Directory_and_Chronicle_1842 — Page 105

1812.

Sketches of China.

87

"There was something divcrting in the exclamation of despair with which the embassador's London coachman viewed the four Chinese Bucephali that were presented to him for the purpose of being harnessed to the carriage. He had prepared everything with as much care and pains as for a birthday at St. James's,—the horses only were wanting; and when they appeared in the shape of four small rough ponies, he naturally cried out—' Lord, sir, these cats will never do!' But they must do!" was the reply, for nothing better existed in the whole empire. The collars of the English harness hung down like mandarin necklaces, and the whole of the caparison sat like a loose gown. By dint of taking in' to an extent that had never been fore- seen or provided for, this unworthy team were (no doubt very much to their own surprise) attached to the handsome barouche that was destined to roll on the granite road between Tungchau and Peking. An English carriage should never be sent to China without the horses to draw it. In our pro- gress towards the great northern capital' (the literal meaning of Pe king) we first of all proceeded to the same gate of Tungchau that we had entered on the occasion of the earliest conference with duke Ho.

Leaving this

now upon our right without entering it, we skirted the high walls of the town, which were lined with spectators, and soon came to a broad road of hewn granite, which was evidently very old, and in so ruined a state that it might have been referred to the days of Yáu and Shun. This road, or rather causeway over the low flats, extended to the gates of Peking, and though the cubassador's carriage certainly did get on by dint of the coach- inan's steadiness and skill, its strength and springs were greatly tried by the formidable cavities which the wheels occasionally encountered, and which gave it the motion of a ship in a heavy cross sea.

“A stone bridge of three arches, at the distance of rather more than a mile from Tungchau, crossed the Pei ho, or a river running into it, in this place a very inconsiderable stream. From the centre of this bridge I re- commoitered the country round Behind us was Tungchau, with its con- spicuous pagoda, or Budhist steeple, and encircled by its high and embattled wall. On each side lay a flat country, studded here and there with woody clumps, inclosing the low dwelling-houses of the Chinese, which are sur- rounded mostly by walls, and consist of houses of all ranks, from the mansion of the high official magnate, to the country-box of the Peking cockney. Be- fore us, to the north-west, lay the imperial city, the residence of the absolute monarch of a third of the human race. It is situated very nearly under the fortieth parallel of north latitude, in commoa with Naples and Madrid in Europe, and Philadelphia in North America, which last it resembles in climate.

"Peking has been the fixed capital of China ever since the reign of Yung- ló, of the Ming race, by whom the Mongols were expelled. Although situated on the northern confines of China Proper, it is centrical with re- ference to the whole empire, including Tartary. The tract in which it stands is sandy and barren, but the grand canal is admirably adapted to the purpose

Page 105Page 106