relief from the tedious formalities they were obliged to affutne
in their official capacity. Van and Chou conftantly palled the
evenings in fome o f our yachts. It is impoffible to fpeak o f
thofe two worthy men in terms equal to their defert. Kind,
eondefcending, unremitting in their attentions, they never betrayed
one moment o f iH-humour from the time we entered
China till they tooktheir final leave at- Canton. Thefe two men
were capable o f real attachments. They infifted on accompanying
the EmbafladQr on board the Lion, where they took
their laft farewell. At parting they burft into tears and
ihewed the ilrongeft marks o f fenfibility and concern. Their
feelings quite' overcame them, and they left the Lion lor-
rowful and dejcfled. Early the following morning they Lent
on board twenty baikets o f fruit and vegetables, as a farewell
token of their remembrance. We had the fatisfadion to hear,
that immediately on their arrival at Pekin they both were promoted.
Chou is at prefent in a high fituation at court, but Van,
the cheerful good-humoured Van, has paid the debt o f nature,
having fallen honourably in the fervice o f his country. On
the conduit o f Lee, our Chinefe interpreter, any praife that
I could beftow would be far inadequate to his merit. Fully
fenfible o f his perilous fituation, he never at any one time
flirunk from his duty. A t Macao he took an afiedionate leave
o f his Engliih friends, with whom, though placed in one o f
the remoteft provinces o f the empire, he ftill contrives to cor-
refpond. The Embaffador, Lord Macartney, has had feveral
letters from him ; the laft o f which is o f fo late a date as March
1862 ; fo that his fenfibility has not been diminilhed either by
time or diftance.
3 It
It is the cuilom o f China to confidcr all Embaffiidors as guefts
o f the- Emperor,..from ,the, ¡moment they, enter any part of.his
dominions, until they are again entirely out o f them. The inconvenience
o f this cuftom. ,was feyerqjy ,fç|p by us, as it prevented
us. from purchafing, in an ppçn manner,, many trifling
articles that would have, been aqqegpt^lft. The very,.confider-
able expence, incurred by the court on this account, may, be one
reafon for prefçribing the limited time o f forty days for all em-
baffadors to remain at the capital, 1 o tneet the expences ol
the prefent Embaify, Van-ta-gin affured.me, tfia^they were fiir-
niffied with an order to dr3.yv.0n the public...treafuries o f,th e
different provinces through which we hadyo pafs, tp the amount
o f five thoufand ounces,of filver a-day, or about one thoufiind
fix. hundred pounds fterling : and that fifteen hundred, ounces
a-day had. been iffued out q f the treafury at Pekin for the fup-
PQrt o f the Embaffy cjuring, its.contirqjance there.’ Suppoftng
then thefe data to. bq, qqrred, .and I fee no reafon .fo r mil i ng
their authenticity in queilion, We may . form an eftimate o f thé
whole expence o f this Embaffy to the Chinefe government.
From the 6th o f Auguft (the day we entered
the Pei-ho) to the 21ft (when we arrived in Oz.!
Pekin) inelufive ^ - ’ ,03., wo *6 foys, 80,00©
From the 22d Auguft to the 6th Oârober (in
Pekin and in Gehol) -1 ' - 46 days, 69,000
From thé 7th Oétober to the 19th December '
(when we arrived at Cantofi) 74 days, 370,006
Total ounces o f filver 519,000