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vi CONTENTS

Chapter summary 38
Problems 39
Exercises 47

CHAPTER 2
THE ELECTRIC POTENTIAL 58

2.1 Line integral of the electric field 59

2.2 Potential difference and the potential function 61
2.3 Gradient of a scalar function 63
2.4 Derivation of the field from the potential 65
2.5 Potential of a charge distribution 65
2.6 Uniformly charged disk 68
2.7 Dipoles 73
2.8 Divergence of a vector function 78
2.9 Gauss’s theorem and the differential form of
Gauss’s law 79
2.10 The divergence in Cartesian coordinates 81
2.11 The Laplacian 85
2.12 Laplace’s equation 86
2.13 Distinguishing the physics from the mathematics 88
2.14 The curl of a vector function 90
2.15 Stokes’ theorem 92
2.16 The curl in Cartesian coordinates 93
2.17 The physical meaning of the curl 95
2.18 Applications 100
Chapter summary 103
Problems 105
Exercises 112

CHAPTER 3
ELECTRIC FIELDS AROUND CONDUCTORS 124

3.1 Conductors and insulators 125

3.2 Conductors in the electrostatic field 126
3.3 The general electrostatic problem and the
uniqueness theorem 132
3.4 Image charges 136
3.5 Capacitance and capacitors 141
3.6 Potentials and charges on several conductors 147
3.7 Energy stored in a capacitor 149
3.8 Other views of the boundary-value problem 151
3.9 Applications 153
Chapter summary 155
 CONTENTS vii

Problems 155
Exercises 163

CHAPTER 4
ELECTRIC CURRENTS 177

4.1 Electric current and current density 177

4.2 Steady currents and charge conservation 180
4.3 Electrical conductivity and Ohm’s law 181
4.4 The physics of electrical conduction 189
4.5 Conduction in metals 198
4.6 Semiconductors 200
4.7 Circuits and circuit elements 204
4.8 Energy dissipation in current flow 207
4.9 Electromotive force and the voltaic cell 209
4.10 Networks with voltage sources 212
4.11 Variable currents in capacitors and resistors 215
4.12 Applications 217
Chapter summary 221
Problems 222
Exercises 226

CHAPTER 5
THE FIELDS OF MOVING CHARGES 235

5.1 From Oersted to Einstein 236

5.2 Magnetic forces 237
5.3 Measurement of charge in motion 239
5.4 Invariance of charge 241
5.5 Electric field measured in different frames
of reference 243
5.6 Field of a point charge moving with constant velocity 247
5.7 Field of a charge that starts or stops 251
5.8 Force on a moving charge 255
5.9 Interaction between a moving charge and other
moving charges 259
Chapter summary 267
Problems 268
Exercises 270

CHAPTER 6
THE MAGNETIC FIELD 277

6.1 Definition of the magnetic field 278

6.2 Some properties of the magnetic field 286
viii CONTENTS

6.3 Vector potential 293

6.4 Field of any current-carrying wire 296
6.5 Fields of rings and coils 299
6.6 Change in B at a current sheet 303
6.7 How the fields transform 306
6.8 Rowland’s experiment 314
6.9 Electrical conduction in a magnetic field:
the Hall effect 314
6.10 Applications 317
Chapter summary 322
Problems 323
Exercises 331

CHAPTER 7
ELECTROMAGNETIC INDUCTION 342

7.1 Faraday’s discovery 343

7.2 Conducting rod moving through a uniform
magnetic field 345
7.3 Loop moving through a nonuniform magnetic field 346
7.4 Stationary loop with the field source moving 352
7.5 Universal law of induction 355
7.6 Mutual inductance 359
7.7 A reciprocity theorem 362
7.8 Self-inductance 364
7.9 Circuit containing self-inductance 366
7.10 Energy stored in the magnetic field 368
7.11 Applications 369
Chapter summary 373
Problems 374
Exercises 380

CHAPTER 8
ALTERNATING-CURRENT CIRCUITS 388

8.1 A resonant circuit 388

8.2 Alternating current 394
8.3 Complex exponential solutions 402
8.4 Alternating-current networks 405
8.5 Admittance and impedance 408
8.6 Power and energy in alternating-current circuits 415
8.7 Applications 418
Chapter summary 420
Problems 421
Exercises 424
 CONTENTS ix

CHAPTER 9
MAXWELL’S EQUATIONS AND ELECTROMAGNETIC
WAVES 430

9.1 “Something is missing” 430

9.2 The displacement current 433
9.3 Maxwell’s equations 436
9.4 An electromagnetic wave 438
9.5 Other waveforms; superposition of waves 441
9.6 Energy transport by electromagnetic waves 446
9.7 How a wave looks in a different frame 452
9.8 Applications 454
Chapter summary 455
Problems 457
Exercises 461

CHAPTER 10
ELECTRIC FIELDS IN MATTER 466

10.1 Dielectrics 467

10.2 The moments of a charge distribution 471
10.3 The potential and field of a dipole 474
10.4 The torque and the force on a dipole in an
external field 477
10.5 Atomic and molecular dipoles; induced
dipole moments 479
10.6 Permanent dipole moments 482
10.7 The electric field caused by polarized matter 483
10.8 Another look at the capacitor 489
10.9 The field of a polarized sphere 492
10.10 A dielectric sphere in a uniform field 495
10.11 The field of a charge in a dielectric medium, and
Gauss’s law 497
10.12 A microscopic view of the dielectric 500
10.13 Polarization in changing fields 504
10.14 The bound-charge current 505
10.15 An electromagnetic wave in a dielectric 507
10.16 Applications 509
Chapter summary 511
Problems 513
Exercises 516

CHAPTER 11
MAGNETIC FIELDS IN MATTER 523

11.1 How various substances respond to a

magnetic field 524
x CONTENTS

11.2 The absence of magnetic “charge” 529

11.3 The field of a current loop 531
11.4 The force on a dipole in an external field 535
11.5 Electric currents in atoms 540
11.6 Electron spin and magnetic moment 546
11.7 Magnetic susceptibility 549
11.8 The magnetic field caused by magnetized matter 551
11.9 The field of a permanent magnet 557
11.10 Free currents, and the field H 559
11.11 Ferromagnetism 565
11.12 Applications 570
Chapter summary 573
Problems 575
Exercises 577

CHAPTER 12
SOLUTIONS TO THE PROBLEMS 586

12.1 Chapter 1 586

12.2 Chapter 2 611
12.3 Chapter 3 636
12.4 Chapter 4 660
12.5 Chapter 5 678
12.6 Chapter 6 684
12.7 Chapter 7 707
12.8 Chapter 8 722
12.9 Chapter 9 734
12.10 Chapter 10 744
12.11 Chapter 11 755

