bluish bricks, and the mortar is remarkably 
white. _ . v'l>' j' 
The rera of the coastruction of this great 
lias been and will continue to be the wonder and adm‘ 
ages, is considered by Sir George Staunton_ as 
absolutely ascertained ; and he asserts that it h:is |)3' 
two thousand years. In this assertion he 
followed Du Halde, who informs us that “ tliis P^b^v,; 
work was constmeted two hundred and fifteen y<^® J ■ ^ 
the birth of Christ, by order of the first *3! 
family of Tsin, to protect three large provinces . 
jiTuptions of the Tartars.” However, in the 
China, contained in his first volume, he asc 
erection to the second Emperor of the d.vnasty 
named Chi Hoang Ti ; and the date imraediatejy P ‘ , 
the narrative of this construction is the year 13/ 
birth of Christ. Hence suspicions may arise, iior ;i^ 
cerning the epoch when this work was undertakenj^^ 
relatively to the purity and precision of the 9 '"J;bii>^*’’.Dl 
in general. Mr. Bell, who resided some time in '^^;iiri>‘'^ 
whose travels are deservedly esteemed for the a 
their information, assures us that this wall was [o 
where about tlie year ll60, by one of the 
vent the frequent incursions of the Mongols, 
cavalry used to ravage the provinces, and effect 
before an army could be assembled to ‘’PP B ' itj 
Renaudot observes that this wall is not naent‘° 
oriental geographer whose writings boast a ^ n 
than three hundred years ; and it is surprising W‘‘ 
have e.scaped Marco Paulo, who, admitting 
China by a different route, can hardly be suppn 
