ving the
names and ranks of all the Princesses and the names of the wives and
daughters of the Manchu officials, and she selected those whom she
wished to be present at the celebrations. On this occasion she selected
forty-five ladies, who were duly informed that she desired their
presence at the Palace. I was standing behind Her Majesty's chair all
this time, and she turned and said: "Usually I do not ask many people to
my birthday celebrations, but on this occasion I have made an exception
as I want you to see the way they dress and how ignorant they are of
Court etiquette."

The celebrations commenced on the sixth day of the tenth moon. Miss
Carl, having returned to the American Legation in Peking for the time
being, my mother, my sister and myself went back to the Palace again.
Early on the morning of the sixth, the eunuchs decorated the verandas
with different colored silks and hung lanterns all over the place and
amongst the trees. At about seven o'clock in the morning the visitors
began to arrive and I quite agreed with what Her Majesty had told me
about them. The eunuchs introduced them to all the Court ladies, but
they seemed to have very little to say, appearing very shy. They were
then conducted to the waiting room, but there were so many of them that
we Court ladies had to stand outside on the veranda. Some of them were
very expensively dressed, but their colors were, for the most part, very
old fashioned, and their manners very awkward. We watched them for quite
a while and then went off to report to Her Majesty.

On such occasions as this Her Majesty was generally in pretty good
spirits. She commenced asking us a lot of questions. Amongst other
things she asked whether we had noticed an elderly lady among the
visitors, dressed as a bride. She explained that this lady was the only
Manchu lady present who was married to a Chinese official, and had been
invited because of her previous connection with the Court. Her Majesty
said she had never seen her herself, but understood that she was a
very clever woman. We had not noticed such a person, and suggested that
perhaps she had not yet arrived.

Her Majesty dressed very quickly, and as soon as she was ready she
came into the hall, where the head eunuch brought in the visitors and
presented them to Her Majesty. We Court ladies were all standing in
a row behind the Throne. As they came in, some kowtowed; others
courtesied, while others did not do anything at al