Appendix A:
Differences between SI and Gaussian units 762

Appendix B:
SI units of common quantities 769

Appendix C:
Unit conversions 774

Appendix D:
SI and Gaussian formulas 778

Appendix E:
Exact relations among SI and Gaussian units 789
 CONTENTS xi

Appendix F:
Curvilinear coordinates 791

Appendix G:
A short review of special relativity 804

Appendix H:
Radiation by an accelerated charge 812

Appendix I:
Superconductivity 817

Appendix J:
Magnetic resonance 821

Appendix K:
Helpful formulas/facts 825

References 831

Index 833
For 50 years, physics students have enjoyed learning about electricity
and magnetism through the first two editions of this book. The purpose Preface to the third
of the present edition is to bring certain things up to date and to add new
material, in the hopes that the trend will continue. The main changes
edition of Volume 2
from the second edition are (1) the conversion from Gaussian units to SI
units, and (2) the addition of many solved problems and examples.
The first of these changes is due to the fact that the vast majority
of courses on electricity and magnetism are now taught in SI units. The
second edition fell out of print at one point, and it was hard to watch such
a wonderful book fade away because it wasn’t compatible with the way
the subject is presently taught. Of course, there are differing opinions as
to which system of units is “better” for an introductory course. But this
issue is moot, given the reality of these courses.
For students interested in working with Gaussian units, or for instruc-
tors who want their students to gain exposure to both systems, I have
created a number of appendices that should be helpful. Appendix A dis-
cusses the differences between the SI and Gaussian systems. Appendix C
derives the conversion factors between the corresponding units in the
two systems. Appendix D explains how to convert formulas from SI to
Gaussian; it then lists, side by side, the SI and Gaussian expressions for
every important result in the book. A little time spent looking at this
appendix will make it clear how to convert formulas from one system to
the other.
The second main change in the book is the addition of many solved
problems, and also many new examples in the text. Each chapter ends
with “problems” and “exercises.” The solutions to the “problems” are
located in Chapter 12. The only official difference between the problems
xiv Preface to the third edition of Volume 2

and exercises is that the problems have solutions included, whereas the
exercises do not. (A separate solutions manual for the exercises is avail-
able to instructors.) In practice, however, one difference is that some of
the more theorem-ish results are presented in the problems, so that stu-
dents can use these results in other problems/exercises.
Some advice on using the solutions to the problems: problems (and
exercises) are given a (very subjective) difficulty rating from 1 star to 4
stars. If you are having trouble solving a problem, it is critical that you
don’t look at the solution too soon. Brood over it for a while. If you do
finally look at the solution, don’t just read it through. Instead, cover it up
with a piece of paper and read one line at a time until you reach a hint
to get you started. Then set the book aside and work things out for real.
That’s the only way it will sink in. It’s quite astonishing how unhelpful
it is simply to read a solution. You’d think it would do some good, but
in fact it is completely ineffective in raising your understanding to the
next level. Of course, a careful reading of the text, including perhaps a
few problem solutions, is necessary to get the basics down. But if Level
1 is understanding the basic concepts, and Level 2 is being able to apply
those concepts, then you can read and read until the cows come home,
and you’ll never get past Level 1.
The overall structure of the text is essentially the same as in the sec-
ond edition, although a few new sections have been added. Section 2.7
introduces dipoles. The more formal treatment of dipoles, along with
their applications, remains in place in Chapter 10. But because the funda-
mentals of dipoles can be understood using only the concepts developed
in Chapters 1 and 2, it seems appropriate to cover this subject earlier
in the book. Section 8.3 introduces the important technique of solving
differential equations by forming complex solutions and then taking the
real part. Section 9.6.2 deals with the Poynting vector, which opens up
the door to some very cool problems.
Each chapter concludes with a list of “everyday” applications of
electricity and magnetism. The discussions are brief. The main purpose
of these sections is to present a list of fun topics that deserve further
investigation. You can carry onward with some combination of books/
internet/people/pondering. There is effectively an infinite amount of in-
formation out there (see the references at the beginning of Section 1.16
for some starting points), so my goal in these sections is simply to pro-
vide a springboard for further study.
The intertwined nature of electricity, magnetism, and relativity is
discussed in detail in Chapter 5. Many students find this material highly
illuminating, although some find it a bit difficult. (However, these two
groups are by no means mutually exclusive!) For instructors who wish to
take a less theoretical route, it is possible to skip directly from Chapter 4
to Chapter 6, with only a brief mention of the main result from Chapter 5,
namely the magnetic field due to a straight current-carrying wire.
 Preface to the third edition of Volume 2 xv

The use of non-Cartesian coordinates (cylindrical, spherical) is more

prominent in the present edition. For setups possessing certain symme-
tries, a wisely chosen system of coordinates can greatly simplify the cal-
culations. Appendix F gives a review of the various vector operators in
the different systems.
Compared with the second edition, the level of difficulty of the
present edition is slightly higher, due to a number of hefty problems that
have been added. If you are looking for an extra challenge, these prob-
lems should keep you on your toes. However, if these are ignored (which
they certainly can be, in any standard course using this book), then the
level of difficulty is roughly the same.
I am grateful to all the students who used a draft version of this book
and provided feedback. Their input has been invaluable. I would also like
to thank Jacob Barandes for many illuminating discussions of the more
subtle topics in the book. Paul Horowitz helped get the project off the
ground and has been an endless supplier of cool facts. It was a plea-
sure brainstorming with Andrew Milewski, who offered many ideas for
clever new problems. Howard Georgi and Wolfgang Rueckner provided
much-appreciated sounding boards and sanity checks. Takuya Kitagawa
carefully read through a draft version and offered many helpful sug-
gestions. Other friends and colleagues whose input I am grateful for
are: Allen Crockett, David Derbes, John Doyle, Gary Feldman, Melissa
Franklin, Jerome Fung, Jene Golovchenko, Doug Goodale, Robert Hart,
Tom Hayes, Peter Hedman, Jennifer Hoffman, Charlie Holbrow, Gareth
Kafka, Alan Levine, Aneesh Manohar, Kirk McDonald, Masahiro Morii,
Lev Okun, Joon Pahk, Dave Patterson, Mara Prentiss, Dennis Purcell,
Frank Purcell, Daniel Rosenberg, Emily Russell, Roy Shwitters, Nils
Sorensen, Josh Winn, and Amir Yacoby.
I would also like to thank the editorial and production group at Cam-
bridge University Press for their professional work in transforming the
second edition of this book into the present one. It has been a pleasure
working with Lindsay Barnes, Simon Capelin, Irene Pizzie, Charlotte
Thomas, and Ali Woollatt.
Despite careful editing, there is zero probability that this book is
error free. A great deal of new material has been added, and errors have
undoubtedly crept in. If anything looks amiss, please check the webpage
www.cambridge.org/Purcell-Morin for a list of typos, updates, etc. And
please let me know if you discover something that isn’t already posted.
Suggestions are always welcome.

David Morin
This revision of “Electricity and Magnetism,” Volume 2 of the Berkeley
Physics Course, has been made with three broad aims in mind. First, I Preface to the
have tried to make the text clearer at many points. In years of use teachers
and students have found innumerable places where a simplification or
second edition of
reorganization of an explanation could make it easier to follow. Doubtless
some opportunities for such improvements have still been missed; not too
Volume 2
many, I hope.
A second aim was to make the book practically independent of its
companion volumes in the Berkeley Physics Course. As originally con-
ceived it was bracketed between Volume I, which provided the needed
special relativity, and Volume 3, “Waves and Oscillations,” to which
was allocated the topic of electromagnetic waves. As it has turned out,
Volume 2 has been rather widely used alone. In recognition of that I have
made certain changes and additions. A concise review of the relations of
special relativity is included as Appendix A. Some previous introduction
to relativity is still assumed. The review provides a handy reference and
summary for the ideas and formulas we need to understand the fields of
moving charges and their transformation from one frame to another. The
development of Maxwell’s equations for the vacuum has been transferred
from the heavily loaded Chapter 7 (on induction) to a new Chapter 9,
where it leads naturally into an elementary treatment of plane electro-
magnetic waves, both running and standing. The propagation of a wave
in a dielectric medium can then be treated in Chapter 10 on Electric
Fields in Matter.
A third need, to modernize the treatment of certain topics, was most
urgent in the chapter on electrical conduction. A substantially rewritten
xviii Preface to the second edition of Volume 2

