onquerors;
and though he was eager for information, he disappeared without
giving any clue to the Sleepy Hollow in which he was hiding. The
author no doubt intended a quiet satire on the seclusion of China,
that had nothing to ask of the outside world but to be let alone.

Another of the sketches, which is no satire, but a cautionary
hint--perhaps an unconscious prophecy--is entitled "The Magic Carpet
of the Red-haired," a vulgar designation for Europeans, in contrast
with the Chinese, who style themselves the "Black-haired race."
During the former dynasty, it says, a ship arrived from some unknown
country, and those aboard desired to engage in commerce. Their
request was refused; but when they asked permission to dry their
goods on shore, requiring for that purpose no more ground than
they could cover with a carpet, their petition was readily granted.
The carpet was spread, and the goods were exposed to the sun; then,
taking the carpet by its four corners, they stretched it so that
it covered several acres. A large body of armed men then planted
themselves on it, and striking out in every direction took possession
of the country. This elastic carpet reminds one of Dido's bull's
hide, which covered space enough for the foundation of Carthage.

ACT 1. THE OPIUM WAR, 1839-1842

The Tartars, who began their conquest in 1644, were naturally suspicious
of other foreigners who had secured a foothold in India, where the
Great Mogul, a scion
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of their own race, still held nominal sway. The trading-posts,
which the Chinese emperors had permitted foreigners to open as
far north as Ningpo, were closed, and only one point of tangency
was allowed to remain--the above-mentioned Factories at Canton, a
spot, as we shall see, large enough to admit of the spreading of
a "magic carpet." Foreign trade was at that time insignificant, in
comparison with the enormous expansion which it has now attained.
It was mainly in the hands of the British, as it still continues to
be; and no small part of it consisted in opium from the poppy-fields
of India. Though under the ban of prohibition, this drug was smuggled
into every bay and inlet, with scarcely a pretence of concealment.
With the introduction of the vicious opium habit the British had
nothing to do; but they contrived to turn it to good account.

The Emperor Tao Kwang, moved, it is said, by the unhappy fate of
one of his sons who had fallen a victim to the seductive poison,