t of the Court ladies, the reason being that Her
Majesty lectured them too severely, telling them how to behave, so that
they had grown to hate the very mention of a foreign audience. While we
were eating, a eunuch came in and told me that Her Majesty was waiting
at her private Palace, and that I should bring these ladies there after
the lunch was over. So when we had finished we entered her own Palace
and found her waiting there for us. She got up and told me to ask Mrs.
Evans whether she had had anything to eat--that the food was not very
good. (This is a custom with the Chinese when entertaining, always to
underrate the food.) She said that she would like to show Mrs. Evans
her private apartments, so that she could form some idea of the way we
lived, so she took Mrs. Evans to one of her bedrooms. She invited Mrs.
Evans and Mrs. Conger to sit down, and the eunuchs brought in tea, as
usual. Her Majesty asked Mrs. Evans to stay a little while in Peking,
and to visit the different temples. She said: "Our country, although
very old, has not such fine buildings as there are in America. I
suppose you will find everything very strange. I am rather too old now,
otherwise I would like to travel around the world. I have read much
about different countries, but of course there is nothing like visiting
the different places and seeing them yourself. However, one cannot tell.
I may be able to go after all, by and bye, but I am afraid to leave
my own country. By the time I returned I should not know the place any
more, I'm afraid. Here everything seems to depend on me. Our Emperor is
quite young."

She then turned and ordered us to take these ladies to visit the
different buildings of the Palace, also the famous temple of the King
of Dragons. This is on a little island in the center of the lake of
the Summer Palace. Mrs. Conger said that she had something to ask Her
Majesty, and told the Missionary lady to proceed. While Mrs. Conger was
speaking to this lady Her Majesty became rather impatient as she wanted
to know what they were talking about, so she asked me. It was very hard
for me to listen to both of the ladies and to Her Majesty at the same
time. The only words I heard were: "The portrait," so I guessed the
rest. Before I had a chance to tell Her Majesty this Missionary lady
said: "Mrs. Conger has come with the special object of asking permission
to have Her Majesty's portrait painted by an American lady artist, Miss
Carl, as