Page:Inside Canton.djvu/181

180 CHAPTER X.

promises which had been made to me, and especially my intimate relations with Callery, conferred upon me the right of free access to the official mansion of Pan-se-Chen, which is situated in the street of Che-pa-Pou; that is, of the eighteenth district at the western extremity of the suburbs of Canton. This house is notably that of a great lord, and is composed of three interior courts surrounded by buildings, which have one storey over the ground-floor. Each court has its proper use: one is surrounded with arches similar to those in our Rue de Rivoli, under which are at work artists and workmen in the pay of the great mandarin. Another opens into the reception-rooms where business is discussed, and where visitors are welcomed; and in the third is the women's quarter, with the dining-rooms and all the domestic offices. This space, lying between four handsome facades, is gaily decorated, being rather a garden than an inner court. There is a little pond in the centre, whose greenish water is covered with lotus-leaves. The edges are shaded by