of each bamboo Tested -upon^'ithe tstealitós ^ f •thenlÉlf^
rneo, o f whom two supported'aft d divided th é 'dre&gJtt
béfore’thechaïrvand two^behiMd. Four others were’in
attendance to relieve th em .1 Setvants-corrying utnb-relias,
and othfers standards o f honour,-óCGompaïded the chair,
which was followed by several men on horseback. It
seldom “indeed happens that - any Mandarine o f rank
either travels, or is ‘evenhseeft out of his oWti house,
without'a train suitable to his dignity. So wsential it'is
t|tOu^ht for men in offieeto preserve, uwerftittingly, the
appearances calculated to inspire' the'vulgar with respec#
that for such persons to • walk the streets, at • an ƒ tikte,
without attendants, would h e ^ n s id e re d a„s a soit ofde^
gradation. They were therefore careful jto maintain all
the importance óf their'êtation, and to *ei|xT from th ll
people all the honours appertaining to -it. - This, habit
rendered them the more attentive in paying those theyj
considered duM > others, and especially tolforéis^ps -of
distinction received amongst them.
At every military post, and every town of hotpaloftg
the river, troops were drawn out while the yachtsljarry-
ing the Embassy were passing, and a saluté of three*guns
was fired. These guns were a kind of short petards, intended
only for salutes. A small quantity of gunpowder
is put into them. They are fixed perpendicularly in the
ground, and rammed full of sand or earth. After the
salutes were over, the - gaudy dresses or uniform of the
saldkrlj worn upon extraordinary occasions, together with wp
their arms, were said.to be; deposited in the storehouse of thaBci;hf>'
the station until they should again be Wanted. In the inter®
vals th e men assume not always a military, but often the
common,»habit of the people, and are occupied in manufactures,
or the cultivation of thè land. They certainly
thus become more Useful in time of-peace $ hilt must have
less of the spirit and d^LpIine^whi'ch fit for scenes of
war. The-pay and allowances the, soldiery exceed the
usual earnings of common men. Some shadow likewise
'^ .th a t power, which they display when under the*
prders oXtJmir officers, follows them in their sepa|ate»ca-
pacity: and, upon the whole, to he enlisted is considered
as, in some sort, to be preferred and it requires
neither 'force nor. Stratagem to reeruit the Chinese army‘>
Of military posts, some were passed'CVery day , when
the high road happened to approach the river. This
road was good, but very narrow. Few carriages were
seen upon if, and none with htore than two wheels*
either for carrying goods or travellers*r Both were equally
without springs. Gentlemen travel generally on horses
backj Or in sedan chairs:, or chair-palanquins; and ladies
are mostly carried in èlèse Mners, suspended-ibetweean
mules or horses. But these conveyances were little used
except for short distances; ^er in places remote from hb
vers o r canaiSi Semedo asserts, in his History o f Chinaj
that formerly coaches w^re much in use there, from
VOL. ' £