asses of German
troops and French infantry of the line, and columns of Russians are
already moving out, bound for places no one can ascertain. Nothing
but moving men on the great roads.

It is the newly arrived who cause the most trouble. Furious to find
that those who came with the first columns have all feathered their
nests and satisfied every desire, they are trying to make up for lost
time by stripping even the meanest streets of the valueless things
which remain. They say, too, now, that punitive expeditions are to be
organised and pushed all over North China, because these new troops,
which have come from so far, must be given something to do, and cannot
be allowed to settle down in mere idleness until something turns up,
which will alter the present irresolution and confusion....

But for the time being there is little else but quiet looting. Even
some of the Ministers have made little fortunes from so-called
official seizures, and there is one curious case, which nobody quite
understands, of forty thousand taels in silver shoes being suddenly
deposited in the French Legation, and as suddenly spirited away by
some one else to another Legation, while no one dares openly to say
who are the culprits, although their names are known. Silver, however,
is a drug in the market. Everybody, without exception, has piles of
it. Also, the Japanese, who are supposed to be on their good conduct,
have despoiled the whole Board of Revenue and taken over a million
pounds sterling in bullion. They have been most cunning. The only
currency to be had is the silver shoe. These shoes can be bought at an
enormous discount for gold in any form, and even with silver dollars
you can make a pretty profit. The new troops, who have arrived too
late, are doing their best to find some more of this silver by digging
up gardens and breaking down houses. Marchese P----, of the Italians,
who always pretends that he has been a mining engineer in some
prehistoric period of his existence, calls it "working over the
tailings."

In consequence of this glut of silver and curiosities, a regular
buying and selling has set up, and all our armies are becoming armies
of traders. There are official auctions now being organised, where you
will be able to buy legally, and after the approved methods, every
kind of loot. The best things, however, are being disposed of
privately, for it is the rank and file who have managed to secure the
really priceless thing