Chap. XVI. 
VISIT TO A MANDARIN. 
269 
house, my servant came up to me and requested that I 
would not tell the mandarin that he was in my service, 
or that he had anything to do in bringing me there. As 
I could speak the language sufficiently well to make 
myself understood, I did not need him as an interpreter, 
and I was of course anxious not to bring him or his rela- 
tions into any scrape on my account. 
When we reached the mandarin's house, the doors 
were thrown open, and I walked boldly into the recep- 
tion-room. It was a most difficult matter for the 
servants to keep out the crowd, but they accomplished 
the task partly by threats, and partly by whips, which 
they used rather more freely than we should approve 
of in England. This, however, is a common mode of 
punishing the rabble in China, and when they know 
they deserve it they take it very quietly. 
" Tell your master I want to see him," said I to one 
of the attendants, who immediately went into an inner 
apartment and returned with the mandarin himself, 
clothed in his most imposing robes of office — ^hat, button, 
peacock-feather, and all. I made him several very low 
bows, which he most politely returned. " I am in a 
great hurry," said I, " to go on to Shanghae, and have 
been tr3dng to engage a boat for that purpose, but cannot 
succeed without your assistance. Will you have the 
goodness to aid me ? After repeating after me what 
I had said, as is the invariable custom in Chinese con- 
versation, he put the following question to me : — " How 
old are you ? " This may seem strange, but it is consi- 
dered complimentary by the Chinese, and is generally 
amongst the first questions they put. I thanked him 
