eking_, p. 54.)--H.C.]

The River is that which appears in the maps as the Hwan Ho, Hun-ho, or
Yongting Ho, flowing about 7 miles west of Peking towards the south-east
and joining the Pe-Ho at Tientsin; and the Bridge is that which has been
known for ages as the _Lu-kou-Kiao_ or Bridge of Lukou, adjoining the town
which is called in the Russian map of Peking _Feuchen_, but in the official
Chinese Atlas _Kung-Keih-cheng_. (See Map at ch. xi. of Bk. II. in the
first Volume.) ["Before arriving at the bridge the small walled city of
_Kung-ki cheng_ is passed. This was founded in the first half of the 17th
century. The people generally call it _Fei-ch'eng_" (_Bretschneider,
Peking_, p. 50.)--H.C.] It is described both by Magaillans and Lecomte,
with some curious discrepancies, whilst each affords particulars
corroborative of Polo's account of the character of the bridge. The former
calls it the finest bridge in China. Lecomte's account says the bridge was
the finest he had yet seen. "It is above 170 geometrical paces (850 feet)
in length. The arches are small, but the rails or side-walls are made of
a hard whitish stone resembling marble. These stones are more than 5 feet
long, 3 feet high, and 7 or 8 inches thick; supported at each end by
pilasters adorned with mouldings and bearing the figures of lions.... The
bridge is paved with great flat stones, so well joined that it is even as
a floor."

Magaillans thinks Polo's memory partially misled him, and that his
description applies more correctly to another bridge on the same road, but
some distance further west, over the Lieu-li Ho. For the bridge over the
Hwan Ho had really but _thirteen_ arches, whereas that on the Lieu-li had,
as Polo specifies, twenty-four. The engraving which we give of the Lu-kou
K'iao from a Chinese work confirms this statement, for it shows but
thirteen arches. And what Polo says of the navigation of the river is
almost conclusive proof that Magaillans is right, and that our traveller's
memory confounded the two bridges. For the navigation of the Hwan Ho, even
when its channel is full, is said to be impracticable on account of rapids,
whilst the Lieu-li Ho, or "Glass River," is, as its name implies, smooth,
and navigable, and it is largely navigated by boats from the coal-mines of
Fang-shan. The road crosses the latter about two leagues from Cho-chau.
(See next chapter.)

[Illustration: Bridge of Lu-ku k'iao]

[The Rev. W.S. Ament (_M. Polo in Cam