296 
JOURNAL OF AN EMBASSY 
took possession of our new dwelling, which we 
found, upon the whole, convenient and com¬ 
fortable. 
Oct 29-—We paid a visit this morning to the 
widow of the King’s father, a prince who died 
as heir-apparent, and never came to the throne. 
He was the same person so frequently mention¬ 
ed in the Journals of Colonel Symes and Cap¬ 
tain Cox. He had married first the younger, 
and after her death the elder of two sisters, his 
own relations. The King was born of the first 
marriage. His second wife, of whom I am now 
speaking, was therefore at once aunt and step¬ 
mother to his Majesty. This personage was 
possessed of no political influence, but was treat¬ 
ed with respect, and was wealthy ; her dwelling 
was the best wooden-house we had seen ; she 
was entitled to have it gilded, a royal privilege, 
but had not gone to this expense. We w r ere 
received under a tent pitched for the occasion ; 
after waiting in which for a few minutes, we 
were ushered into a spacious hall, supported by 
thirty-two wooden pillars, forming a kind of 
portico to the main house. At the back of this 
was the partition which divided the hall from 
her Majesty’s apartments. In this, and at the 
elevation of six or seven feet from the floor, 
there was a window with gilded shutters : these 
