fantastic sort of slow dance. Now and | reached an altitude of over nine thouthen one suddenly disappeared only to sand feet, when the track I had folsee a new one rising from the ground in a cone-like shape, and revolving with incredible rapidity soon reached a great height. As I was crossing the plain I was nearly caught in one of these violent whirlwinds myself, as they travel so quickly and in such a very erratic fashion, that it is not an easy matter to get out of their way. The buzzing, as it passed near, was something awful, and the dust that it raised was blinding.

lowed seemed to branch off, and one branch went to the south-west, the other to the north-west, round one of the smaller peaks. I took the southwest one; it led me to a point where no human being could go any farther. Where I was the slope of the mountain was such that it required a steady foot not to be sliding down into a precipice; a little farther a long glacier extended from top to bottom of the mountain, so I left the track and attempted to climb the lower peak just above me, to see if from that point of vantage I could discover the right trail. It was easier said than done, especially as I was carrying a water-color paint-box and a block slung to a strap on my shoulders; still, after a good deal of hard work, and going upon my hands and knees, I managed to crawl up to the

All along, though travelling through a plain, I was on a high land, and when at Tao-la-tsouei the altitude was over four thousand feet. The wind grew in intensity during the afternoon, and, as it blew in my face, made the travelling very uncomfortable. At times it was all I could do to hold on to my saddle. A regular dust-storm, like the simoon in the Sahara, passed over in the after-top. I was so hot, and the view was noon, and for some time my men and myself were at a loss as to where we were going. We lost the track in the blinding dust, and had some difficulty in finding it again.

so lovely from up there, that I sat on a stone on the edge of the slope and opened my paint-box to take a sketch. As I was sorting out the brushes, unluckily the stone on which I was sitFinally we reached Tkou-fo-pu, and ting gave way, and I started sliding soon after I was at the foot of the great down the almost perpendicular slope, sacred mountain of Siao-outai-shan. and no effort on my part to stop my We did not put up at the village as involuntary tobogganing was of any there were no inns, but, mounting the avail. I tried to clutch the ground slopes of the mountain, halted at the with my nails, I seized every projecttemple of Tie-lin-tsen at an altitude of ing stone in hopes of stopping my preover four thousand three hundred and | cipitous descent; but hélas! at the fifty feet. Accommodation for pil-speed I was going it was no easy matter grims is provided at this temple in the to hold on to anything that I even temple grounds, but it was no better managed to clutch. than that of the commoner inns.

Not far from the temple a curious natural bridge of ice over a stream was quaint and pretty, and the huge Siao towering over my head, with large patches of snow and ice on its slopes, made me long for the next morning to ascend its highest peak. The next morning came, and at 5 A.M. I set out on the steep track, accompanied by a Mongol guide. As I was walking too quickly for him he was soon left far behind, and I proceeded by myself, sure that I could find my way without him. Things went well until I had

There I had death staring me in the face, for another hundred yards would have brought me to the edge of the precipice, and over I would have gone, taking a fatal leap of several hundred feet. My hair stood on end as every second I was approaching the dreaded spot; and how well I remember the ghastly sound of my heavy paint-box which had preceded me in my disastrous descent. How well I remember the hollow sound of it banging from boulder to boulder, echoed and magnified a thousand times from one mountain to another.

Then there was a

final bang from down far, far below; | on his heels and quietly smoking his the echo weakly repeated it, and all pipe. He showed me the right track, was silence once more. Another half and away I walked by myself again as minute and the echo would have repeated a hollower sound still! I shut my eyes.

