d Ta-Ke, became a frightful example of
sensuality and cruelty. Among the inventions of Ta-Ke was a cylinder of
polished brass, along which her victims were forced to walk over a bed
of fire below, she laughing in great glee if they slipped and fell into
the flames. In fact, Chinese invention exhausts itself in describing the
crimes and immoral doings of this abominable pair, which, fortunately,
we are not obliged to believe.

Of the later emperors, Mou Wang, who came to the throne about 1000 B.C.,
was famed as a builder of palaces and public works, and was the first of
the emperors to come into conflict with the Tartars of the Mongolian
plains, who afterwards gave China such endless trouble. He travelled
into regions before unknown, and brought a new breed of horses into
China, which, fed on "dragon grass," were able to travel one thousand
_li_ in a day. As this distance is nearly four hundred miles, it would
be well for modern horsemen if some of that dragon grass could yet be
found.

It is not worth while going on with the story of these early monarchs,
of whom all we know is so brief and unimportant as not to be worth the
telling, while little of it is safe to believe. In the "burning of the
books," which took place later, most of the ancient history disappeared,
while the "Book of History" of Confucius, which professes to have taken
from the earlier books all that was worth the telling, is too meagre and
unimportant in its story to be of much value.

Yet, if we can believe all we are told, the historians of China were at
any time ready to become martyrs in the cause of truth, and gave the
story of the different reigns with singular fidelity and intrepidity.
Mailla relates the following incident: "In the reign of the emperor Ling
Wang of the Chow dynasty, 548 B.C., Chang Kong, Prince of Tsi, became
enamoured of the wife of Tsouichow, a general, who resented the affront
and killed the prince. The historians attached to the household of the
prince recorded the facts, and named Tsouichow as the murderer. On
learning this the general caused the principal historian to be arrested
and slain, and appointed another in his place. But as soon as the new
historian entered upon his office he recorded the exact facts of the
whole occurrence, including the death of his predecessor and the cause
of his death. Tsouichow was so much enraged at this that he ordered all
the members of the Tribunal of History to be executed. But at on