Among the Celestials : vol.1 / Page 89 (Grayscale High Resolution Image)

0089	Among the Celestials : vol.1

CHAP. III.] THE GREAT WALL. 63

carriages to drive abreast on it, with towers

every few hundred yards. This was the Great

Wall of China at its commencement, and it

is, I think, almost more wonderful than the

Pyramids. I have seen both. Both astounded

me by their evidence of colossal industry ; but

the Great Wall of China, pushing straight over

the mountains, regardless of height and dis-

tance, is, perhaps, the more impressive of the

two. There are points, however, in which the

Pyramids excel the Great Wall. The Pyramids

are perfect throughout. Not a flaw can be

found. Each huge block is laid with absolute

precision, and there is no sign inside or out of

anything less enduring than these immense

blocks of stone being employed. Each one is

an emblem of all that is rigid, exact and stable.

The Great Wall, on the other hand, though it

runs for hundreds of miles in the magnificent

state I have described, dwindles down eventu-

ally to a mere mud wall, and, moreover, even

in the best parts, the inside is only rubbish.

It is not perfect throughout its entire length,

nor solid right through. The Pyramids will

remain when the Great Wall has run to ruin.

On New Year's Day, 1887, we reached

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