he was such a slow walker. I made him give me my oil-paint box, which he was carrying for me, and with it, A violent shock, which nearly tore following a comparatively easy but my body in two, made me think that I steep track, I first reached a sort of had gone over; but no as luck a small, solidly built shed, and then would have it I had suddenly stopped. climbing up the steeper and fairly danI opened my eyes, but I did not dare gerous part of the track, finally reached move, for my position, though much the summit of the highest peak. I said improved, was far from being safe yet."fairly dangerous," for the last few I was now only about ten or fifteen yards before one reaches the top of the yards from the edge, and in the most pinnacle are not more than one foot violent state of excitement, partly due wide, and on both sides is a precipice to the bright lookout of the delayed the end of which one can hardly see. leap and at the pleasant hope of saving In fact, the performance for those few my life altogether. I was half uncon- yards was not unlike tight-rope walkscious when this happened, and it took ing, only at an altitude of about twelve me some minutes to realize how and thousand feet. where I was. I knew that I was hanging somewhere, but to what I was hanging, and from what, and how, I did not know, as I was hanging from my back. It was a state of suspense, but that was all !

As I slowly got my wits about me again, to my great horror I discovered that as yet my life was hanging to a hair like Damocles' sword. My coat and a strong leather strap which I had slung under my arm had just caught over a projecting stone, and that was what had stopped me from proceeding any farther towards certain death; but the slightest false movement on my part, as a jerk, might still place me in great danger. Slowly, as my back was slightly resting on the almost perpendicular slope, I tried to get a footing, and when this was done the great difficulty was to turn round. After several minutes of anxiety which seemed ages, also this feat was successfully accomplished, and there I stood half-lying with my body on the ground, and clutching the rock that had saved my life, until my commotion had entirely passed away, and I began to crawl up, as I had done before, as best I could, cat-like fashion.

The summit of the highest peak is nothing but a huge, barren rock, and on the top, only about ten feet in diameter, the credulous pilgrims have erected a small wooden shrine, some three or four feet square and six feet high. The poor bronze images of Buddha inside it were stuffed with bits of paper, for which purpose a special hole is provided at the base of the image, and on which prayers were written, or else "wishes" that pilgrims were anxious to obtain.

At the elevation on which I stood on Siao-outai-shan, and fortunate enough to have hit on a lovely day, I commanded from there the grandest panorama it has ever been my good fortune to gaze upon. Mountain range after mountain range of huge mountains, blending from warm brownish tints into pure blue, encircled me on the south and south-east side, and close at hand towards the north-east.

Mount Show-ho-ling, 6,582 feet above sea-level, looked a mere toy by the side of his gigantic neighbor.

I made a weak attempt at portraying this scene in oils, and another weaker still at a bird's-eye view of the endless stretch of flat land on the north and I reached the treacherous trail again, north-west side, with, to the naked and followed it back to where it parted, eye, the hardly perceptible chain of and there I found the guide squatting the Huang-yan-shang mountain mass

forming a high barrier on its northern border.

I re-descended a short way in order to visit the small temple on the side of a precipice, and to which one can only accede through a few planks suspended over the precipice itself, and which, to all appearance, were neither solid nor safe. However, one does a good many foolish things for curiosity's sake that one would not do otherwise, and I did not like leaving that interesting spot without being able to say that I had seen all that there was to see. I, therefore, walked along the narrow and shaky planks, balancing myself as well as I could; but I must confess that when I had traversed the precipice from one end to another, and felt equal to Blondin for going across Niagara on a wire, my patience was rather put to a test when I discovered that the last plank of this primitive scaffolding had either fallen or been removed, and to reach the platform of the temple a jump of over a yard was necessary. This unexpected acrobatic feat, when you know that if by mistake you missed the platform or slipped you would have a drop of three or four hundred feet before you touched ground again, was rather beyond even my usual amount of foolishness; still, I could not resist the temptation, and I jumped. In the temple there was but little to see, with the exception of long rows of small images of Buddha, similar to the ones in the other shrine, and equally stuffed with "wishes" to be granted. They were the offers of pilgrims, and some were gilt, others of bronze color.

The jumping from the platform back on to the narrow plank was even a more risky performance than the reverse achievement, but with the precaution of taking my boots off so as not to slip, even this difficulty was surmounted, and to my heart's content I now made progressive strides towards descending the mountain. Both on the northern and southern slopes large patches of ice and snow covered the cavities and sheltered nooks of the lofty peak, but the parts more exposed to the sun were free of either.

