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[[underlined]] Chapter IV. [[/underlined]]     73.

   Now the Chinese Government's Aviation Department, I knew, sometimes chartered its aeroplanes to private individuals and parties for sightseeing purposes. In this circumstance, it occurred to me, might lie the solution to our problem. I discussed my idea with Mr. G. W. Northridge, an American aviator then in the employ of the Chinese Government as instructor. He heartily endorsed it, and very kindly undertook not only to make the necessary arrangements for us but also to conduct us himself over the site of the ancient city, a short hour's flight to the southwest.
   Accordingly, on December 15th our party, which included among others Mr. and Mrs. Wenley, Mr. Tung, Mr. Ch'iu, and myself, met at the Nan Yüan aerodrome, a few miles south of Peking. With us we had a battery of cameras with whose aid we hoped not only to procure a permanent photographic record of the site but perhaps also to detect features invisible on the ground.
   As we were about to take off, however, the Chinese military official in charge informed us that as the area over which we proposed to fly was a fortified zone, we must not take photographs of it from the air. Now except for the  very modest town-wall encircling I Chou itself (and even that some hundreds of years old), I was unable to learn, either then or later, that any fortifications had been erected in the region during the past thousand years or more. Our protests were however without avail; and it was too late to turn back, for I had already paid over the rental for the aeroplane. A visual examination of the site from the air seemed better than nothing; and accordingly we decided to go on with our flight. 
   By following the railway track we were able to find the site without difficulty, a few miles southeast of I Chou. Photographs from the air would of course have greatly enhanced the permanent value of our