By the will of God, Here, upon the brink of these deserts, Which from this point begin and stretch away, Pathless, treeless, waterless, For thousands of miles, and along the margins of many mighty nations, Rested from their labors and from great afflictions, Under the shadow of the Chinese Wall, And by the favor of KIEN LONG, God's Lieutenant upon Earth, The ancient Children of the Wilderness,--the Torgote Tartars,-- Flying before the wrath of the Grecian czar; Wandering sheep who had strayed away from the Celestial Empire in the year 1616, But are now mercifully gathered again, after infinite sorrow, Into the fold of their forgiving shepherd. Hallowed be the spot forever, and Hallowed be the day--September 8, 1771! Amen. * * * * * Transcriber's note: Obvious punctuation errors and printer's errors were corrected. Inconsistent hyphenation and capitalization were retained.