Her Majesty earlier in the day to the
Audience Hall.

After passing out of the large courtyard on the West side, we came to a
large, long veranda running in a zig-zag fashion along the front of the
lake, and it was so long that I could not see the end of it. It was very
prettily made of solid carved work from one end to the other. Electric
lights were hanging from the ceiling at intervals, and when they were
lighted at night, made a beautiful sight.

Her Majesty was a very fast walker and we had to step lively to keep up
with her. The eunuchs and the servant girls walked on the right side and
only one of the eunuchs was allowed to walk behind us, and he was the
one who carried Her Majesty's yellow satin stool, which, like her dog,
went everywhere she did. This stool she used to rest on when taking a
walk. We walked for quite a long while and I began to feel tired, but
Her Majesty, as old as she was, was still walking very fast and did not
appear to be the least bit tired. She asked me if I liked the Palace and
whether I would be satisfied to live with her, etc. I told her that it
was a great pleasure for me to serve her, that it had been my dream
for years, and now that my dream had come true, I could not help but be
satisfied.

We finally arrived at the place where the marble boat was kept, and I
was about finished. I never saw such vitality in an old woman in my life
as Her Majesty had, and it was no wonder that she had ruled this vast
Empire of China so successfully for so many years.

This boat was magnificent, being one mass of carved work, but the inside
was all spoiled. Her Majesty showed us all over the boat, and whilst we
were looking at the ruin, she said: "Look at those colored glasses in
the windows and these beautiful paintings. They were all spoiled by the
foreign troops in 1900. I don't intend to have it repaired as I don't
want to forget the lesson I have learned and this is a good reminder."
After we had been standing there a few minutes, a eunuch who had been
carrying the famous satin stool, came forward, and Her Majesty sat
down to rest. While we were talking I noticed two large and very
fancy-looking boats approaching us, with several smaller ones coming
along behind. As they came nearer I saw that they were also very
beautifully made, and looked like floating pagodas of beautifully
carved natural wood. The windows of the pagodas were hung with red gauze
curtains and all was trimmed with silk. He