•the conftant reparation o f the mifchief done to the articles o f
which he had the fuperintendance.
The Chinefe eunuchs are addicted to all the vices that diftin-
guiih thefe creatures in other countries. There is fcarcely one
about the palace, whether o f the clafs o f porters and fweepers,
or o f that which is qualified for the inner apartments, hut have
women in their lodgings, who are generally the daughters o f
poor people, from whom they are purchafed, and are confe-
quently confidered as their flaves. It is difficult to conceive a
condition in life more humiliating, or more deplorable, than that
•of a female Have to an eunuch; but happily for fuch females, in
this country the mental powers are not very adive. Several
o f the miflionaries allured me o f the truth o f this fait, which
indeed I have ftrong reafons for believing even o f the rqfibus.
T h e keeper o f the hall o f audience once took me to his lodgings,
but on coming to the door he defired me to wait till he
had made fome arrangements w ith in ; the meaning o f which
was, until he had removed his lady out o f the w a y ; nor was
-he in the lead: difpleafed at my hinting this to him. Being
one o f the favourite attendants o f the ladies o f the court, he
was o f courfe a black eunuch. He was the mod capricious creature
in the w o r ld ; being fometimes extremely civil and communicative,
fometimes -fallen, and not deigning to open his
lips : and whenever he took it into his head to be offended, he
was fure to praitife fome little revenge. I fancy he was clerk
o f the kitchen, for the quality and the quantity o f our dinner
generally depended on the flate o f his humour. When the rer
port o f the Embaffador’s -making conditions' with regard to the
5 • ceremony
ceremony o f introduction firft reached Yuen-mtn-yuen, he was
more than ufually peeviih, and conceived, as he thought, a
notable piece o f revenge. Some pains had been taken to arrange
the prefents in fuch a manner in the great hall as to fill
the room well, and fet them off to the beft advantage. The
old creature, determined to give us additional trouble and to
break through the arrangement that had been made, defired
that the whole might be placed at one end o f the room. On
my objeiting to this he pretended to have received the Emperor’
s order, and that at all events i t muff be obeyed; and the
reafon he affigned for the change was, “ that his Majefty might
“ fee them at once from his throne, without being at the trou-
“ ble o f turning his head.”
The great number o f thefe creatures about the palace o f
Yuen-min-yuen made my refidence there extremely difagreeable.
T h e y feemed, indeed, to be placed as fpi,es on our conduit.
I f I attempted to move ever fo little beyond the court o f bur
apartments, I was fure o f being watched and purfued by fome
o f them; to perfift in my walk would have thrown the whole
palace in an uproar. I one day happened inadvertently to
ftray through a thicket, which it feems led towards the apartments
o f the ladies, but I had not proceeded far before I heard
f e v e r a l fqualling voices in the thicket, which I foon recognifed
to be thofe o f eunuchs. T h e y had run themfelves out o f
breath in feeking me, and my <?ld friend o f the kitchen was
not to be pacified for putting him to the hazard, as he pretended,
o f lofing his head by my imprudence.
H H The