By fields of waving grain, past groves of thick‐foliaged trees, through trim villages that showed no trace of the storm that had swept so close to them. But here and there signs of it were not wanting. A wayside temple stood with fire‐scorched walls and broken roof. On the threshold lay the shattered fragments of the images that had once adorned its shrine. But from the doorways of the houses we passed the inhabitants looked out at us with never a vestige of fear or hate, and as little interest. In the stream of travellers setting towards Pekin came a patrol of Bengal Lancers, spear‐point and scabbard flashing in the sun as they rode along with the easy grace of the Indian cavalryman, their tall chargers towering above our small Chinese ponies as the _sowars_ saluted. Farther on we passed two men of the German Mounted Infantry, their tiny steeds half hidden under huge dragoon saddles. A brown dot in the distance resolved itself into a British officer as we drew near. He was Major De Boulay, R.A., who had charge of the treasures of the Summer Palace. For when the English took the place over these were collected and locked up for safe keeping in large storehouses. When the palace was handed back to the Chinese, the Court sent a special letter of thanks to this officer for his careful custody of the valuables. This campaign was not Major De Boulay’s first experience of the Far East. As an authority on the Japanese army, when few in Europe suspected its real efficiency as a fighting machine, he had been appointed military attaché to it when it first astonished the world in the China‐Japan War; and he accompanied the troops that made the daring march that ended in the capture of Wei‐hai‐wei. Our meeting him on his way in to Pekin was a distinct disappointment to us; for the keys of the godowns in which the treasures of the palace were stored never left his keeping, and in his absence we had no chance of seeing them. With many expressions of regret for this unfortunate circumstance, he continued on his way to the capital.