Chapter 4 now includes a section on the physics of homogeneous semi-

conductors, including doped semiconductors. Devices are not included,
not even a rectifying junction, but what is said about bands, and donors
and acceptors, could serve as starting point for development of such top-
ics by the instructor. Thanks to solid-state electronics the physics of the
voltaic cell has become even more relevant to daily life as the number
of batteries in use approaches in order of magnitude the world’s popu-
lation. In the first edition of this book I unwisely chose as the example
of an electrolytic cell the one cell—the Weston standard cell—which
advances in physics were soon to render utterly obsolete. That section
has been replaced by an analysis, with new diagrams, of the lead-acid
storage battery—ancient, ubiquitous, and far from obsolete.
One would hardly have expected that, in the revision of an elemen-
tary text in classical electromagnetism, attention would have to be paid to
new developments in particle physics. But that is the case for two ques-
tions that were discussed in the first edition, the significance of charge
quantization, and the apparent absence of magnetic monopoles. Obser-
vation of proton decay would profoundly affect our view of the first ques-
tion. Assiduous searches for that, and also for magnetic monopoles, have
at this writing yielded no confirmed events, but the possibility of such
fundamental discoveries remains open.
Three special topics, optional extensions of the text, are introduced
in short appendixes: Appendix B: Radiation by an Accelerated Charge;
Appendix C: Superconductivity; and Appendix D: Magnetic Resonance.
Our primary system of units remains the Gaussian CGS system. The
SI units, ampere, coulomb, volt, ohm, and tesla are also introduced in
the text and used in many of the problems. Major formulas are repeated
in their SI formulation with explicit directions about units and conver-
sion factors. The charts inside the back cover summarize the basic rela-
tions in both systems of units. A special chart in Chapter 11 reviews, in
both systems, the relations involving magnetic polarization. The student
is not expected, or encouraged, to memorize conversion factors, though
some may become more or less familiar through use, but to look them up
whenever needed. There is no objection to a “mixed” unit like the ohm-
cm, still often used for resistivity, providing its meaning is perfectly clear.
The definition of the meter in terms of an assigned value for the
speed of light, which has just become official, simplifies the exact rela-
tions among the units, as briefly explained in Appendix E.
There are some 300 problems, more than half of them new.
It is not possible to thank individually all the teachers and students
who have made good suggestions for changes and corrections. I fear
that some will be disappointed to find that their suggestions have not
been followed quite as they intended. That the net result is a substantial
improvement I hope most readers familiar with the first edition will agree.
 Preface to the second edition of Volume 2 xix

Mistakes both old and new will surely be found. Communications pointing
them out will be gratefully received.
It is a pleasure to thank Olive S. Rand for her patient and skillful
assistance in the production of the manuscript.

Edward M. Purcell
The subject of this volume of the Berkeley Physics Course is electricity
and magnetism. The sequence of topics, in rough outline, is not unusual: Preface to the first
electrostatics; steady currents; magnetic field; electromagnetic induc-
tion; electric and magnetic polarization in matter. However, our approach
edition of Volume 2
is different from the traditional one. The difference is most conspicu-
ous in Chaps. 5 and 6 where, building on the work of Vol. I, we treat
the electric and magnetic fields of moving charges as manifestations of
relativity and the invariance of electric charge. This approach focuses
attention on some fundamental questions, such as: charge conservation,
charge invariance, the meaning of field. The only formal apparatus of
special relativity that is really necessary is the Lorentz transformation
of coordinates and the velocity-addition formula. It is essential, though,
that the student bring to this part of the course some of the ideas and atti-
tudes Vol. I sought to develop—among them a readiness to look at things
from different frames of reference, an appreciation of invariance, and a
respect for symmetry arguments. We make much use also, in Vol. II, of
arguments based on superposition.
Our approach to electric and magnetic phenomena in matter is pri-
marily “microscopic,” with emphasis on the nature of atomic and molec-
ular dipoles, both electric and magnetic. Electric conduction, also, is
described microscopically in the terms of a Drude-Lorentz model. Nat-
urally some questions have to be left open until the student takes up
quantum physics in Vol. IV. But we freely talk in a matter-of-fact way
about molecules and atoms as electrical structures with size, shape, and
stiffness, about electron orbits, and spin. We try to treat carefully a ques-
tion that is sometimes avoided and sometimes beclouded in introductory
texts, the meaning of the macroscopic fields E and B inside a material.
xxii Preface to the first edition of Volume 2

In Vol. II, the student’s mathematical equipment is extended by

adding some tools of the vector calculus—gradient, divergence, curl,
and the Laplacian. These concepts are developed as needed in the early
chapters.
In its preliminary versions, Vol. II has been used in several classes at
the University of California. It has benefited from criticism by many peo-
ple connected with the Berkeley Course, especially from contributions
by E. D. Commins and F. S. Crawford, Jr., who taught the first classes to
use the text. They and their students discovered numerous places where
clarification, or something more drastic, was needed; many of the revi-
sions were based on their suggestions. Students’ criticisms of the last
preliminary version were collected by Robert Goren, who also helped
to organize the problems. Valuable criticism has come also from J. D.
Gavenda, who used the preliminary version at the University of Texas,
and from E. F. Taylor, of Wesleyan University. Ideas were contributed by
Allan Kaufman at an early stage of the writing. A. Felzer worked through
most of the first draft as our first “test student.”
The development of this approach to electricity and magnetism was
encouraged, not only by our original Course Committee, but by col-
leagues active in a rather parallel development of new course material
at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Among the latter, J. R.
Tessman, of the MIT Science Teaching Center and Tufts University, was
especially helpful and influential in the early formulation of the strategy.
He has used the preliminary version in class, at MIT, and his critical
reading of the entire text has resulted in many further changes and cor-
rections.
Publication of the preliminary version, with its successive revisions,
was supervised by Mrs. Mary R. Maloney. Mrs. Lila Lowell typed most
of the manuscript. The illustrations were put into final form by Felix
Cooper.
The author of this volume remains deeply grateful to his friends
in Berkeley, and most of all to Charles Kittel, for the stimulation and
constant encouragement that have made the long task enjoyable.

Edward M. Purcell
Overview The existence of this book is owed (both figuratively
1
Electrostatics:
and literally) to the fact that the building blocks of matter possess a
quality called charge. Two important aspects of charge are conser-
vation and quantization. The electric force between two charges
charges and fields
is given by Coulomb’s law. Like the gravitational force, the electric
force falls off like 1/r2 . It is conservative, so we can talk about the
potential energy of a system of charges (the work done in assem-
bling them). A very useful concept is the electric field, which is
defined as the force per unit charge. Every point in space has a
unique electric field associated with it. We can define the flux of
the electric field through a given surface. This leads us to Gauss’s
law, which is an alternative way of stating Coulomb’s law. In cases
involving sufficient symmetry, it is much quicker to calculate the
electric field via Gauss’s law than via Coulomb’s law and direct
integration. Finally, we discuss the energy density in the elec-
tric field, which provides another way of calculating the potential
energy of a system.

