PEACE CONCLUDED AND CAMPAIGN ENDED.

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After the ceremony the Prince of Kung proposed to give a banquet to Lord Elgin and the principal officers; but this was declined, as it was still feared that the treachery of the Chinese might find vent in poisoning the food. The French, however, accepted a banquet after the ceremony on the following day, when it was said that the Prince was in better spirits. That same day Lord Elgin took up his quarters inside the Tartar town, in the palace of the haughty Prince of E. The royal regiment accompanied him as body-guard.

A sense of relief was felt throughout the allied army, from the highest functionary or general, to the lowest private or menial in the two camps, at this satisfactory conclusion of the North-China campaign. All the troops were now anxious to proceed southwards to obtain proper shelter during the rigorous winter that had by this time fairly set in.

The Mandarin's Daughter leaves the Nunnery.-The Abbess begs for donations.-Curious customs between the Nuns and Visitors.-Loo A-Lee escorted on the way, tells who her father is.--She arrives safe at his house.

EACE being now restored, the gates of Peking were thrown open to the free ingress and egress of natives and foreigners. Great was the throng at all the entrances on the opening day. The Chinese who had deserted their houses in the suburbs to take refuge within the walls of the city at the commencement of hostilities, were now flocking out to visit their homes, and see if the "barbarians" had plundered them. As it was necessary for any one wishing to visit the city to have a pass, there were not many belonging to the army who obtained admittance the first day. I was among the few who applied and secured the necessary order, and went in search of my fair prize at the nunnery, to escort her into the city. This time there was no difficulty in finding the place, and I was heartily welcomed by the Abbess and Loo A-Lee. They had heard of the settlement of affairs, and rejoiced at the cessation of hostilities. On enquiry, I found that the chair and the two chair-bearers who had brought my fair charge from Yuen-ming-yuen, were still in

SHRINE IN THE KWAN-YIN NUNNERY.

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the convent. Accordingly orders were given to prepare for their departure to the city.

While these preparations were going on, the head priestess improved the occasion to do something in the begging way for the pecuniary benefit of the institution. She conducted me to the shrine of the goddess Kwan-yin, and showed me, on the walls behind it, several large tablets, on which were inscribed the names of donors who had contributed money for the maintenance of the order. Sometimes, she said, the contributions were in kind, so that, with the subscriptions of steady friends and the donations of occasional visitors, they managed to obtain the means of subsistence. She then pointed to the name of Loo A-Lee as a substantial donor. and hoped that "His Excellency" would follow her example, I gave a hearty laugh at the ingenious way in which the old lady had broached the subject, and as I had intended to contribute to the funds of the convent, I put some dollars in my pocket for that purpose, also to pay the chairbearers. Her eyes glistened with delight when I placed a handful of bright Mexican dollars on the shrine, before which she prostrated herself and performed the Ko-tow, by knocking her head nine times on its base, saying that this was another instance of the gracious patronage of Kwan-yin, who influenced the stranger to aid in supporting her poor devotees.

Seeing several men as well as women conversing with the nuns and priestess in the temple, I enquired what they were there for, in a place dedicated to celibacy. She informed me that these were people from the country, who had put themselves under the spiritual direction of the nuns, in whom they confided as teachers, and submitted to them as priestesses. Whether the devotee be a man or a

woman, the nun who is the chosen preceptress gives to the individual a new name. On that and every other occasion when they visit the nunnery, they pay a small sum to their female confessor, so that the more disciples she has the richer she becomes. On learning this I could not help thinking there was more regard for the loaves and fishes among these priestesses than the faith they professed. This supposition was verified by Loo A-Lee, whom I questioned on the subject after we had left the place. However, she said, "the superioress is a most avaricious woman, who assumes an appearance of paying great attention to her visitors where she expects to get most money. When I left the palace I brought many valuables with me, and I was afraid she might rob me of them. But I was very careful to hide them, and hope, under your protection, I may bring them safely home to my father."

"You may depend upon my protection; I will take care that no one shall harm you on the way. But tell me," I continued, "what is your father, and where are you likely to find him in the city?"

"My father," she modestly replied, "is what you foreigners call a Mandarin of the fifth grade, and is attached to the Board of Rites and Ceremonies. He lives in the Tartar portion of the city, not far from the great hall connected with the Board."

"Then I know where that is; for it was there that the ceremony was performed when concluding peace, and I marched in the procession accompanying our noble Envoy. But how was it, think you, that he did not come to Yuenming-yuen and fetch you home?"

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Perhaps he imagined that I got safely away with the Empress's attendants to Je-hol. This no doubt would have