114 
WANDERINGS IN CHINA. 
Chap. VII. 
corps dramatique came round, and each made a most 
polite bow of acknowledgment, and withdrew. Still, how- 
ever, the dinner ceremonial went on ; hundreds of fresh 
dishes were brought in, and as many in their turn re- 
moved. The Chinese guests were sometimes smoking, 
sometimes eating, just as it seemed good to them, and 
uniformly praising everything which made its appearance 
on the table. 
We had now been three or four hours at table, and, 
although the whole affair had been very amusing, we had 
had enough of it, and were beginning to tire. " How long 
shall the dinner last ? said I to a linguist who was 
placed next me, and who had most politely explained 
everything which had occurred during the entertainment. 
" Oh," said he, "it will last for three or four hours longer, 
but if you want to go away you may do so now.'' We 
were very glad to find that Chinese etiquette permitted 
us to withdraw, and ordered our chairs, which were 
waiting in the court-yard to receive us. Our host and 
his friends lighted us out with lanterns, and we took our 
departure in the same style in which we came. So ended 
my first Chinese dinner. Since then such things have 
been no rarity, either in the palaces of the rich or in the 
cottages of the poor, and they have been even more fre- 
quent in the temples with the priests. 
