Marble bridges, balustrades, and stairways bewilder a stranger.
Dragons, phoenixes and other imaginary monsters carved on doorways
and pillars warn him that he is treading on sacred ground. The
ground, though paved with granite, is far from clean; and the
costly carvings within remind one of the saying of an Oriental
monarch, "The spider taketh hold with her hands and is in kings'
houses." None of the buildings has more than one story, but the
throne-rooms and great halls are so lofty as to suggest the dome
of a cathedral. The roofs are all covered with tiles of a
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yellow hue, a colour which even princes are not permitted to use.

Separated from the palace by a moat and a wall is Prospect Hill,
a charming elevation which serves as an imperial garden. On the
fall of the city in 1643 the last of the Mings hanged himself
there--after having stabbed his daughter, like another Virginius,
as a last proof of paternal affection.

From the gate of the Forbidden City to the palace officials high
and low must go on foot, unless His Majesty by special favour confers
the privilege of riding on horseback, a distinction which is always
announced in the _Gazette_ by the statement that His Majesty
has "given a horse" to So-and-So. No trolleys are to be seen in
the streets, and four-wheeled carriages are rare and recent. Carts,
camels, wheel-barrows, and the ubiquitous rickshaw are the means
of transport and locomotion. The canals are open sewers never used
for boats.

Not lacking in barbaric splendour, as regards the convenience of
living this famous capital will not compare with a country village of