garment.

Another costly present was received from the Viceroy of Canton, and
consisted of four bags of pearls, each bag containing several thousands.
They were all perfect in shape and color, and would have brought
fabulous prices in Europe or America. However, Her Majesty had so many
jewels, especially pearls, that she hardly paid any attention to them
beyond remarking that they were very nice.

The Young Empress and the Court ladies were also expected to give
presents to Her Majesty each New Year. These were for the most part
articles that we had made ourselves, such as shoes, handkerchiefs,
collars, bags, etc. My mother, my sister and myself made presents of
mirrors, perfumes, soaps and similar toilet accessories which we had
brought with us from Paris. These Her Majesty appreciated very much; she
was very vain. The eunuchs and servant girls gave fancy cakes and other
food stuffs.

The presents were so numerous that they filled several rooms, but we
were not allowed to remove them until Her Majesty gave orders to do so.

The Court ladies also exchanged presents among themselves, which often
led to confusion and amusement. On this occasion I had received some
ten or a dozen different presents, and when it came my turn to give
something, I decided to use up some of the presents I had received from
my companions. To my surprise, the next day I received from one of the
Court ladies an embroidered handkerchief which I immediately recognized
as the identical handkerchief I had myself sent her as my New Year's
present. On mentioning the fact, this lady turned and said: "Well, that
is rather funny; I was just wondering what had made you return the
shoes I sent you." Of course everybody laughed very heartily, and still
further merriment was caused when, on comparing all the presents, it was
found that quite half of us had received back our own presents. In order
to settle the matter, we threw them all into a heap and divided them as
evenly as possible, everybody being satisfied with the result.

About a week before New Year's day all audiences ceased and the seals
were put away until after the holidays. During this time no business was
transacted by Her Majesty. Everything was much more comfortable and we
could see that Her Majesty also appreciated the change from bustle to
quietness. We had nothing whatever to do but to take things easy until
the last day of the year.

Early on the morning of the thirtieth Her Majest