rstand this. The mission retraced its steps into Burmah, and the
exploration of the "trade route of the future" was indefinitely
postponed.

The visit of the English party to Momien was the signal for a rapid
downfall of Soleiman's power. The imperial government, seriously alarmed
at the practical recognition of the rebels' independence by an outside
power, now put forth all its might to reestablish its authority. It was
successful.

Under the energetic command of one Li-sieh-tai, a famous general who had
once himself been a rebel, the Chinese armies wrested back the country,
foot by foot, to its former governors. In 1872 Tali-fu, the last and
most important stronghold of the rebellion, was closely invested. After
a desperate resistance, it was obliged to open its gates.

The end of Soleiman was dramatic in the extreme. He was told that his
followers should be spared if he himself would surrender. He agreed to
the terms, and, after administering a dose of poison to himself, his
three wives and five children, he mounted his chair, and was borne to
the camp of his enemies, where he arrived a corpse sitting erect, the
imperial turban on his head and the keys of his capital clasped tightly
in his hand. His head, preserved in honey, was sent to Peking. The
imperial troops poured into Tali-fu. A general massacre occurred. Those
Mohammedans that were not slaughtered fled to the mountains, where they
still continued to keep up a guerilla warfare. But the rebellion was
practically at an end, and by 1874 the authority of the central
government was firmly established throughout the province.

The trade between Burmah and China, which had ceased almost entirely
during the long years of the rebellion, again sprang into activity, and
once more the attention of the Indian government was attracted to it. In
1874 a new expedition of exploration was prepared and placed under the
command of Colonel Browne. The consent of the King of Burmah was
obtained, and the British minister in Peking, Mr. Thomas Wade, was
instructed to explain the object of the mission to the Chinese
government, so that it might receive no opposition upon crossing the
Chinese frontier. It was also arranged that a special messenger should
be despatched from Peking across China to the frontier to act as
interpreter to the expedition, and to prepare the mandarins along the
route for its approach. For this responsible and dangerous service,
Augustus Raymond Margary wa