RESCUE OF THE MANDARIN'S DAUGHTER.

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suddenly, and with only a portion of her attendants, leaving the others to be brought away by their relatives in the city. She was the only one left behind, expecting her father to come from the city and take her home, but he had not been able to do so, as she was told by the eunuchs left in charge of the palace that the gates were closed, and no one allowed to go beyond the walls.

I endeavoured to explain how matters stood; that the palace was in possession of the foreign troops, and in doing so she became somewhat pacified.

I then returned to our party, and reported to my superior officer what I had seen. The colonel, Wolseley, gallantly allowed me to protect the forlorn damsel, and assist her in leaving the palace before it was given up to plunder, when she might have fared badly at the hands of the French soldiery. No time was lost in securing a sedan-chair and enlisting the services of two eunuchs, who were only too glad to get away by carrying the maid of honour to a place of refuge. Knowing all the intricacies of the palace grounds, they carried her and her pet dog beyond the walls of Yuen-ming-yuen, through a small side door, some distance from the main entrance, under my escort.

When they got outside, the question was where to take her to a place of safety, as it was impossible to enter the city. The chair-bearers knew of a Buddhist nunnery not far off, so it was agreed that she should be carried there. On arrival at the place the inmates were in great fear at seeing a foreign soldier approach the gate, but this was soon dispelled when the damsel in the chair told her story. Not only did the nuns gladly receive her, but offered the protection of their establishment to the two attendants.

I bade my charge good-bye, promising to return at the

earliest day to inform her when it would be safe to leave; but on no account to do so until affairs were settled between the contending powers. She thanked me earnestly for my protection, and promised implicitly to obey my advice.

On my way back I thought much of this strange adventure, and during the bivouac that night could scarcely sleep for thinking about this beautiful prize, which was more precious than all the gold and jewels I had seen in the palace.

The sacking and burning of the Imperial Palaces at Yuen-ming-yuen. -Valuable plunder taken by the French.-Horrible tortures and deaths of British and Indian subjects.-Lord Elgin orders the destruction of the Emperor's Palace by fire as an act of retribution.

N the day following that on which the French took possession of the Yuen-ming-yuen palaces, Lord Elgin and suite, and Sir Hope Grant and

staff, visited the famous imperial gardens and residence. Rambling through the summer park, they estimated the extent of wall surrounding the whole at about twelve miles. Pebbled paths led through groves of magnificent trees, around lakes, into picturesque summer-houses, over fantastic bridges. As they walked along, herds of deer ambled away from them, tossing their antlered heads. Here a solitary building rose fairy-like from the centre of a lake, reflecting its image on the limpid blue liquid in which it seemed to float, and then a sloping path would carry them into the heart of a mysterious cavern of artificial rocks, and lead them on to a grotto in the bosom of another lake. The variety was endless and charming in the extreme; indeed, all that is most lovely in Chinese scenery, where art rivals nature, seemed associated in these delightful grounds. The resources of the designer appeared to have been endless, and no money had been spared to bring his work to

perfection. All the tasteful landscapes so often viewed in the better class of Chinese paintings, and which they had hitherto looked upon as wrought out of the imagination of the artist, were here fully set forth.

They wandered for hours through the cool shades and winding paths, from building to building. Here and there was a terrace on the side of a hill, with summer-houses so cool, each containing suites of richly-furnished apartments, now deserted, most of them untouched; although they met scores of Chinese carrying away heavy loads of plunder from the out-buildings, chiefly cloth and porcelain-ware. Then they ascended a flight of some eighty marble steps, a gentle stream of water at each side falling into a large marble basin at the bottom, bridged with marble also. At the top they reached a terrace surrounded by dark pine-trees, in the centre of which stood a Buddhist temple. They entered the building where the triple deity was represented by huge wooden images, with numerous smaller shrines and smaller images. Before the great idol were the ashes of the stocks of incense, the last that ever were to smoke at his shrine in that imperial temple.

"What is this?" said the interpreter; "gold, is it not?" taking up with some difficulty an idol about two feet high.

"Gold, my dear fellow !" another replied, "do you think gold is so plentiful in China that they have golden gods in a remote temple like this, where any one might carry them off?"

"It's heavy enough, then, if it is not gold; let us smash him and see;" and down went the divinity with a heavy thud on the marble floor, but no sign of a smash in him."

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I am sure it is gold," he again asserted.

"If you think so," said one, "bring it home, then.”

TREASURES OF YUEN-MING-YUEN.

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“I wish I had that lazy servant of mine here," was his rejoinder, as he stood looking at the idol, "I should make him carry it." So they left it there; but when the burning came it was found by others, who brought it home and made a fortune out of it.

Proceeding along the terrace, they arrived at one of the Emperor's favourite residences, where he loved to retire and pass his days with one or more of his wives. Of these he had thirteen. The first wife, or Empress, had no family, but two of the junior wives had blessed him with issue, one a boy (afterwards the reigning Emperor Tung Che), the other a girl. His children, as well as his wives, had accompanied him in his flight to Je-hol, an imperial residence in Manchoo Tartary, about a hundred miles from Peking, a cool retreat during the summer.

On entering this palace they passed through several courtyards paved with marble, surrounded by apartments furnished in the most gorgeous style, with rare ornaments, and cabinets containing sets of the imperial yellow china. There were also imperial sceptres in green and white jadestone, and tall jars in porcelain, painted in the richest colours, representing a series of hunting scenes in which the tiger and stag were pursued. Tablets adorned the walls of large size, in which sylvan scenes of landscape or hunting were represented, and in which the figures, trees, water, animals, and other objects, were inlaid with precious stones. There were sleeping-rooms to the right and left, with satin embroidered hangings over the beds, where doubtless the fugitive Emperor had slept. Here, it was said, Hien Fung lay surrounded by the favourites of his harem when the report reached him that the foreign invaders had landed in his territory and were marching on his capital. Like a

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