by T.
Fall_; 3. MISS M. A. BLAND'S POMERANIAN CH. MARLAND KING _Photograph
by T. Fall_; 4. LADY HULTON'S BLENHEIM CH. JOY _Photograph by
Russell_; 5. THE HON. MRS. LYTTON'S KING CHARLES CH. THE SERAPH]

Many years ago Mr. Alfred de Rothschild tried, through his agents in
China, to secure a specimen of the Palace dog for the writer, in order
to carry on the Goodwood strain, but without success, even after a
correspondence with Pekin which lasted more than two years; but we
succeeded in obtaining confirmation of what we had always understood:
namely, that the Palace dogs are rigidly guarded, and that their theft
is punishable by death. At the time of the Boxer Rebellion only
Spaniels, Pugs, and Poodles were found in the Imperial Palace when it
was occupied by the Allied Forces, the little dogs having once more
preceded the court in the flight to Si-gnanfu.

The Duchess of Richmond occasionally gave away a dog to intimate
friends, such as the Dowager Lady Wharncliffe, Lady Dorothy Nevill,
and others, but in those days the Pekinese was practically an unknown
quantity, and it can therefore be more readily understood what
interest was aroused about eleven years ago by the appearance of a
small dog, similar in size, colour, and general type to those so
carefully cherished at Goodwood. This proved to be none other than the
since well-known sire Ah Cum, owned by Mrs. Douglas Murray, whose
husband, having extensive interests in China, had managed after many
years to secure a true Palace dog, smuggled in a box of hay, placed
inside a crate which contained Japanese deer!

Ah Cum was mated without delay to two Goodwood bitches, the result
being, in the first litters, Ch. Goodwood Lo and Goodwood Put-Sing.
To these three sires, some of the bluest Pekinese blood is traceable,
_vide_ Ch. Goodwood Chum, Ch. Chu-Erh of Alderbourne, Ch. Gia-Gia,
Manchu Tao-Tai, Goodwood Ming, Marland Myth, and others.

It must, however, be clearly admitted that since the popularity of the
breed has become established we unluckily see scores of Pekinese in
the show-ring who have lost all resemblance to the original type, and
for this the Pekinese Club is in some measure to blame. The original
points for the guidance of breeders and judges were drawn up by Lady
Samuelson, Mrs. Douglas Murray, and Lady Algernon Gordon-Lennox, who
fixed the maximum size at 10 lb.--a very generous margin. Since then
the club has amended the scale of points, no doubt in ord