Show Now that the allied forces have I started on their march to Peking it Is I well enough to give some points on the I topography of that country The name Taku signifies great mouth In Irish it Is called Bourke Cochran In caled German Ger-man Carl Schurz in English It might be Sulzcr I grew out of the little fishing hamlet at the mouth of the Pel river the Pel Ho I is the port of I Tien Tsln and Is twentylive miles twentYlve mies by rail from that city The region be tween Taku and Tien Tslnlt a low plain without a tree scarcely a clump Mcareh of bushes and very few habitations A double track railroad connects Taku TClm and Tlcn Tsln The railroad between Tien Tsln and Peking is just eighty miles long with eight stations the last one Is Machlatu which Is Just four miles from the corner of the southern gates of Pckln and that road has been about destroyed by the Boxers There remain two routes for an advancing ftrmy one of these is the Plo but this river Is very shallow and ahaloW tnd can only be navigated by very Hghf draught craft the second route Is the wagon road to the west of the the river which was fol owed by the AngloFrench army in 1E60 The road Is i In n fearful condi tion In summer Ills knee deep In duel and In winter tho wagons sink to the hubs in rmid I passes for tho last lit teon miles the superb hunting park of the Chinese Emperors Just ruth of Peking and separated from It by n swampy plain This Is I the great park of Nanhaltze from which foreigners have always been excluded A fortified wall forty miles In length surrounds this park which contains about eIght square miles I Is estimated that the soldiers will b about ten days on tho road and that we presume is provided that no army interpose on their march They will probably have to do ao tho French did forty years ago repair the road n they go along In order to enable thor to keep In touch with their supplies sup-plies |