THE CZAR'S OFFICER. 37 



The officials who met us at once began asking 

 about the presents ; they told us how desirous the 

 princes were to receive them, and entreated me to 

 send them in advance ; to this I consented, and for- 

 warded to their sovereign a large two-coloured plaid 

 and a revolver, to his eldest son a plaid and a 

 microscope, and to each of the younger a Reming- 

 ton pistol, with 1,000 prepared cartridges. On re- 

 ceiving the presents, although the hour was late, one 

 of the officials immediately took his departure, the 

 other remaining with us. 



On June 7 we arrived at Din-yuan-ing, and esta- 

 blished ourselves In a house prepared for our recep- 

 tion. The inquisitiveness of the people as usual 

 gave us no peace, until we tied our fierce Karza to 

 the gate of our house, where he kept the rascals at a 

 respectable distance. 



The evening of our arrival we were visited by 

 our friends, the Gigen and Siya. My uniform as an 

 officer of the staff, which I had purposely brought 

 with me from Peking, produced a great impression 

 upon the young princes, who examined it attentively. 

 They were now more than ever convinced that I was 

 a high functionary, perhaps the trusted agent of the 

 Emperor himself They had often questioned me 

 last year about this ; but when they saw me appear 

 in a brilliant uniform, their suppositions were entirely 

 confirmed. Henceforward I received the title of 

 ihe Czars officer, by which I was called during the 

 remainder of our journey. I did not attempt to re- 

 move this opinion of my importance, which suited 



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