294 CO CHIN CHIN A. 
part of the entertainment, lie would be able to suit our taste 
in these respects better than the Cochinchinese ; and under 
this impression, to do him justice, he had spared neither 
trouble nor expence in making his dinner as complete as cir- 
cumstances would admit : and thus, by his misplaced zeal, a 
good Cochinchinese entertainment was entii'ely marred by a 
bad Portugueze dinner. 
A trifling circumstance occurred on our first entering the 
building, which was rather embarrassing to the Cochinchinese 
officers. These people who, on most occasions, adopt the 
Chinese customs, had prepared a yellow skreen of silk, bear- 
ing in large painted characters the name of the young adven- 
turer at Hue. Whether they took it for granted, or were so 
told by Manuel Duome, that the English, as a matter of 
course, would make the usual prostrations to this shade of 
Majestj^ we did not inquire, but it was very evident they ex- 
pected it ; for when the General commanding at Turon, and 
who sat cross-legged on a bench as proxy for his master, ob- 
served that, having made our bow, we filed off and took our 
seats regardless of the yellow skreen, he appeared to be 
greatly disconcerted, and could hardly be said to recover him- 
self the remainder of the day. His disappointment in missing 
the nine prostrations seemed to operate on his mind as if he 
had been sunk so many degrees in the estimation of his 
brother officers. He took little notice when the rank and 
station were explained, though at his own desire, which each 
of us held in the embassy, until the Chinese interpreter an- 
nounced Captain Parish of the Artillery as the " overseer of 
" the great guns," upon which his attention was suddenly 
