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burnt. As to the infide, all the walls, instead of wainscot, were lined with hardened and painted tiles, like the little square tiles we call gally tiles in England, all made of the finest China, and the figures exceeding fine indeed, with extraordinary variety of colours, mixed with gold, many tiles making but one figure, but joined fo artificially with mortar, being made of the fame earth, that it was very hard to see where the tiles met. The floors of the rooms were of the fame compofition, and as hard as the earthen floors we have in ufe in feveral parts of England, especially Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, &c. as hard as ftone, and smooth, but not burnt and painted, except fome smaller rooms, like closets, which were all, as it were, paved with the fame tile; the cielings, and in a word, all the plaistering-work in the whole house, were of the fame earth; and, after all, the roof was covered with tiles of the fame, but of a deep fhining black.

This was a China warehouse indeed, truly and literally to be called fo; and, had I not been upon the journey, I could have staid some days to fee and examine the particulars of it. They told me there were fountains and fifh-ponds in the garden, all paved at the bottom and fides with the fame, and fine ftatues fet up in rows on the walks, entirely formed of the porcelain earth, and burnt whole.

As this is one of the fingularities of China, fo they may be allowed to excel in it; but I am very fure, they excel in their accounts of it; for they told me fuch incredible things of their performance in crockery-ware, for fuch it is, that I care not to relate, as knowing it could not be true :-One told me, in particular, of a workman that made a ship,

VOL. II.

X

a fhip, with all its tackle, and mafts, and fails, in earthen-ware, big enough to carry fifty men. If he had told me he launched it, and made a voyage to Japan in it, I might have faid fomething to it indeed; but as it was, I knew the whole ftory, which was, in fhort, asking pardon for the word, that the fellow lied; fo I fmiled, and faid nothing to it.

This odd fight kept me two hours behind the caravan, for which the leader of it for the day fined me about the value of three fhillings; and told me, if it had been three days journey without the wall, as it was three days within, he must have fined me four times as much, and made me ask pardon the next council day: fo I promised to be more orderly; for, indeed, I found afterwards the orders made for keeping all together were abfolutely neceffary for our common fafety.

In two days more we paffed the great China wall, made for a fortification against the Tartars; and a very great work it is, going over hills and mountains in an endless track, where the rocks are impaffable, and the precipices fuch as no enemy could poffibly enter, or, indeed, climb up, or where, if they did, no wall could hinder them. They tell us, its length is near a thousand English miles, but that the country is five hundred, in a straight measured line, which the wall bounds, without measuring the windings and turnings it takes: 'tis about four fathom high, and as many thick in fome places.

I ftood still an hour, or thereabouts, without trespaffing on our orders, for fo long the caravan was in paffing the gate; I fay, I stood still an hour to look at it, on every fide, near, and far off, I

mean,

mean, what was within my view; and the guide of our caravan, who had been extolling it for the wonder of the world, was mighty eager to hear my opinion of it. I told him it was a moft excellent thing to keep off the Tartars, which he happened not to understand as I meant it, and fo took it for a compliment: but the old pilot laughed: OSeignior Inglefe, faid he, you speak in colours. In colours! faid I, what do you mean by that? Why you speak what looks white this way, and black that way; gay one way, and dull another way you tell him it is a good wall to keep out Tartars; you tell me, by that, it is good for nothing but to keep out Tartars; or, will keep out none but Tartars: I understand you, Seignior Inglefe, I understand you, faid he, joking; but Seignior Chinese understand you his own way.

Well faid I, Seignior, do you think it would stand out an army of our country people, with a good train of artillery; or our engineers, with two companies of miners? Would they not batter it down in ten days, that an army might enter in battalia, or blow it up into the air, foundation and all, that there fhould be no fign of it left? Ay, ay, said he, I know that. The Chinese wanted mightily to know what I faid, and I gave him leave to tell him a few days after, for we were then almoft out of their country, and he was to leave us in a little time afterwards; but when he knew what I had faid, he was dumb all the rest of the way, and we heard no more of his fine ftory of the Chincfe power and greatnefs while he ftaid.

After we had paffed this mighty Nothing, called a wall, fomething like the Picts wall, fo famous in Northumberland, and built by the Romans, we began

to find the country thinly inhabited, and the people rather confined to live in fortified towns and cities, as being fubject to the inroads and depredations of the Tartars, who rob in great armies, and therefore are not to be refifted by the naked inhabitants of an open country.

And here I began to find the neceffity of keeping together in a caravan, as we travelled; for we faw feveral troops of Tartars roving about; but when I came to see them diftin&tly, I wondered how that the Chinese empire could be conquered by fuch contemptible fellows; for they are a mere herd or crowd of wild fellows, keeping no order, and understanding no difcipline, or manner of fight.

Their horfes are poor, lean, ftarved creatures, taught nothing, and are fit for nothing; and this we found the first day we saw them, which was after we entered the wilder part of the country. Our leader for the day gave leave for about fixteen of us to go a hunting, as they call it; and what was this but hunting of sheep! However, it may be called hunting too; for the creatures are the wildeft, and fwifteft of foot, that ever I faw of their kind; only they will not run a great way, and you are fure of fport when you begin the chace; for they appear generally by thirty or forty in a flock, and, like true fheep, always keep together when they fly.

In pursuit of this odd fort of game, it was our hap to meet with about forty Tartars: Whether they were hunting mutton as we were, or whether they looked for another kind of prey, I know not; but as foon as they faw us, one of them blew a kind of horn very loud, but with a barbarous found that I

had

had never heard before; and, by the way, never care to hear again. We all fuppofed this was to call their friends about them; and so it was; for in less than half a quarter of an hour, a troop of forty or fifty more appeared at about a mile distance; but our work was over firft, as it happened.

One of the Scots merchants of Mofcow happened to be amongst us; and as foon as he heard the horn, he told us, in short, that we had nothing to do but to charge them immediately, without lofs of time; and, drawing us up in a line, he asked, If we were refolved? We told him, We were ready to follow him: So he rode directly up to them. They ftood gazing at us, like a mere crowd, drawn up in no order, nor fhewing the face of any order at all; but as foon as they faw us advance, they let fly their arrows; which, however, miffed us very happily: It seems they mistook not their aim, but their distance; for their arrows all fell a little fhort of us, but with so true an aim, that had we been about twenty yards nearer, we must have had several men wounded, if not killed.

Immediately we halted; and though it was at a great distance, we fired, and fent them leaden bullets for wooden arrows, following our fhot full gallop, refolving to fall in among them fword in hand; for fo our bold Scot that led us, directed. He was, indeed, but a merchant, but he behaved with that vigour and bravery on this occafion, and yet with fuch a cool courage too, that I never faw any man in action fitter for command. As foon as we came up to them, we fired our pistols in their faces, and then drew; but they fled in the greatest confufion imaginable; the

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