"I am no judge of beauty. Let the encampment be
broken up--this evening we move southwards." And the Tartar chief
entered the northern provinces of the celestial empire, with his hundred
thousand warriors, destroying all with fire and sword, proving his
sincere wish to unite himself to the Chinese nation by the
indiscriminate slaughter of man, woman, and child; and his ardent love
for the peerless Chaoukeun, by making a nuptial torch of every town and
village.

Ti-tum, tilly-lilly, ti-tum, ti.

But we must return to the celestial court, and astonish the world with
the wonderful events which there took place. The astrologers and wise
men had consulted the heavens, and had ascertained that on the
thirty-third minute after the thirteenth hour, the marriage procession
must set out, or the consummation would not be prosperous. Who can
describe the pomp and glory of the spectacle, or give an adequate idea
of its splendour? Alas! it would not be possible, even if it were
attempted by ten thousand poets, each with ten thousand tongues of
silver, singing for ten thousand years. Such, however, was the order of
the procession.

First walked ten thousand officers of justice, with long bamboos,
striking right and left to clear the way, to the cadence of soft music,
blending with the plaintive cries of those who limped away and rubbed
their shins.

Then marching, ten abreast, one hundred thousand lanthorns to assist
the sun, partially eclipsed by the splendour of the procession.

Next appeared, slowly keeping time to a dead march, five thousand
decapitated criminals, each carrying his own head by its long tail of
hair.

* * * * *

"Staffir Allah! What is that but a lie?" exclaimed the pacha. "Did you
hear what the dog has dared to breathe into our ears, Mustapha?"

"Mighty pacha," replied the Chinaman, with humility, "if your wisdom
pronounces it to be a lie--a lie it most certainly must be; still it is
not the lie of your slave, who but repeats the story as handed down by
the immortal eastern poet."

"Nevertheless, there appears to be a trifling mistake," observed
Mustapha. "Is the procession to proceed, O pacha?"

"Yes, yes; but by the Prophet, let the dog tremble if again he presumes
to laugh at our beards."

* * * * *

After the decapitated criminals, which your highness objects to, came in
procession those criminals with their heads on, who were to su