No incidents nor accidents marked the descent, and late in the afternoon I was again at the temple at the foot of the mountain. The following morning, much before sunrise, one of the muleteers came to wake me up with the startling news that the bonzes or priests of the temple had just attempted to extort money from him, and that he was commissioned to bring me the following message: "Either I paid the bonzes a sum equivalent of £12 for accommodation in the temple compound, or they would do away with me." Tell them yes,' was my answer, "but not till sunrise," and at the same time ordered the muleteer to have everything ready to start with the first rays of light.

There was certainly a great commotion in the temple compound, and as I noiselessly made a hole through my paper window, I could see the shaven bonzes running from one room into another and confabulating among themselves. I loaded the five chambers of my revolver, and kept ready for any emergency. At dawn things were ready to start, and the mules were laden under my supervision, while all the bonzes were standing in front of the main gate, probably to prevent my going through. One of them attempted to shut the gate, but I stopped him, and, setting one of the Frenchmen on guard of it with a rifle, I made mules, muleteers, and baggage leave the compound through the violent remonstrations of the bonzes, who had now become like so many wild beasts.

The usual money due to them for two nights' lodging, I think about thirty shillings, was paid to the chief bonze, and as he seemed to give way to his temper, I set my revolver under his nose, which suddenly changed him and the others into a most affectedly civil lot.

Thus we parted friends. We descended the hillside, and as we were some way down I saw one of the young bonzes come out of the temple compound by a back way, and run towards the village of Tkou-fo-pu, probably to rise the natives against us. As I had

thought, when, half an hour later, we would not employ him, as I hate to be entered the village, we were met by a imposed upon by humbugs; and knowvery rowdy crowd, and subjected to all ing the little way which these gentlesorts of insults, stones even being fired men have of digging large holes on at us, but we managed to pull through purpose in the river-bed while dry in all right, and, retracing our steps summer, so as to extort money from whence we had come, arrived at Sheu- timid travellers, I proceeded to "sell" men-tzu that same night. From this him. I guided my mules not right point I decided to return to Pekin by across the water, for the holes are gena different route, journeying north-east erally dug where most unaware people instead of south-east. We were thir-are likely to cross, but a few yards teen hours on our saddles between farther up, therefore landing every one Sheu-men-tzu and the next haltingplace, Fan-chan-pu, but nothing happened of very great interest. We went through a curious gorge past Ouangkia-yao, lined all along with willowtrees, but neither Tasie - yao, Mie-tchan, or Tie-na, appeared to be villages of any great importance. Kiem-tsuen had the advantage of being of a much larger size.

safely on the other side, with the exception of one donkey, who, in strict similarity with all the evil spirits of China, insisted on going on his own account in a straight line in front of his nose, nor with the result, that when he reached the middle of the stream, he fell into one of the holes, and with the weight of the load he was carrying, disappeared. Only the points of his ears could be seen wagging out of the water. The hole-man, if I may call him so, who had eagerly been watching for this, ran in the water to his rescue and saved his life, for which act I duly rewarded him.

The marshes of Chang-Chui-mo, which we passed on our left, were picturesque with their huge willows growing along their borders. Then came in sight the village rejoicing in the name of Chia-chouei-mo, and last, but not least, the town of Fan-chan-pu. spent the night at this place.

We

Still traversing the country from south-west to north-east, and in a pouring rain, we visited the villages of Si-kou-ying, Hao-kwei-ying, and Sangyein. Here the women, dressed in their best clothes, stood watching us on the doorsteps, which would have been quite a pretty sight, with their multicolor jupons and trousers, had the effect not been partly spoiled by the horrible deformity of their feet squeezed into microscopic shoes. I possess a pair of these shoes as worn by a mandarin's wife, and the length of them is only three inches. Towards noon we reached Ya-lo-wan, on the banks of the Hung-ho River, a miserable village on a minuscule hill of yellow earth. The river had to be waded. A Chinaman

