On the _24th_, about three p.m., the two barges sent from the capital came alongside. The mandarin who commanded them was the finest figure of a man we had yet seen since we entered the country. He was advanced in years, yet hale and even athletic. He was, in fact, a perfect figure of an old soldier, inured to toil and accustomed to hardships. He proposed that we should sail towards evening, and stopped to dine with us. The Cochin Chinese make no difficulty of eating of whatever is placed before them: and both this man, who sat with us at table, and his followers, partook of almost every dish. They are, in fact, rather coarse feeders. When we came to examine the boats, we found the accommodation they afforded more wretched than we had anticipated. The boats, indeed, made up in length for what they wanted in breadth; they are fashioned like canoes, very narrow, but extremely long. They contained forty rowers each, and were provided with a few small brass swivels. The only accommodation left for us, was a narrow, close place, covered with a paltry bamboo matting, of a rounded form, one end of which was left open to creep in at. It was not sufficiently high to allow even of our sitting erect. We had, of course, concluded that the two boats were to be at our disposal, but to this arrangement the Mandarin strenuously objected, insisting on keeping the best accommodation for himself. When we came to take possession of our hut, we found it barely sufficient for two persons to squeeze into side by side in a recumbent posture.
VOYAGE FROM TURON BAY TO HUE’.--MOUTH OF THE RIVER OF HUE’.--POLITENESS OF THE COCHIN CHINESE HAS NOT TENDED TO AMELIORATE THE TREATMENT OF FEMALES.--ARRIVE AT HUE’.--PERPETUAL WATCH KEPT OVER THE MEMBERS OF THE MISSION.--MILITARY COSTUME.--THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL’S LETTER TO THE KING SENT TO THE MANDARIN OF ELEPHANTS.--THE CHINESE TRANSLATION ALTERED.--INTERVIEW WITH THE MANDARIN.--CANAL SURROUNDING THE CITY.--BEAUTIFUL PROSPECTS ON THE RIVER OF HUE’.--NEATNESS OF THE VILLAGES.--HORSES.--SOIL.--FORTIFIED CITY.--FRENCH MANDARINS.--CONFERENCE WITH THE MANDARIN OF ELEPHANTS.--DIFFICULTY RESPECTING AN AUDIENCE WITH THE KING.--AN ENTERTAINMENT SERVED.--FURTHER DISCUSSION.--THE AUDIENCE WITH THE KING REFUSED.--BEAUTY AND STRENGTH OF THE FORT.--INHOSPITALITY OF THE GOVERNMENT.--ROYAL BARRACKS.--ARTILLERY STORE-HOUSES.--ENORMOUS GUN.--CITADEL.--REMARKS ON THE FRENCH INTEREST AT COURT.--THE PRESENTS FROM THE GOVERNOR GENERAL AND AN AUDIENCE REFUSED.--POVERTY OF THE BAZAR.