C H A P . IX.
Befcription o f the palace o f Teumen-manyeumen. Difagreeahle circum-
fiances belonging y B[ i f Dfpütes\^ühjhehatiêes yhho.gudrdedg£
Lord Macartney applies fo r a changes o f fituation. the embajjy re-
moxies to Pekin.“ Dtfcnpfion o f a pagoda. Arrive ht'tbe palace
appointed fo r the refidence o f the enibajfy. D fcripfonof^ u. "the
arrangements made in it, Several mandarins vifit the Ambafador.
1 I793~ * T h e whole o f this morning was employed in removing the bag-
belonging to the embaffy, frote.-the outer gate way/where
It had beei^ d ep o fite d ,- th e different apartments appointed for the
gentlemen who compofed it.
The palace o f Yeumen-manyeumen is in a very 1ÓW fituation, about
a quarter o f a mile from a village .of.foe Tame name, and is:'a very
mean, | indonvefifent building o f,no more than one ftoiyr,:
The entrance to: this^palace,: i f it may berfaid ,to 4 efervéihat name,
confifted o f a very ordinary ftone gateway, guarded-hy folddefo, and
beyond it was a kind o f parade, where the baggage was placed.óniits
being taken out o f the carts that:had.brought itihither. : In the’ center
o f this parade there is a fmall lodge, where feveral mandarins ö f an
inferior order were in waiting; and through .it is the pafikge that leads
to the body of the palace, which being no more than four feet -wide,
the carriages could make no nearer approach than to this lodge. -
T he pofition of this palace is not only low, but in a fwampy
hollow, and between two ponds of ftagnant water, whofe putrid exhalations
cannot add to the comfort o f this unwholefome fituation;
^ . and
arid fonie apartments which were on the banks of one of thefe ponds, . r793‘
were occupied aSjbarracks, by the Britiih fpldiers. ' To the weft of Auguft.
thefe buildings, there is another gate, but conftruéted of .wood, which
leads,to another budding, where I obferved a confiderable number of'
Çhinefe foldiers j but, .on, my approach to take a view of them, they,
fofldenly retired, and locked the door againft me. Indeed, the native
jealouly of, thëfe peqple refpedting Étrangers feemed to be awakened in
a* vety great,’ degree, » when, they thought it neceffary to watch all our
acftjons,. with fuch a minuté and,ferutinifing attention.
Th&.jalape, for, I0muft. by way of diftinclion continue to give it
that name, though unworthy the refidence of, the reprefentative of a
great monarch, tishdivided ; ipto. two fquare ^çourts, With a range o f <
apartments all round them, which were not only deftitute of elegance,
but in a wretched ftate of repair a there,, is a paved footway around
them, with a wooden .roof painted and varnifhed. Before the principal
doors of the building, and in the midft of a large court, there
are a few trees of no very peculiar figure or beauty; but the ground
itfelf is covered with a kind of gravel. There are fome fmall fields of
grafs that belong to the place, which wear an appearance of ncgleft
we fliould not- have. çxpcélcd. to find in a country where we had not
hitherto feen an uncultivated fpot.
The windows of the apartments copfifted of lattice work ..covered
with.a,;glazed and painted paper. In the hot feafpns the doors are
opened during the day, and their placé fpppliecl. by cooling blinds
made of bamboo; fancifully coloured, and wrought as fine and dole
as a weaver’s reed ; they certainly ferved to refreih the rooms where
they were placed, and afforded- fome degree of coolnefs to alleviate, the
heat of- the day; but at night, the doors were reftored .to their office,
and thefe blinds were rolled up and fattened to the wall oyer them.
The whole range of.apartments.^contained no other furniture' than
a few .very common tables and chairs ; not a bed or bedftead was to