of railway construction. Armed with this knowledge, the local gentry hurled their bolt from the blue into the viceregal yamen, in the shape of a memorial insisting on the restoration to the fund of the sum of 1,000,000 taels unlawfully extracted. In his dilemma the viceroy cast his eyes round, and guided by Heaven(?), they chanced to light upon the high priest of a neighbouring temple who had so far forgotten himself as to take unto himself a wife, and who was actually found to be the father of a family. Could such violation of religious usage be tolerated? Not for a moment. Lands and property were instantly confiscated, and the offending priest paraded in a cangue before the scorn of a righteous population.
The streets in the Chinese city—there is a Tartar city adjoining, occupied by a Manchu garrison—are comparatively broad, and present a scene of lively animation. The gilded signboards which hung over the streets and excited the admiration of Sir Alexander Hosie have, however, largely disappeared, the present police Taotai, a man of progressive ideas, hold-
