he "Abode of Heavenly Calmness" was the noblest, richest, and most
luxuriously furnished in the great palace; for it is the private
apartment of the emperor. The Great Union Saloon, where His Imperial
Majesty receives the high-class mandarins, was elegant enough for any
royal apartment.

The tourists walked about among the Chinese glories till they were tired
out. The two Cupids were completely "blown;" and when they found a
place, they seated themselves, and let the rest of the company finish
the survey of the Forbidden City. The palace of one prince of the
imperial house was so large that three thousand men could be quartered
in the out-buildings, and doubtless as many more could be accommodated
in the main structure. The Cupids were picked up on the return; but
there was more to be seen, and they went to the beautiful temple of Fo,
containing a gilded bronze statue of the god, sixty feet high, with one
hundred arms, and Scott remarked that he was like a big man-of-war, well
armed.

They came again to the Temple of Heaven; but the mandarin had not
obtained a permit, which was exceedingly difficult to procure in recent
years. Mr. Psi-ning told them that the interior, in its chief hall,
represented the heavens. It was a circular apartment surrounded by
twenty-two pillars, and everything was painted sky-blue. A portion of
this temple is the "Penitential Retreat" of the emperor, where he keeps
three days of fasting, meditating over his own sins and those of the
government, previous to offering up his sacrifice. Connected with the
temple was a band of five hundred musicians, who reside there; but the
commander was thankful that the party were not compelled to listen to
their performance.

The tourists were very glad to get back to the hotel in the street of
the legations, and they did not go out again that day. The question of
visiting the Great Wall then came up for discussion. Brother Avoirdupois
and Brother Adipose Tissue declared in the beginning that they would not
go; and the mandarin laughed heartily when these names were applied to
them, and still more when they were called the Cupids.

"It is forty-five miles to the loop-wall which travellers generally
visit from Pekin," said Mr. Psi-ning. "You would have to go in
mule-litters, or on horseback, or by the carts you have used; and it
would take you a day to get there, and as long to return. Then it would
be only the loop-wall, and not the Great Wall, which canno