igh idea
of the genuine attractiveness and solidity of the author's character. In
sickness, in trouble, in delay, in vexation, there runs through it all a
refreshing, manly, Anglo-Saxon spirit. Knowing as we do what is coming,
we find ourselves involuntarily catching with hope at little incidents
that seem to delay onward march. Reading these pages, it is impossible
to realize that he who wrote them is dead. It is with a mournful feeling
of utter and fatalistic helplessness that we follow this young and
generous hero while he travels, all unconsciously, down to his death. To
the very last all seems to go well with him. At Manwyne, the last city
on his journey, the renowned and dreaded Li-sieh-tai, the suppressor of
the Mohammedan rebellion, actually prostrated himself before him and
paid him the highest honors, warning the assembled chiefs of the savage
hill people that they had best take good care of the stranger, as he
came protected by an imperial passport.

On the 16th of February, 1875, Colonel Browne's expedition, accompanied
by Margary, broke up their camp at Tsitkaw, in Burmah, and advanced
toward the Chinese frontier.

Arrangements had been made with the practically independent chieftains
of this wild region for the safe passage of the party through the hilly
country. As it advanced, however, ominous rumors of a projected attack
by the hill savages and Chinese frontiersmen reached the ears of its
members. Though these rumors were generally discredited, it was thought
best to send forward Margary as a pioneer, he being well known to the
people and officials of the Chinese border town of Manwyne. Margary
willingly undertook the mission. With his Chinese teacher and
attendants, he hastened on in advance, the rest of the expedition
following more slowly. The last communications that came from him were
dated "Seray," a town just inside the Chinese frontier. He reported that
thus far the road was unmolested and the people civil. On the strength
of these advices, Colonel Browne pressed on, crossed the Chinese
frontier, and advanced as far as Seray. It was here, on the morning of
February 21, that Margary and his attendants had all been murdered, near
Manwyne.

Hardly had the news been communicated when it was found that the
expedition was surrounded by a large body of armed men, who instantly
began an attack. The assailants, a motley crowd of Kakhyens and Chinese
border men, were soon repulsed; but as reports came