1.1 Electric charge

Electricity appeared to its early investigators as an extraordinary phe-
nomenon. To draw from bodies the “subtle fire,” as it was sometimes
called, to bring an object into a highly electrified state, to produce a
steady flow of current, called for skillful contrivance. Except for the
spectacle of lightning, the ordinary manifestations of nature, from the
freezing of water to the growth of a tree, seemed to have no relation to
the curious behavior of electrified objects. We know now that electrical
Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
We pass the mud forts of Taku, where the great battle of 1860 took
place, when the allied forces were on their march to Peking. The
Chinese idea of fortifications, as a rule, consists largely of walls of
mud with a hard battened surface, and these forts are intended for
the protection of the Peiho, but really their best one rests in the bar
at its mouth. There is the embankment yonder of China's only
railway. It runs from Taku to Tientsin. Fancy a country of four million
square miles, with a population of as many millions as there are
days in the year, with but one single railway of a few miles! Yet such
is the case; China is still in the shadow of the dark ages.
The morning mists gather into a thin vapour and roll upwards,
showing miles of fields, cultivated like kitchen gardens, interspersed
with mud villages, where the houses are made of wattles plastered
over with the earth they stand on, with chimneys formed of a cone
of mud, and paper windows. In wet weather and floods these
houses often partially dissolve, or subside altogether. But then they
are so easily rebuilt. Here the urchins come out and revel in the
murky wash in our wake, whilst the sampan propellers push
hurriedly off from the bank, lest we land them, as indeed we did
one, high and dry after our swell had subsided. Hundreds of coolies
are trudging along, with their bamboo poles slung across their
shoulders, whilst others squatted on the ground occupied with that
B.C., or ancient Eastern method of irrigation, the automatically
worked water-wheel.
We now have the disagreeable excitement of going aground, a
gentle bump on a flat bank, where we stick fast, and recall all the
stories which we have been hearing, of steamers staying aground
for a week or ten days. Meanwhile the screw churns away at the
liquid mud, and a crowd collects on the causeway above, and yet we
remain fast. It is after half an hour's manœuvring that we get off
and proceed through the few more perilous bends still left, with a
few more hair-breadth escapes. We see the tall chimneys, covering a
large area, of the Arsenal, and then the Pagoda, with its white
umbrellas, overlooking the fort and military exercise ground for the
troops, and then we are nearing Tientsin. It is pleasant in the first
view of Tientsin to be greeted by a familiar remembrance of
England, in the towers of a miniature Windsor Castle, the Victoria
Hall of the English Settlement, that tower above the dust-coloured
hovels. It is in strange contrast to the two cages on the banks, fixed
on the top of tall bamboo poles, where are seen the heads of two
criminals. Doubtless they were executed on the spot where the
crime was committed, as is the Chinese custom.
We anchor in the river, and amid a deafening roar, and the shoving,
scraping and pushing of hundreds of filthy sampans, we land on the
Bund of Tientsin, and are settling into the somewhat uninviting
quarters of the Astor House, when Mr. Byron Brennan, H. M.'s
Consul, kindly sends for us, and in an hour we are installed in luxury,
and have washed away the unpleasant reminiscences of our journey
across the Yellow Sea in a collier.
The English Consulate looks out over the Bund, but it is such a
different Bund to the usual one of handsome houses and gardens
touching the water's edge. This one is piled up with merchandise;
great bales of goods, covered with matting, are stacked under the
trees or strewn about the ground, and through the wide-opened
windows come all day the shouts and cries of the strong-limbed
coolies, as they lade and unlade the ships. A strange silence falls
over the busy scene of the day, at night. But in another month or
two the Bund will be a model of neatness, swept and clean, and all
this bustling scene will be hushed under the spell of winter, for the
Peiho freezes in the end of November or beginning of December.
Merchants are now hurrying to send away the last of their
merchandise, and residents are receiving their last supplies before
the river is closed. During those winter months Tientsin is entirely
cut off from the outer world, save for the mails which are brought
overland. No one can enter or leave the town to go south, and
business is at a standstill until spring breaks up the ice. This isolation
comes suddenly, for we heard of a steamer that went aground below
Tientsin, and in one night was frozen in by a coat of ice a foot thick.
A British gunboat is anchored under the Consulate, sent up since the
late riots at Wuhu, and it is a great comfort to the English residents
to feel that she is to spend the winter here.
We passed a quiet forenoon with a regular feast of the Times and of
home news. Then in the evening Mrs. Brennan took me for a walk
round the European Concession, down Consulate Road, where the
consulates of the various nations are situated, to the Gordon Hall
and Victoria Gardens. Five years ago this was a mud-dried waste—
strange contrast to these pretty zoological gardens, with its tennis
courts, and well laid out paths, and Chinese band playing. The Hall is
the centre of social life, where dances and public entertainments are
held, and it has a capital Library and Reading-room. At the entrance
are stands of guns, belonging to the Volunteer corps of foreign
gentlemen, who are ready to come to arms should necessity arise.
Like so many other places of this kind, Tientsin has but one drive out
into the country, and along this we go up on to the city wall. We
stand on the high elevation of the deeply arched bridge, and look
out on the flat swamps of mudland, on the surrounding marshy and
unhealthy pools. It is mud in some shape or form whichever way you
look, it is seen alike in houses, walls and roads, and it is certainly
very like what I pictured China from reading books of travel.
The Europeans on their small spotty Chinese ponies, or driving in
their cabriolet carriages, are returning from their evening exercise.
Tientsin seems to be a pleasant place socially, particularly in the cold
though bright winter, when business is slack on account of the
frozen river, and the little community join together to amuse
themselves with skating and sailing of ice-boats. And so soon as the
first dust storm spoils the river ice, they enclose this pond we are
passing, and make a covered skating rink.
My husband has just returned from a visit to the great Viceroy, Li
Hung Chang, who sent soon after our arrival to say that he would be
glad to see him. So at five o'clock he and Mr. Brennan started out in
state-green palanquins, the official colour being green in distinction
to the ordinary blue, with a numerous retinue and an outrider on a
white horse to clear the way, and present the Chinese card, a single
sheet of long pink paper. On arrival at the Viceregal Yâmen, exterior
and surroundings of which were little in keeping with the high offices
of state held by His Excellency, the chairs were carried into an inner
courtyard, flanked by wooden shields, bearing all the titles of the
Viceroy. The visitors were conducted to the small foreign reception
rooms, where His Excellency immediately joined them.
Li Hung Chang is a tall handsome man of seventy, six feet four
inches high, and was dressed in a grey plush robe. He is frequently
styled the Bismarck of China, and is certainly the most prominent
and influential statesman of this vast Chinese Empire. For many
years Li, the Viceroy, has held his present post of Governor-General
of the large Province of Chihli, and unites with it that of Grand
Secretary, Guardian of the Heir Apparent, and what is most
important of all to us, Commissioner for Trade, in which capacity all
Foreign Affairs are referred to him from Peking. In the conversation,
His Excellency placed great stress upon his sincere desire to develop
closer trade relations with England, and took great interest in the
details of the trade of the British Empire which C. gave him. The
interview lasted about an hour, the Viceroy conducting his guests
back to their chairs, and sending me his photograph.
 A Chinese Street.
There are two ways of reaching Peking. You may ride or drive in
those terrible country carts the eighty miles, staying one or two
nights in an indescribably dirty Chinese inn, or go, as we decided, in
a house boat, 120 miles up the Peiho.
At two o'clock the next afternoon, we drove in jinrikishas for an hour
through the heart of the native quarter. This is my first view of a real
Chinese city, and my early impressions are comprised in the all-
pervading, all-powerful, smothering filth and dirt, in the revolting
smells and disgusting sights; my next, in the jostling of crowds of
coolies wheeling enormous iron-bound bales on wheelbarrows, of
carts drawn by teams of mules, donkeys or oxen, of equestrians,
pedestrians, jinrikishas, and sedan chairs, crowded into a six-foot
wide street, curtained with bamboo mats above, producing a
bewildering pandemonium. Passing the particularly squalid corner
where is situated the Yâmen, we see the twin towers of the Roman
Catholic Cathedral. They stand there as a solemn reminder of the
dangers which yet threaten the Settlement, and of the fanatical
people they are surrounded by, for it was here in 1870 that there
was that awful massacre of Roman Catholic nuns, followed by the
pillage of the Convent and Cathedral.
