d out to see the procession pass, and I heard one remark
to another: "Those ladies are going to the Palace to become Empresses,"
which amused me very much.

Soon after leaving Hai Tien we came to a pai lou (archway), a very
beautiful piece of old Chinese architecture and carved work, and from
here got our first view of the Palace gates, which were about 100 yards
ahead. These gates are cut into the solid wall surrounding the Palace
and consist of one very large gate in the center and two smaller ones on
each side. The center gate is only opened when their Majesties pass in
and out of the Palace. Our chairs were set down in front of the left
gate, which was open. Outside of these gates, at a distance of about 500
yards, were two buildings where the guard stayed at night.

Just as we arrived I saw a number of officials talking excitedly, and
some of them went into the gate shouting "Li la, doula" (have come, have
arrived). When we got out of our chairs, we were met by two eunuchs of
the fourth rank (chrystal button and feather). This feather which is
worn by eunuchs of the fourth rank, comes from a bird called the magh
(horse-fowl) which is found in Szechuen Province. They are grey and
are dyed black, and are much wider than the peacock feather. These
two eunuchs were accompanied by ten small eunuchs carrying yellow
silk screens, which they placed around our chairs when we alighted. It
appeared that Her Majesty had given orders that these screens (huang
wai mor) should be brought to us. This is considered a great honor. They
were ten feet long and twenty feet high and were held by two eunuchs.

These two eunuchs of high rank were extremely polite and stood at each
side of the gate and invited us to enter. Passing through this gate we
came into a very large paved courtyard about three hundred feet square,
in which there were a great many small flower beds and old pine trees
from which hung all kinds of birds in cages. On the side opposite to the
gates we had entered was a red brick wall with three gates exactly like
the others; on the right and left side were long rows of low buildings
each containing twelve rooms, used as waiting rooms. The courtyard was
full of people dressed in official robes of the different ranks, and,
after the Chinese fashion, all seemed to be very busy doing nothing.
When they saw us they stood still and stared. The two eunuchs who were
showing us the way conducted us to one of these rooms. This r