8. Sea-weed Tough as leather.
9. White Bait Good.
10. Interiors of Fish Good heavens!!!
11. Lotus Nuts and Milk Very good.
12. Chicken (boiled in different manner) Passed.
13. Rissoles of Frogs Je ne sais pas.
14. Pork and Rice Flour A curious mixture.
15. Sugared Rice Too sweet.
16. Duck (boiled) Excellent, the best dish.
17. Shark's Fins Very good.
18. Porridge No thanks.
19. Soup Passed.
20. Opium, cigars, etc. On this occasion opium
was not smoked.

This long _menu_ was gone through accompanied with an abundance of
talk, compliments, jokes and the emission of various sounds peculiar
to the Chinese while feeding.

Immediately on rising from table we donned our hats, saluted _a la
Chinoise_ by shaking our clasped hands in each other's faces, "Nin
ching. Poo sung, poo sung," and took our departure, bowing repeatedly
and walking backwards.

CHAPTER VII

AROUND PEKING

The translation of the word Peking is "capital of the North," and is
so called in contradistinction to Nanking[1] or "capital of the
South."

Peking is not a Chinese city at all, although generally supposed to be
so, but a Tartar city, which, instead of the jumble of narrow, paved
streets habitually found in all Chinese towns, was originally designed
and laid out on a plan probably excelling in grandeur that of any
other city in the world. That the result, as seen in the city of
to-day, is but a mockery of the magnificent idea which possessed the
master mind that conceived it, is due to that trait of the Mongolian
temperament which exhausts itself in the conception and completion of
some gigantic undertaking, leaving it thenceforth to moulder and
decay, until in succeeding ages it stands gaunt witness of human
wisdom, folly and neglect. Such are Peking, the Great Wall and the
Grand Canal.

Although adjoining the Tartar, there is a Chinese city, it is so
squalid and of such mean pretensions that with the exception of a
single street it is of but little interest to Europeans, so that when
speaking of Peking it is the Tartar city alone that one has in mind.

Surrounded by a