of ebony boxes
all containing jewels. Small yellow strips were pasted on some of the
boxes on which was written the contents. Her Majesty pointed to a row of
boxes on the right side of the room and said: "Here is where I keep my
favorite everyday jewels, and some day you must go over them and see
that they are all there. The rest are all jewels which I wear on special
occasions. There are about three thousand boxes in this room and I have
a lot more locked up in my safety room, which I will show you when I am
not busy." Then she said: "I am sorry you cannot read and write Chinese,
otherwise I would give you a list of these things and you could keep a
check on them." I was very much surprised at this and wondered who had
told her I couldn't. I was anxious to know, but did not dare to ask her,
so I told her that although I was not a scholar, I had studied Chinese
for some time and could read and write a little, that if she would give
me a list I would try and read it. She said: "That is funny, someone
told me the first day you were here, I forget now who it was, that you
could not read or write your own language at all." While she was saying
this, she was looking all around the room and I was sure she knew who it
was that had told her, but she would not tell me. Then she said: "When
we have time this afternoon, I will go over this list with you. Bring
me those five boxes on the first row of shelves." I brought the boxes to
her room and placed them on the table. She opened the first one and it
contained a most beautiful peony made of coral and jade and each petal
trembled like a real flower. This flower was made by stringing the
petals which were made of coral on very fine brass wire, also the leaves
which were made of pure jade. She took this flower and placed it on the
right side of her headdress. Then she opened another box and took
from it a magnificent jade butterfly made in the same way. This was an
invention of her own and it was done by carving the coral and jade into
petals and leaves and boring holes in the lower ends through which
brass wire was run. The other two boxes contained bracelets and rings of
different patterns. There was a pair of gold bracelets set with pearls,
another pair set with jade, with a piece of jade hanging from the end
of a small gold chain, etc. The last two contained chains of pearls, the
like of which I never saw before, and I fell in love with them at
once. Her Majesty took one which wa