On arrival at the bridge of boats, we find our house-boat, Chinese
boy, provisions, luggage and crew of coolies safely on board, and
after many objurations from the delayed passengers, a passage by
the removal of one of the boats is made for us, and we begin our
long journey up the Peiho.
This house-boat is very comprehensive on a small scale, for we have
a sitting-room and bed-room and kitchen. There is a tiny promenade
deck in the bows, then down two steps and you are in a room with a
bench, a table and two stools, the door being formed of movable
planks of wood. Through an elegant arabesque of woodwork,
screened with paper, we can see the raised floor on which are
spread our mattresses with red quilts. Behind a similar screen is the
kitchen, a few square inches, under the shadow of the helm, where
our clever "Boy," who is cook, valet and interpreter in one, turns out
the most deliciously cooked and varied dishes, with a batterie de
cuisine, consisting of a few tin saucepans and an iron brazier of
charcoal. As for the crew, they sleep on deck anywhere, and keep
their provisions in the hold. The flat-bottomed boat has an arched
roof of matting laid on bamboo sticks. It is clean, for I only saw one
black-beetle, but is only moderately air and water-tight. Our tiny
domicile is dominated by an enormous sail which is hoisted up and
down on running strings. We either tow or pole, or sail, according to
the wind and stream.
The vast and varied river life is before us. The banks for some miles
above Tientsin are lined with these ugly sampans, their tattered sails
hanging in ribbons, their decks strewn with débris where the naked
children disport themselves, and the women steer at the helm; for in
these sampans generations are born, live, and die, and they are
coated too with the dirt of many decades. There are fishermen on
the bank where, projecting out of the little hut which he inhabits, is
a net stretched wide on bamboo poles, baited with the white of egg
spread on the meshes. He lowers it slowly up and down, and at each
dip we see the little silver-scaled fish jumping about in the net.
There are children dabbling in the mud, true mud-larks, and women
washing their clothes. We espy a bridge over a tributary, with a
single graceful arch, so curved as to be half an oval, and with some
houses, a willow tree and pig-tailed Chinaman, calling to
remembrance the willow-patterned plate of our childhood. We pass
several covered Chinese gun-boats,—war-junks,—with their blue and
white striped awnings, and a Maxim gun in the bows kept for the
defence of the Peiho, and the patrolling of the river.
We get out into the country at length, between high mud banks, and
by a continuous succession of villages, their brown dusty walls
abutting on to the hard-trodden towing path, whilst around is that
careful cultivation resembling a succession of kitchen gardens, with
its plots of lettuces of enormous size, of cabbages, turnips and
onions; and the vertical pole of the water tank is always amongst
them. A place is hollowed out in the bank, where, from a cross
plank, the bucket attached to the pole is pulled down to the water,
when the weighted end bears the bucket up and the water is
emptied into the channels that surround each plot. Morning and
evening you see hundreds of these automatically-working figures,
thus irrigating their fields. The population appear ill-disposed
towards foreigners, they collect in the villages and on the sampans
and point and jeer at me, for the Chinese keep their women at
home, and are shocked at the way "Barbarians," as they call us,
travel with their wives.
After punting for a little while, three of the coolies begin to tow, but
it is tedious work, as our line has constantly to be undone or passed
round the masts of other sampans. Indeed, all the way there are
processions of these vessels crawling up the river heavily laden with
cargoes of rice, salt, camels' hair, sheep's wool, and vegetables, with
their four or six towers, whose brown figures are bent double
against the line, patiently staggering along for mile after mile against
the current. Our coolies are very willing and cheerful, springing
ashore to begin that weary work of tacking against stream, and
subsisting on scanty meals of rice, cabbage and maccaroni, which
we watch them, at midday and sunset, tucking rapidly into their
mouths with chop sticks. Sometimes they sing in chorus to
encourage themselves, with a soft crooning chant.
As evening approaches, columns of smoke rise from the stern of the
sampans, showing the preparation of the evening meal, and the
mists gather low over the villages. We see the great high road to
Peking, raised on a mud embankment, that now and again keeps
company with the river; it is bordered here with an avenue of
whispering willows, and against the orange sunset come such
picturesque figures along it. Now a little lady, with her pantaloons
reaching to her little feet, tippeting along as if she must fall at every
step, a horseman on a shaggy white pony, running along without
rising in the saddle, a big man overshadowing a tiny donkey, a
jinrikisha, a country cart with oxen, or one of those ancient wooden
cabriolets, all outlined in black relief against the yellow sky.
We go to sleep with the sound of the water gently gurgling against
the bottom of the boat, the croaking of the frogs on the banks,
whilst our patient coolies plod automatically along. They anchor for a
few hours in the middle of the night opposite a large village, whence
the regular muffled tom-tom of the watchman, a deep and solemn
tone, is wafted across to us. At three in the morning there is a
rushing sound as of wind and water, and to our great joy we find
that we are sailing before a brisk wind.
The scenery of the Peiho is repelling in its ugliness, and wearisome
from its extreme monotony. The country is absolutely flat, and there
is nothing, now that the harvest is carried in, but a parched saline
plain, of mud and yellow grass, extending for hundreds of miles all
around.
 Our Home on the Peiho.
The only hills are those of the graves—these unwieldy mounds of
battened earth, that stand in rows along the bank, or are collected in
a field—a family burial place, with mounds of varying sizes. The
greater the man, the larger is the tumulus raised over him. Then
there are other and more disagreeable ones, where the coffin has
been temporarily earthed above ground, awaiting perhaps a
favourable moment for burial, or sufficient funds to take the
deceased back to the place of his birth; for this is the dearly
cherished hope of every Chinaman, and often, when old age
approaches, he returns to his native place to be ready to die there.
An even more objectionable custom is that of putting coffins down in
open fields, or along the roads. We saw one covered in red standing
like this, just outside a village, and you find them in the same way
all over China. There is a superstition that it is lucky to bury within
sight of water or in a place which commands a view, and that is why
we see such rows of graves for miles and miles by the river bank. To
the Chinese their burial is the most important thing of life. They
prepare their coffins and keep them in their houses for years
beforehand, though their unwieldy size and solidity take up much ill-
spared space, and the object of every woman of the poorest class is
to save enough for her grave-clothes. It has been truly said that the
whole face of China is burrowed under by these graves.
The turpid yellow waters of the Peiho swirl against our boat,
particularly at the reaches, where the current is strongest. The
harvest is over, the poppy fields are bare, and there are only a few
tall straggly castor-oil plants along the banks. A few, very few
coolies, in loose blue cotton garments, are at work, ploughing with
ancient and rude ploughshares. The teams they use are delightfully
mixed. You may often see an ox and horse, a donkey and a mule all
pulling together. And the same useful mixture is seen in the carts
that resemble old Roman chariots, crawling along the towing path,
where a bull with a tandem donkey is a favourite team. These
donkeys are beautiful animals; small, but with sleek grey, brown and
black coats, with the well-marked neck rings, and line down the
centre of the back. We meet solitary pedestrians trudging along with
their heads down against the wind, and we wonder whence they
came and whither they are going, for we are now only passing
isolated villages at great distances. In some of the few we sail by,
the mud walls surrounding the villages have a graceful openwork
arabesque at the top, and in one, to the sound of much tom-
tomming, a festival was progressing, at which all the inhabitants (as
there were none to be seen) are evidently assisting.
The windings described by the Peiho are aggravating. The actual
distance traversed, after a series of bends, being equal to about half
a mile as the crow flies. Again and again we see the extraordinary
phenomenon of a row of sails walking inland; and how picturesque
these brown-patched sails look, as extended by the wind they glide
in single file against the sky line. The wind is a subject of great
anxiety on the Peiho, because if it is ahead one the crew make fast
to the bank at once, and await a favourable change; and even if it is,
as to-day, behind us, the river winds so much that we box every
point of the compass, and so it is not always to our advantage. We
watch our progress with great interest; and now we are scudding
gaily before a lovely fresh breeze, with the pleasant sound of rushing
water under the keel, whilst the big sail overhead balloons out and
swells hopefully. To this succeeds a calm, when a little punting with
the long poles is necessary, or a deep bend when the wind and
stream are ahead of us, and which means a painful slow bit of