The next halt we made at Houai-laishien, a fairly large town sixteen hundred and fifty-three feet above sea-level, and intersected by the highway from Pekin to Kalgan, and thence to Siberia. A fine stone bridge is to be found just out of one of the gates. Three hours' journey brought us to Yu-ling-pu, and another hour to Paol-chan. Here we came to numerous towers similar to those described of the wall at Tung-antzu, but no signs of a wall could be discerned, which joined these towers, though I am of opinion that in all probability even these square structures were in olden days connected by an earthen wall or possibly even a light stone wall. Many of these towers bear the appearance of having been well used for fire-signalling. Not far from these we got to the great wall at Chatao, where walls and towers are of much larger dimensions than at any other place I have seen in China.

Chatao (fourteen hundred and seventy feet above sea-level) is situated on the small semicircle described by the

Great Wall between this and Cha-sau- | time. Two or three were half buried ku, therefore making the wall double under a pile of large stones. We between the two points, and forming a crossed over the bridge on to Chatouen, kind of a huge semi-circular enclosed a very festive place, where, though castle. The Great Wall of China, con- early in the morning, a diabolical represidering the centuries it has been up, sentation, with accompaniment of exmust have been wonderfully well built, cruciating music, was taking place in for, as yet, it is in marvellous repair, a large out-of-door theatre, and the with the exception of the roofs in the houses were decorated with paper towers that have fallen through. flowers and lanterns.

At this place the wall is enormously wide and imposing as it winds up the barren slopes of the nearer hills. The gate at Tziun-kuan was built in the third moon of the first year of Tzin-tai, but a more beautiful one is that at Kin-youn-kuan, with its magnificent stone carvings both under the archway and outside.

As we were going along the rivercourse it was amusing to watch the skilful way in which, with a small hand-net, the natives catch a tiny kind of fish, said to be excellent to eat.

Drawing nearer the Chinese capital the habitations increased in number, as well as the villages and towns. The dusty roadway was thronged with people, camels, horses, mules, and donkeys, and now and then a palanquin conveyed a high official to or from

Here I saw a strange sight. A number of fat pigs that passed on the road were clad in neat little socks, so that their feet should not get sore in walk-the East great centre. Coolies, with ing long distances.

their huge, pointed, round hats, were running with heavy loads to and fro, and everything was life and business.

At sunset we entered Pekin by the north gate, thus ending my enjoyable outing to the great Siao-outai-shan.

A. HENRY SAVAGE-LANDOR.

From The Scottish Review.

Following the highway, still passing thousands of camels carrying tea to Siberia, with the monotonous sound of their dingling bells, we came upon the Pass of Nankao; and from here, leaving the highway and swinging sharply to the north-east, we directed our steps to Che-san-ling, where we visited the Miug tombs. The one of Yunloh attracted mostly my admiration, and the Tumulus of Chang-su-uen, a simple MR. RUSKIN AS A PRACTICAL TEACHER. but stately structure in masonry and THE impractical nature of some of red lacquer, with a double roof similar Mr. Ruskin's teachings, especially in to a pagoda. The stone gateway, sur- political economy, his startling assermounted by two animals, was also as tions and vigorous protests against regraceful as it was simple. I must con- ceived opinions, and his apparently fess that so much had I heard about eccentric criticisms have, in times past, the avenue of the gigantic stone ani- been often the cause of regret to his mals and figures, that I was much dis- friends and the subject of severe aniappointed when I saw them. They madversion of his opponents. Some did not appear to me to be gigantic at have even provoked ridicule and superall; on the contrary, they seemed to cilious banter. It is therefore a pleasme very small, and some of the ani- ant surprise to find in the recently mals, like the elephant and the camel, published book of Mr. W. G. Collingwere, I am sure, smaller than life-size. wood, on the "Work and Life of John We made our last halt for the night Ruskin," that there was a remarkable at Chang-ping-tchu. In the morning, amount of good sense and practical as we left the town, we saw a number wisdom in the subject of this biog of bodies of men who had died of raphy. It is a work carefully and starvation, and from the stench they cautiously prepared by one whose chief had apparently been left there some claim to our attention, apart from his