18 WITH MR. CHAMBERLAIN IN THE 



their " store clothes," who turned up on deck, and 

 who had never been seen before on the voyage, was 

 quite surprising. In accordance with usage in the 

 case of diplomatic Missions, we had been accorded 

 the usual exemption from Customs examination. 

 The revenue cutter Manhattan came out to meet 

 us at the quarantine station, and we said adieu to 

 the good ship Etruria and trans-shipped on to the 

 cutter. On board of it to meet us were poor Henry 

 Edwardes, who had come up from Washington, 

 where he was then Secretary of Legation ; William 

 Lane Booker, our Consul-General at New York — 

 both now, alas ! long since called to their last rest ; 

 Mr. William Smith, an ex- Canadian Minister of 

 Marine and an old ally of Bergne's ; and a quartette 

 of pressmen, with their books and pencils, anxious 

 to learn our impressions of their country, regardless 

 of our not yet having had time to formulate any. 

 We disembarked at what is known as the Barge 

 Landing, and proceeded thence to the Brevoort 

 House Hotel in 5th Avenue, where apartments had 

 been reserved for us. It was a fine building, much 

 affected by the best class of Europeans, and the 

 cuisine was excellent. There Mr. Chamberlain 

 accorded an interview to a shoal of reporters which 

 supplied material for many columns in the Herald 



