The officials who met us at once began asking about the presents; they told us how desirous the princes were to receive them, and entreated me to send them in advance; to this I consented, and forwarded to their sovereign a large two-coloured plaid and a revolver, to his eldest son a plaid and a microscope, and to each of the younger a Remington pistol, with 1,000 prepared cartridges. On receiving the presents, although the hour was late, one of the officials immediately took his departure, the other remaining with us.
On June 7 we arrived at Din-yuan-ing, and established ourselves In a house prepared for our reception. The inquisitiveness of the people as usual gave us no peace, until we tied our fierce Karza to the gate of our house, where he kept the rascals at a respectable distance.
The evening of our arrival we were visited by our friends, the Gigen and Siya. My uniform as an officer of the staff, which I had purposely brought with me from Peking, produced a great impression upon the young princes, who examined it attentively. They were now more than ever convinced that I was a high functionary, perhaps the trusted agent of the Emperor himself They had often questioned me last year about this; but when they saw me appear in a brilliant uniform, their suppositions were entirely confirmed. Henceforward I received the title of the Czar's officer, by which I was called during the remainder of our journey. I did not attempt to remove this opinion of my importance, which suited