tacking, when the men strain the whole weight of their bodies
against the tow line, to progress at all. Again a pleasant rush, the
puff of wind catching our ponderous sail, and we scud merrily past
the banks. And how our coolies enjoy this; stretching themselves
out, and, sunning on the deck, smoke their pipes. So it goes on all
day.
We passed several gaily-decorated junks belonging to a great
mandarin with the peacock's feather over the door, generally
accompanied by another with the household; also the ex-French
Chargé d'Affaires, Monsieur Ristelhueber, and his family, returning to
France from Peking, and with whom we afterwards had the pleasure
of travelling homewards for a month on the French mail.
The approach to Peking, which signifies the "Gate of Heaven," is
indeed synonymous with the biblical definition in one particular, for it
is narrow. This morning the Peiho has dwindled into a ditch between
extensive mud flats, and we are constantly aground, our five brown
coolies struggling and sweating in the quagmire of soft mud under a
broiling sun. It is weary, weary work this slow progress, and we
chafe at all the delays of crossing the tow line from one bank to
another, to avoid the now continuous succession of sampans, many
of which are in worse condition than ourselves, for the men have to
get out into the water to push the boat along; for should we not
arrive at Tungchau by noon, we must abandon all hope of reaching
Peking to-night, as the gates close at sunset. There is a head wind,
with a strong current racing down the narrow channel against us,
and we sadly mark how crawling is our progress by the landmarks
on the bank. And so the long hours of morning pass, and, just as we
are losing hope, we see the blue tower of the pagoda at Tungchau,
rising up from the plain, and there are only seven miles more with
an hour to do it in, and we shall be at our journey's end. We
afterwards found that, favoured by the wind, we had made almost, if
not quite, a record passage of forty-six hours, and that many boats
take from four to five days in coming up from Tientsin.
We find an anchorage at Tungchau among fleets of sampans, and in
half an hour our boy has procured three carts, packed in our
luggage, and we are ready to begin the fifteen miles journey to
Peking. Let me describe these carts. The body is formed of a few
planks of wood, with a hood covered in blue or black stuff. The
wheels are of circular pieces of wood, they are guiltless of springs,
and are drawn by mules. They resemble an old mediæval chariot,
and indeed they date from and are exactly the same as were in use
in the tenth century. There is no seat inside, and instead of sitting on
the floor, it is easiest to ride on the shaft, with your legs hanging
over; but I did not know this in time. Before you have been half an
hour in this vehicle you cry out for mercy—for an instant's cessation
of this agonizing mode of progression, from the unbearable bumping
and concussion. And when at length you become numbed by the
pain and discomfort, the intense weariness that succeeds, makes
you sure that another jolt will be unbearable, until at last you close
your eyes, feeling that nothing but the end of the journey is of the
remotest consequence. The roads are somewhat softened by the
loose dust. Still, when you tumble into a ditch on one side, with a jar
that is felt to your most internal depths, and are then run up on to a
bank on the other, you can have some idea of what we suffered
during that journey from Tungchau to Peking. What must have been
the agonies endured by Sir Harry Parkes, and our old friend Sir
Henry Loch, as they journeyed in these same springless carts to
Peking, but with their hands bound behind them and over the stone
road that takes a more circuitous route!
 How I went to Peking.
We passed through the outskirts of Tungchau, through some blind
lanes of mud walls, with doors in them leading to the courts, round
which the houses are built. Soon we are out on the road—no, it is
not a road, but a rough track with several trails, and made of
millions of tons of dust, that rise in impenetrable clouds by the
passing of a single donkey—dust that smells and tastes of the
garbage of China proper, that envelops everything in a white mist,
that, easily raised, subsides as lingeringly. The embankments are
crumbling into dust, as are the numerous walls of these hideous
earth villages which line the road, and are perched on the top of
them. The whole face of the land is parched and burnt. The willows
are streamers of dust, and the other trees are coated grey with the
same. And the road: it is a succession of deep gutters, of holes, of
upheavals of sandbanks, running in the middle or across the road,
scarcely defined from the surrounding fields—and this is the great
highway to the Great City of the unknown Emperor.
We pass cavalcades of carts, and the gaudily-dressed and painted
Chinese women inside peer out curiously at us; bullock carts laden
with merchandise, parties of horsemen, a caravan of camels, and
endless strings of donkeys, bearing away the last of the students
from the late annual examinations at the capital. Many of these wear
goggle spectacles, the glasses of which are at least four inches in
diameter, and enclosed in broad tortoiseshell rims. With their loose
coats they tower over and bulge out above their tiny quadrupeds,
but these sleek, good-looking little donkeys go cheerfully jig-jogging
along, with their blue-coated owners urging them from behind. In
the oasis of a few trees, the mules are occasionally watered from the
tubs that stand ready filled, for the traffic along this highway is
ceaseless.
The sun, as it got lower, scorched mercilessly into the hood, and the
dust in its parching aridity became still more trying. The mule began
to tire, and the driver cruelly flogged it, while the monotonous waste
seems endless.
Absolute indifference, with a deadly weariness, had long since taken
possession of me. The clammy chill of sunset was of no
consequence, though I tried to huddle something round me. I was
only roused by the sight, over some tree tops, of a little bit of black
crenellated wall. The approach to Peking is thus an absolute
disappointment, for, instead of seeing the grand walls from afar
standing up out of the yellow plain, here we were creeping round a
corner to them. In a few minutes we were under the gloom and
darkness of this vast mass of stones, piled up on high centuries ago.
But, alas! that at such a moment imagination and sentiment,
increased by the difficulties and tediousness of the journey, should
succumb before an increased ordeal of pain, as we now join the
stone road, and jar over the great crevasses the paved way. At last,
turning the corner, we enter under the massive arch or gateway,
deep with many feet of thickness, called by the poetical name of
Hatamen, or the "Gate of Sublime Learning." We are within the
outer walls of The Forbidden City.
Then we find ourselves in a sandy waste, bordered by the wall of the
Tartar City on one side and the canal on the other. Little clouds of
dust rising in the distance tell of some cart or donkey, and we
ourselves continue enveloped in the same as we choose any track
we please, for there is, of course, again no road for another weary
mile or so. Some flag-poles in the distance bring a ray of comfort,
for I shrewdly hope that they mean the quarter of the Legations.
Nor is my hope ill-founded, for, passing through a dirty passage, we
emerge into the moving streets and are soon in Legation Street, so
called from the lion-guarded entrances of the various legations, for
the French, the American, the German, and the Russian Envoys are
grouped here. We find accommodation in one of the numerous
courts of the French hotel in this aristocratic street. The sense of
comfort of sitting still and not momentarily expecting a concussion is
simply delicious. We are full of admiration for the physical bravery
and endurance of the many travellers, who for two days or for eighty
miles go in these carts from Tungchau to Peking, through such a
prolonged torture.
The British Legation is over the bridge with an entrance off the Yu-
ho canal. And here, the next morning, Sir John and Lady Walsham
sent for us and received us most hospitably.
This beautiful Legation was formerly a Palace belonging to a
member of the Imperial Family, as is shown by its green roof. The
approach to the entrance is through an aisle and raised pavement,
formed by two magnificent open gateways supported by pillars, and
gorgeously decorated in gold, scarlet, green, and blue. The palace
wanders round the spacious enclosure of a courtyard; and the
reception-rooms, with their lofty ceilings inlaid like a temple in green
and gold squares, with their hanging screens of that beautiful
Chinese black oak carving, are magnificent. The walls are of open
work filled in with dull gold papers, and furnished, as these rooms
are, with handsome brocades, soft carpets, and rich hangings,
chosen to harmonize with the surroundings, the whole is truly regal.
The compound is large, and contains the bungalows and houses of
the Legation Staff, and the separate apartments of the Student
Interpreters, of whom there are six. And a very happy little
community of twenty-two persons they appear to be, led by Lady
Walsham, who is most hospitably inclined, and living their life within
the four walls of the compound, which they rarely leave, except for
social duties, to pass into the outside filth and dust.
From the windows of our rooms, overshadowed by the deep eaves
supported on enormous red wooden pillars, we look out on a
succession of peaked roofs, inlaid with green tiles and blue
decorations, with rows of pretty little green dragons perched on the
ridges, whilst crescent-shaped ornaments depending from the roof,
wave with each breath of wind.
 CHAPTER IX.
THE CELESTIAL CITY.

