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Show e N etheriand Eafl- In;im,Cbmpan}. their queltiors, they took leave, and prefented to each of the EmbatTadours fift Toel of Silver But not long after, thefe Gentlemen one after another cam againto ask after fome particulars ; the firft came by order of his Imperial Majeft and his Council to fetch the Credentials, which were carried to him in great State "being put into alarge Silver difh, covered with three pieces of Scarlet. Anothe came to fee our Arms, about which they were very inquifitive to know how an where they. were made The. third asked what manner of Arms the Hollander ufed in their Wars, and againft whom they had ware''d. He asked likewife particularly,whether we had War or Peace with the Portugueffes, ard wich thofe of Maccao, and whofe Countrey lay neareft to China The Embaffadours fully anfwering all, they departed, but returned at leaft fi or feven times, and asked among thereft after the quality of the Embaffadours and Cbiuc[u k ow n ]?hc name of rince figni at laft they returned, asking pardon for the trouble they had given them, {aying that they had done it by order of the Emperour, who was always very inquifitiv to know all {uch things After that the chief Governour of this Imperial City had been made acquainte al the name of the rinc Embafladours, with exprefs order, that they, together with their Prefents, thoul underfiand po 4 Pprehen er them into 3 good pini S anceraing whom they ask ‘adours were allyedto the pbafladours are to bow th Ch 2 are 2 Kin o himeha tfe llands, who came hithe \mgs that (ent chem, with aton with the Emperour ' pot o the lealtallyedt Countrey koew nothingo ws relared to their Prince Thele Gentleme aees c m b c i P e t t r l o o r u y o t wa bear i How man aha were th o tol n « H a w of the bi a Bamcy r perpour3 U { h 5ard th no ocefor ‘x . 3 o e [ |lod pdss piwer ©0 "U thet withthe report of the Commiffioners, he fent the next day two Gentlemen to th appear before his Majefties Council : but proving a very Rainy day, the Embaffadours, left the Prefents might be {poiled, dcfired to be excufed from comingtil another time ; but it would not be granted, notwithftanding all their endeavours Hereupo the Embafladours wen to Court without the Prefents, but were no admitted till fuch time they bad brought them 5 for the Emperour was refolve to fee themthat day : afloon as the Prefents were come, they were admitted an ordered to fit down, without fhewing any manner of refpe& to that great Affembly. The chief Commander fate at the upper end of this Affembly, upona broa low Bench, with his Legsacrofs, like our Taylors in Exrope, next him on his righ hand, fat two Tartar Lords, and on the lcft hand a Fefuit, Father Adam Schalige a Courtier in Peking, almoft fifty yearsin honour and repute ; he was', as he tol us, bornat Cullen, and went Shaved and Clothed after the Tartar Fafhion 3 a ver comely old Man, witha long Beard. All thefe Lords who were at this Affembly fate onc among another, without any Splendour, Order, or State ;° the Benche were only covered with an old White Linnen Cloth, upoa which fat likewife hi Highnefshim{elf, wirh his Legs naked, and a litele {light Mantle about his body No {ooner had the Providore made a fhort Harangue to the Embafladours and had ordered them tofit, but Father Adam the Fefuit came likewife to falut them 3 which he performed with greatcivility in his own Language, asking the (among(t other things) after {everal Roman Catholicks, whom we knew to hav in thofe parts lived at Amflerdam 5 afign that he had formerly been converfan Inthe mzantime the Canton Mandorines, and Pinxenton himf{elf (who had carricd it fo high upon the Voyage) were as bufie as Porters to help away the Cheft and Cafes, 1a which lay the Emperours Prefents. The Rix-Providore himfelf took the Prefents out, and asked particularly fro ~ whence they came, ‘how they were made, for what ufe, and where they wer bought, as alfo how many days Voyage between Holland and Pcking : Fathe Adam was his Interpreter, and affirmed the anfwer which th Embafladour made to the feveral queftions,to be real and true : As often as Rix-Providore too Rix-ProTh figh dee fetche Adan Fathe rare ver out any thing that wa vidore asked alfo among the reft,after the value of the Alcatives, and receiving fo anfwer that the vvere vvorth above 200 Ryals 5 he {aid that they vvere bot brave and large, and vvould be very acceptable ‘to his Imparia like th an Corral Arms Saddles th commende H Majefty ; he alf Mea |
