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0237 Among the Celestials : vol.1
Among the Celestials : vol.1 / Page 237 (Grayscale High Resolution Image)

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doi: 10.20676/00000297
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partly because I had no proper interpreter, and
partly because I was travelling in such a quiet
way that the official probably would not care to
return my visit in a wretched traveller's inn.
Chinese officials surround themselves with a
good deal of state when they appear in public,
and it seems to go as much against the grain
with them to visit a stray foreigner in a
traveller's *serai* as it would to the mayor of an
English town if he were expected to get into
his full livery and go with all civic ceremony to
call upon a wandering Chinaman putting up at
the local "Blue Posts." As a rule, therefore,
I merely sent my passport and my card up to
the chief official, said I had just arrived, and
would leave the next day, or whenever it was,
and that I regretted I should not be able to do
myself the pleasure of calling on him. But
this governor of Yarkand showed particular
civility, and sent me several friendly messages,
so I called upon him on the afternoon after my
arrival.

He received me with the usual politeness of
a Chinese official, but with more cordiality.
His residence here in Yarkand, at the very
extremity of the Chinese Empire, was of