A curious difficulty arises in The Celestial City. It is that of

locomotion. How are we to get about with no carriages, and only
those abominable agonizing carts to drive in? We end by taking
refuge on the humble donkey, and every time we went out
messengers had to be sent to the walls to charter the best attainable
animals.
Great mandarins and ministers-plenipotentiary go in chairs, but
smaller fry are not allowed to use them, besides which they are
prohibitorily expensive. Even the late Marquis Tsêng, when he
returned from his embassy to Europe, was at first denied the
privilege of a chair, that he might understand that, although great in
England, he was small in China. For the Secretaries, ponies are the
chosen mode of locomotion by day, and fifty ponies stand in the
Legation stables. At night all must walk, lantern in hand, or go in a
cart. So it is with the ladies. Carriages are unknown and impossible,
with the result that the majority make, as I have said, a sweet prison
of the compound, and lawn tennis has votaries among all ages.
The sky is clear and blue, with a north wind bringing a deliciously
crisp feeling into the air, suitable to this October month. The climate
of Peking offers a redeeming feature to the Europeans who are
isolated here. For the next six months this cloudless sky is
uninterrupted. Rain is unknown for nine months together, from July
to April, and the worst season is the rainy one of May and June,
when the steamy heat is most trying. The winter is perfect—cold,
but with warm sun in the middle of the day, and the snow that falls,
but occasionally, is soon dispersed by the wind.
Moreover, Peking is fortunate in having a summer resort close at
hand in the Western Hills, some fifteen miles distant. Here the
Legation lives for the hot months, in a privately-rented group of
Temples. The dust storms are the scourge of the town; from the
crumbling "loess" and alkaline nature of the soil, they sweep in
blinding clouds over the plain, and are most irritating in their
fortnightly recurrence. The air is so intensely bracing and dry, as to
unpleasantly affect the skin.
The first thing to do is to grasp the topography of the Celestial
Metropolis, with its city within city, and wall within wall. We return to
the Gate of Sublime Learning, and ascend by it on to the great
Tartar Wall.
Peking is spread out at our feet. We can trace out the four Walls,
each containing a separate town. The outer and lower ramparts
surround the Chinese city. The next exclude the abodes of the
conquered from those of the Conqueror. Here upon the higher
ground were assigned, two hundred and fifty years ago, spacious
residences for the Tartar Bannermen. Within the Tartar town again,
and surrounded by its defenders, is the Imperial city, and enclosed
again, securely inside this, with further moats and guard-houses, is
the Wall of the Forbidden City itself.
These Walls are from fifty feet high, to forty and sixty feet wide.
They are built on massive stone foundations, but the walls
themselves are of brick, filled in with mud. How have these common
black bricks survived the crumbling of ages? But, except where the
base has been marauded for the saké of the yellow clay of the
mortar, they are as solid as the day they were constructed. At
intervals of three hundred yards there are massive flying buttresses,
and a crenellated parapet crowns the summit. They are pierced with
many gateways, for there are nine to the Tartar city, and eight for
the Chinese. Each gate is surmounted by a square tower of many
storeys, loopholed for archers and musketeers, and with quaint
heavy black roofs, decorated often in gay colours.
Poetical names mark these Gates, such as "The Eastern Straight
Gate," "The Gate of Peace and Tranquillity," "Of Attained Victory,"
"The Gate of Just Law," "The Western and Eastern Gate of
Expediency." These vast fortifications extend for twenty miles, and
enclose an area of twenty-five square miles. They are all that you
see from whichever side you approach the city, for they are loftier
than the loftiest interior pagoda or tower. They are the most
impressive and venerable sight, and alone would be worth coming to
see.
We are walking on the top of this Wall of the Tartar city—over the
ancient grass-grown pavement—commanding a splendid view of the
Chinese capital, in the early morning light. The pale grey haze over
the Western Mountains points the direction where lie the ruins of
that beautiful Summer Palace, magnificent even in its decaying
fragments, standing for ever as a reproach to the allies, but fit
judgment on the barbarous cruelty of a civilized nation. From this
bird's-eye view, Peking appears so buried in trees, that it is hard to
believe that its teeming streets, with a population variously
estimated at from 400,000 to 800,000, is immediately below. We are
so far above it, that even the street cries and calls come up in a
softened murmur.
 A GATE OF PEKING.
We can distinguish the black roofs of several temples, and the bright
green-tiled ones that denote the abode of a Prince of the Blood,
called the First or the Tenth Prince, in gradation of propinquity. Over
there now the sun is shining and gleaming from the many yellow-
tiled roofs of the Imperial palaces of that Forbidden City, where
shrouded in mystery, unseen by his people, dwells the Emperor who
holds sway over a fourth of the human race.
For about two miles we walk upon the ramparts, which would make
a splendid promenade, turning the corner of the square by the
Eastern Straight Gate, which is beautiful with its pagoda newly-
decorated for the recent passage of the Sovereign. The roof is
formed of dark crenellated tiles, with deep outward curving lines,
underneath which is a lovely inlaid mosaic in vivid blue and green
tiles, whilst the green bronze dragons with twisted tails are perched
in single file along the curving sweep. From point to point of the
gracefully arched line, suspend crescent-shaped eyes, that tremble
in the breeze. And each of the numerous gates have equally fine
pagodas, so that in our wanderings we were always coming back to
one of these familiar features.
But a difficulty occurs. We wish to descend from the wall. There is a
ramp; but at the bottom a locked and spiked gate. We call for a
ladder, without result. Pulled by the guide, pushed from below, we
scramble up and over a nine-foot wall. It was not dignified, and the
crowd was amused at our quandary.
We are making our way towards the Tower which leans against the
City Wall, belonging to the observatory.
We pass into a shady courtyard to gaze upon the very instruments
whereat Marco Polo wondered in his famous travels. There are two
planispheres, an Astrolabe of great size, cast in bronze, and
supported on twisted dragons of exquisite workmanship, and which
are probably the best specimens of bronze work in Eastern Asia.
Ascending up some damp stone steps, we find ourselves on the top
of the Tower, and inside a finely wrought iron railing, where there is
a gigantic Globe of the Heavens, with the planets yet marked in
relief on the surface. Also a quadrant, sextant, and sundial; while the
large Azimuth instrument in the corner was a present to the Emperor
Kanghai from Louis XIV.
And these instruments are as perfect as they were when placed here
300 years ago. Indeed, some of these are still used by the
Astronomical Board for their observations. It brings home to us the
fact that we must never ignore for a moment, whilst living in China,
that in the earliest centuries she was far ahead in civilization of any
country in the world. But while the West has gone rapidly onward,
overtaking and outstripping the East, China, self-contained and shut
off from contact with all other nations, has remained stationary, so
that much we see around us dates from that era. The Chinese are
under the impression that there is no nation equal to theirs. They
suppose themselves the centre of civilization for the last 2000 years,
and claim that China knew the art of printing, invented gunpowder,
and was learned in astronomy, long before us. They consider that
China is the middle of the Universe, as is shown by the name, which,
in their language, signifies "The Middle Kingdom." They look upon
themselves as superior to us, as we think ourselves to them, calling
us Barbarians, and considering all European nations as such. As a
nation they never travel, and are down-trodden by the conservatism
of the Mandarins, who, risen from the people, wish to retain their
superiority by keeping the lower classes under.
The real interest of Peking lies in its intense age. The city is 4000
years old. Conquered by the Mongols, or the "Golden Horde," who,
in their turn were overthrown by the Tartars, Peking of the present
day is built, like Rome, upon the ruins of many cities. The description
of the famous Venetian traveller is as true to-day as it was when
written in the thirteenth century. It is in this wondrously preserved
life of the middle ages that the curiosity remains; it is because we
see the streets under their primitive conditions of dirt, before ideas
of sanitation were dreamt of, because we can look on the carts that
were in use at a period corresponding with our conquest by the
Norman—on the wheelbarrows with the single wheel, which creaks
as loudly now as it did then, on the wells with their Eastern
earthenware jars, and the water drawn as in the pictures of Isaac
and Rebecca—on those great Walls, then necessary for protection
from the wild hordes that scoured the plains, and where the gates
are still closed, in accordance with the ancient custom, at sundown.
It is all the same. We might have fallen into a Rip Van Winkle sleep
at Tientsin, and awoke in the streets of the Celestial Capital in the
middle of the dark ages.
There is one thing which impresses itself indelibly on the mind, and
is called to remembrance with the first mention of Peking. It is the
dirt! the dirt! the dirt!
It is impossible to conceive of such awful filth, and, unless you have
seen it, I defy anyone to have the faintest idea of the sights and
smells of this city of the Flowery Land. The condition of the streets is
the same as it was B.C. If they were described faithfully and in
detail, common decencies would be violated, even as they are but
too openly. Let it suffice to say that they reek with refuse, garbage,
and decaying matter of every description; that the houses throw out
into dry pits, dug anywhere in the road, their pig's wash and offal,
and that the putrefaction and decay fills the air with noisome smells
that overpower you at every turn. Filth and refuse you soon grow
hardened to in Peking, but occasionally some particularly nauseous
sight, such as a dead dog in a far advanced stage of decomposition,
or a cat with the entrails protruding, unnerves you again.
Wherever there is water you may be sure that it is a stagnant pool
of liquid filth, covered with green slime, and containing untold
horrors if stirred up. Also, if you pass down even the comparatively
clean Legation Street, in the wake of the watering-cart, the stench
from the stirred-up dust is unbearable. Men are seen going along
with baskets on their backs, carefully collecting with a bamboo
pronged fork every morsel of manure, for this is the only kind that
the Chinese use, chemical fertilizers being unknown. Fortunately,
too, there are hundreds of pariah dogs, many evil-looking beasts,
who, with their sharp noses, are busy turning over the most
unsavoury heaps, or lie asleep gorged in the middle of the narrow
roads. Also the pigs, great coarse-haired masses of fat (the Chinese
pig is a peculiarly revolting species) wallowing in the foul slush.
Enough! In every place and corner are revolting sights, unfit for a
civilized community.
Then there is the dust. It adds to the unpleasantness of going
about. Such dust as it is, all-pervading, all-penetrating, leaving a
pungent smell in your clothes, so that I soon found out that it is
necessary to keep a special costume to face it. Once outside the
Compound, you find yourself in the jostle and crowd, the shouts and
disorder of the streets, and as a cart or horseman passes, a cloud is
raised that obscures everything for the moment; and so it is that, for
half the time you are out you see nothing for the dust, and for the
other half only through a dim veil of the same. At sundown the state
of affairs is made worse by the succession of mules, purposely
loosened to roll over and over.
Lastly there is the incredible state of the roads, with their deep holes
in the very middle of the busiest thoroughfares, with huge stones
lying across, or a steep embankment, round which you must
diverge. There is this excuse, that the soil, owing to its light and
porous nature, aided by the extreme dryness of many months of the
year, easily shifts with the wind. If the dust is intolerable, what must
it be in winter, when it is turned into a quagmire of black mud or
sludge? It is no uncommon thing for a mule to be drowned in the
streets. He falls into this soft morass and, unable to get a footing,
perishes within sight of the bystanders.
There is yet another and a more unpleasant drawback to be met
with, in going about the streets of Peking. The Chinese, but
particularly the Tartar and Manchu part of the population, dislike
Europeans, and openly insult us as we pass along, jeering and
laughing in a most offensive manner, and obviously making the
rudest observations. Even the little children come out and call us foul
names, of which Barbarian and Foreign or Red-Haired Devils are the
mildest terms—language which they must have become familiar with
by hearing it used by their parents. There are several places where
Europeans are almost invariably stoned, and public feeling has been
intensified by these late unfortunate riots on the Yangtze.
In the afternoon we go into the Chinese town, passing through the
great Chien-men or Front Gate. Inside this there is a large blank
square, formed by the meeting walls of the Chinese and Tartar cities,
which are pierced by four archways. The centre entrance is only
opened and used by the Emperor on the occasion of his yearly visit
to the Temple of Heaven. But through the others that connect the
towns, there is a constant moving, hurrying crush of people, the two
streams meeting and blocking in the arch.
We lift up and pass under some black draperies and find ourselves in
the Chinese bazaar—in a passage one yard wide and completely
covered in. The shops are a succession of rooms, raised on a step
from the earth passage and all open in front, where you can buy
fancy articles and artificial flowers. There are the pretty jade pins,
which form the centre for the shiny coil of hair worn by the Chinese
women, long earrings and bracelets of the same, mandarin buttons
in coloured stones, clocks, porcelain, shoes, and silk embroideries. It
is the quaintest and prettiest of Eastern arcades, with the afternoon
sun penetrating the bamboo blinds in shafts of light, lighting the
picturesque groups of buyers and sellers squatted on the floors. The
three-foot passage is blocked by a curious crowd, assisting in our
purchases.
We penetrate yet further into the Chinese city, across a stone bridge
and through a dangerous open square—a meeting of ways—where
crates of merchandise, carts drawn by tandem bullocks and mules,
palanquins, wheelbarrows with baskets of liquid manure running
over, horses and donkeys, are all mingled together, going and
coming in different directions. Yes! Sir Edwin Arnold, you speak truly
of

