oppose the Tatars a task for which he was utterly incapable. In a paroxysm of fear at beholding his army daily decimated by the sword and by desertion, he offered terms to Kublai, which the latter at first refused, but at last accepted, upon learning that his brother, Artigbogha, was aspiring to his throne. It was stipulated that the Chinese emperor should recognise himself as a subject of the Moguls, paying to these an annual tribute in silk and gold, and that the river Yantse-kiang should be regarded as the boundary of the two empires.

The terms of the treaty having been ratified by both parties, Kublai returned to the north; but Kyatsetao, with true Chinese duplicity, having attacked and killed some few of the Mogul rear-guard, represented to his own court that he had gained a great and complete victory, averring his own conduct and valour to have driven the Tatars out of the empire, closely concealing the infamous treaty he had made; and lest it should be divulged, he caused an ambassador of the Mogul monarch to be seized and detained.

On the death of Lytsong, Kyatsetao continued to enjoy the same degree of influence as ever under his successor, Tutsong, who ascended the throne A.D. 1265.

By the year 1270, an individual of the name of Ahama, the very counterpart of Kyatsetao for avarice, debauchery, and other vices, had risen to considerable power at the Mogul court; but there was this difference between the contemporaries—Ahama had continually to fear the vigilance of an active monarch, Kyatsetao had no peril but the usual one of courtly intrigue ; for Tutsong was averse to business, and left. everything at the disposal of his prime

minister.

The period I have selected for the opening of my tale is the commencement of the year 1274. The constitution of Tutsong, exhausted by a life dedicated to debauchery, is broken to such a degree that his death is shortly expected; Kyatsetao is scheming to retain his power, and perhaps to advance to greater; whilst the Moguls, under the command of Chinsan Beyan-or, as the Chinese pronounce it, Peyen-begin their serious efforts for the conquest of the Chinese empire.

Throughout my tale, I have adopted the present appellation by which towns &c. are distinguished, for were were I to employ the geographical terms of the Soung dynasty, my readers, in a map of the present celestial em

pire, would vainly seek the places I might

name.

With this I conclude, begging my readers to accept the result of many years' toil with feelings of generosity towards a young author, who appears before them in the difficult character of an illustrator of the customs of a country entirely new to works of fiction, with the design of rendering his countrymen intimately acquainted with a most distant and strange people.

LONDON, November, 1845.

THE

FALL OF THE NAN SOUNG.

CHAPTER I.

Tur sombre grey of early dawn passed from

ERRATA.

Vol. I. p. 32, reference for "De Guignes, ii. 264," reud “ De Guignes, ii. 464."

p. 118, reference for " Du Halde, i. 107," read "Du Halde, i. 109."

p. 189, for "Oruang-nganka," read "Ouang-nganka."

Vol. II. p. 20, for "all other its proud insignia," read “all its other proud insignia."

Vol. III. p. 3, for "Nai-yuen," read "Nui-yuen."

p. 105, reference for "Maillanoc," read "Mailla." p. 207, for “Longkong," read “Louy Kong.”

tions, changing their shades with each new position, the solitary Chinese enthusiast, or magi

pire, would vainly seek the places I might

name.

With this I conclude, begging my readers to accept the result of many years' toil with feelings of generosity towards a young author, who appears before them in the difficult character of an illustrator of the customs of a country entirely new to works of fiction, with the design of rendering his countrymen intimately acquainted with a most distant and strange people.