THE BANKS OF THE AMUR 



47 



tea in his private dining-room, and quantities of stale 

 sweetmeats were passed round, needless to say, with 

 little success. Madame Isvolsky and my wife were 

 particularly anxious to see a Chinese lady, and asked 



BANKS OF THE AMUR RIVER. 



the noyon, through his interpreter, whether they could 

 be introduced to his consort, upon which the Chinaman 

 appeared much surprised, and the answer was that 

 there were no representatives of the weaker sex in the 

 village. Later, however, during our promenade, we 

 caught sight of two female figures, and to our question 