"The painted streets alive with hum of words,

The traders cross-legged, mid their spice and grain,
The buyers with their money in the cloth,
The war of words to cheapen this or that,
The shout to clear the road, the huge stone wheels,
The strong slow oxen and their rustling loads,
The singing bearers with their palanquins,
The broad-necked hâmals sweating in the sun."

Then we go up a narrow street, tortuous and dirty, to another

bazaar where there are nothing but lantern, fan, and picture shops.
Half an hour in these streets gives you more idea of Chinese life
than all the books of travel you may read in a life-time.
Peking beggars description, still let me try to give some idea of what
we see.
Here we are in a narrow lane. This is the aristocratic quarter where
the mandarins and officials live. There are a succession of mud-
plastered walls, roofed at the top and presenting an absolutely blind
appearance to the road, which, when combined with the always
dilapidated condition of the latter, gives the most deserted and
squalid impression. Opposite the entrance are hung tablets,
indicating the offices and titles of the householder. They are on a
blank wall, for you must observe that the entrance into a Chinese
house is never straight. It always winds, and this is supposed to be a
defence against the incursion of evil spirits, for the latter can happily
only go straight. For the same reason we see the little children
wearing their pig-tails plaited at the side of the head, so that the evil
spirit, not finding anything to grip at the back, is unable to catch
hold of them. In the houses of poor people, who cannot afford such
elaborate precautions, there is always a mud screen erected in front
of the door. Let us go inside. We find ourselves in a succession of
courts, surrounded by low buildings, where a family and its branches
reside, to the number sometimes of 200 persons. There are separate
buildings for the cooking, eating, sleeping, and living, but the family
all live together. As our "boy" said, when we inquired about these
houses, "Family man live there." Truly one, indeed. Yet there is
something to be admired about this family life, this care of aged
parents and luckless relations.
The streets with shops, present the most wonderful vista of untidy
ends of tattered rags flying from poles, of dingy decorations of strips
of paper or cloth hanging over the doorways. The houses have a
mean appearance, being only of one story, and their walls, unless
they are of mud, consist of carved wood openwork, covered in with
tattered yellow paper. I think I may truly say that I never saw one,
where the paper was not torn and discoloured. Occasionally you
come upon a shop, bright with the names of the goods written in
gold and scarlet or green. They were originally all like this, and this
one is only recently finished, yet in a few months will become as dull
and dirty as the rest. Everything is allowed to run to decay. The
Chinese never seem to think it necessary to repair or re-decorate,
and the climate powerfully aids in this destruction.
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