Page:To the Court of the Emperor of China - vol I.djvu/89

Rh, a Swiss Mechanist.

A private Secretary of the Ambassador.

Two Maitres d'Hôtel.

A European servant.

Two Malay servants.

And, lastly, the body guard of the Ambassador, confiding of a serjeant, a drummer, a fifer, and nine soldiers.

To conduct us we had three Mandarins of distinction. The first, called Vang-ta-loyé, wore the dark blue button, and was versed in political matters; the second, named Ming-ta-loyé, wore the blue transparent button, and was a military man; the third, called Sau-ta loyé, was of the white transparent button, and a great Mandarin of letters: each of them had under his command several inferior Mandarins carrying gold sticks. The military Mandarin was a Tartar, and the two others were Chinese.

After