Page:Mongolia, the Tangut country, and the solitudes of northern Tibet vol 1 (1876).djvu/327

 how were stearine candles manufactured; how did people travel on railways; and how were likenesses taken by photography? 'Is it true,' asked the prince, 'that the liquid matter from human eyes is used in photography? It is reported,' continued he, 'that the missionaries at Tientsin put out the eyes of the children whom they had taken to educate for this purpose, which so enraged the people that they put all the missionaries to death.' On my answering him in the negative, the prince begged me to bring him a machine for taking portraits, and I could hardly excuse myself by assuring him that the glasses would infallibly be broken on the road.

The prince then asked what tribute the French and English paid as vassals of Russia. When I answered the Amban that I had never heard of such a thing, he urged me to tell him whether the above-mentioned nations made war with China with our consent or of their own free will. 'In any case,' continued the prince, 'it was only the exceeding kindness of our Emperor that allowed these barbarians to depart from beneath the walls of his capital without being destroyed to a man; as a punishment for their savagery they had to pay a large contribution.'