und around near the walls of the Forbidden City, every pinnacle and
roof gleaming in the morning light. Leaving the outskirts of the town,
the country view was the pleasantest we had seen. Our road lay alongside
of the canal, where there were more trees and less dust.

On the way we first visited the Five Pagoda Buddhist Temple, which seems
to belong to a different world from that of to-day. It is a square mass
of masonry fifty feet high, covered with old colored tiles and with
beautiful reliefs of camels. On its flat top there are five pagodas,
each eleven stories high; also, adjacent to it, a very elegant square
pagoda, and, in front of it, what seems like the top of another large
pagoda. Farther on, we saw the Ten Thousand Buddha Temple; it is not
remarkable architecturally, and there are two large spacious
buildings with a court between them. One of them consists of two
stories, in both of which is a large room lined with little compartments
containing small gilt Buddhas. The guide said there was a total of nine
hundred and ninety-nine already, and the thousandth place was reserved
for the Dowager Empress when she died.

[Illustration: _The Winter Palace of the Forbidden City_]

[Illustration: _View from the Forbidden City_]

We drove on to the village, adjacent to the Summer Palace, where we took
jinrikishas for a ride of about two miles, following along the outskirts
of the Summer Palace. Here were some temples, evidently not now used as
places of worship, since the guide informed us that our luncheon would
be served in the open court of one of them. After our impromptu meal we
proceeded to walk about half a mile farther and then ascended an
eminence with several flights of stairs leading to the pagoda which I
have previously alluded to. We obtained, not only a view of the Summer
Palace, but of the surrounding country. The little pagoda was several
stories high, and very tasteful in all its appointments; it is said to
have been built in commemoration of some event, but the guide could give
us no exact information. We retraced our way to the city, and then drove
through certain streets in order to enjoy the peculiar life around us.

The three or four miles stretching between the Chien-men and Hata-men
gates on that Saturday afternoon surpass description. The Emperor's
middle gate barred out the crowds; this opened on a somewhat discolored
bridge, with fine carving and artistic balustrades, but the eye does not