ions of their foes. The Chinese troops,
disheartened by the courage with which the few but brave mountaineers
held their works, were filled with dismay, and might have been repulsed
but for the ruthless energy of their leader, who was determined at any
cost to win. Turning the fire of his artillery upon his own troops, he
drove them relentlessly upon the foe, forcing them to a charge that
swept them like a torrent over the Goorkha works. The fire of the guns
was kept up upon the mingled mass of combatants until the Goorkhas were
driven over a precipice into the stream of the Tadi that ran below. By
this decisive act of the Chinese commander many of his own men were
slain, but the enemy was practically annihilated and the war brought to
an end.

The Goorkhas now humbly solicited peace, which Sund Fo was quite ready
to grant, for his own losses had been heavy and it was important to
recross the mountains before winter set in. He therefore granted them
peace on humiliating terms, though these were as favorable as they could
expect under the circumstances. Any further attempt at resistance
against the overwhelming army of their foes might have ended in the
complete destruction of their state. They took an oath to keep the peace
with Thibet, to acknowledge themselves vassals of China, to send an
embassy with tribute to Peking every five years, and to restore all the
plunder taken from Teshu Lumbo.

Of the later history of the Goorkhas some words may be said. Their raids
into India led to a British invasion of their country in 1814, and in
1816 they were forced to make peace. The celebrated Jung Bahadur became
their ruler in 1846 through the summary process of killing all his
enemies, and in 1857, during the Indian mutiny, he came with a strong
force to the aid of the British, whose friend he had always remained. In
more recent wars the Goorkhas have proved themselves among the bravest
soldiers in the Indian army, and in the late war with the hill-tribes
showed an intrepidity which no part of the army surpassed. The
independence of their state is still maintained.

[Illustration: CHAIR AND CAGO CARRIERS.]

_HOW EUROPE ENTERED CHINA._

For four or five thousand years China remained isolated from the rest of
the civilized world, its only relations being with the surrounding
peoples of its own race, notably with the Tartars of the steppes. Then,
in the nineteenth century, the wall of isolation suddenly broke down,