The stone cutters were only four in number, but between them they polished the stone in two day's time. One of them, who was an expert artist in '"'stone dragons," confined himself to the sculpture ing the six entwined dragons forming the top of the monument; another, who had a better educ: tion than his fellows, undertook the chiseling of the Syriac -characters, and the remarkable Christian cross at the top,' while the other two confined tHemselves to the main inscription in' the caliigraphic characters of the T'ang period. Judging that his continued presence might interfere with the success of his undertaking, Mr. Holme made the difficult and dangerous journey over the Chingling pass into Hupeh, and down the Tan and the Han rivers to Hankow. On his second visit to Sianfu he found the work completed, go he sat down to the exacting task of comparing with a magnifying glass the facsimile with the original, of which he had a "rubbing." He did not detect a single error! Applying his inch scale he ascertained that the dimensions were accurate, practically to a millimetre.
(Mr. Holm does not mention the contract price, but in the Chicago pamphlet quoted it ig stated that the sum was one hundred and fifty taels of silver, a mere trifle for such high-class work on 80 large a scale.)
In his negotiations in Sian, Mr. Holm was greatly assisted by the foreign head of the Chinese post-office, Mr. Schaumloeffel. But he complains that some of the local missionaries (but not all) viewed him with suspicion.
they and the Roman Catholic Bishop, he says, appeared to consider the Tablet theirs. The Bishop told him that he had thought of sending it as a present to the Pope at Rome, but he recognized that this would. involve cutting the tablet into three pieces as otherwise it could not possibly be "negotiated" over the rough Shensi bridle paths which are miscalled "roads." The local officials fortunately knew nothing of the making of the replica till it was finished, and they were invited to inspect it. Indeed, Mr. Holm insists that he is sure that they never heard of the tablet at all until it was surreptitiously duplicated. Upon learning of this audacious exploit they hastened (Oct. 1907) to remove the Tablet to the "Forest of Tablets (Pei-lin)" within the city walls, where it should have been placed nearly three centuries ago.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.