connected one
with another by means of impossible thoroughfares which passed for
streets.

A Russian diplomat once said to me that he considered Peking "dirty
but nice," and this description exactly coincides with my own idea.
This wasted body on a majestic frame carries one back with a single
step to civilisation of a thousand years ago. Not the remnants
displayed to tourists in Greece or Rome but the real thing, over which
the Western spirit of change has as yet worked but little alteration.

In this vast museum of antiquities one finds at every turn objects of
engrossing interest, and personally it seemed to me that many of the
scenes depicted in Prescott's enchanting book, _The Conquest of
Mexico_, might almost as well have been laid in this far-famed capital
of the North. Great antiquity, isolation from the Western world, pride
of race and empire, veneration for their own colossal literature,
arrested civilisation and profound contempt for all things foreign,
create a picture rich in detail, very mournful in subject and
marvellous in perspective.

The means of getting about are by cart, on horseback or afoot, the
sedan chair, which in other places furnishes the most comfortable
conveyance, being here reserved for members of the Imperial family
and for high officials both native and foreign.

The carts, which ply for hire like cabs, are massive, springless
tumbrils covered with a wain. In fine weather the passenger, with a
view to less discomfort, usually sits on the splashboard with his back
rubbing against the hind-quarters of the pony or mule and his feet
dangling in front of the wheel, which plays on to them a continuous
stream of dirt and dust. In windy weather one must crawl inside and
sit on the floor tailor fashion, there being no seat, and then let
down the curtain, thus effectually blocking all view but keeping out
most of the dust, which, flying in blinding clouds, would quickly
reduce one to a state of absolute filth, filling the clothes, hair,
ears and mouth and guttering down from the nose and eyes. To this foul
dust is due the terrible amount of ophthalmia and consequent blindness
so prevalent throughout the East.

In rainy weather carts sink up to the axle in black liquid mud, which
flies in all directions from the wheels, and at each footfall of horse
or mule, splattering pedestrians and shop-fronts on the sidewalks and
smothering other vehicles as they pass.

To such an indescribable state