when it approached the capital, the king sent mandarins, soldiers, elephants and boats to meet it.
On the 17th of the 7th moon the ambassadors arrived at the capital, and were received by many mandarins of different grades with great ceremony. They were conducted to a house built for the occasion near one of the gates of the city. The 1st ambassa- dor sat down in the centre of the house, and the Cochin-Chinese mandarins saluted him by prostrating themselves, and six cannons were at the same time fred. The ambassadors then seated themselves in palanquins carried by soldiers and entered the city with great pomp; they were accompanied by Cochin-Chinese mandarins, by three thousand men bearing arms and standards, and there were also elephants and horses. All proceeded in regn- lar order and arrived at the house which had been prepared for them with great care in the exterior city.
The capital of the Anamite kingdom, called Hué or Thua Thien or Phuxuan, is composed of two cities, the one exterior, the other interior. The city which is styled exterior is surrounded by walls and a considerable river, and is fortified in the European manner. It is entered by 10 bridges corresponding to 10 gates. This city which is very large contains what is called the interior city, which is in the middle, the different public offices, the houses of some near relations of the king, barracks, prisons, magazines and grana- ries. Some persons of the people also live there, but they are poor, and are petty traders who sell rice, betel, and other commo- dities required by the soldiers. This is perhaps the capital which offers the most dismal aspect in the whole world. All groan under the tyranny of a despot who imagines that he is the only person in all his kingdom who ought to be happy, and of mandarins who only study to deceive the king, and to oppress the people for their own profit. The city called interior, in the middle of the exterior town, is also surrounded by walls. It contains the palace or seraglio of the king into which no man is permitted to enter except some eunuchs, the palace of the mother of the king, the house in which the king receives the mandarins and a guard-room for the soldiers who mount guard at the gate. The royal kitchens are in the exterior town.
The 22nd day of the moon was the day fixed for the ceremony of investiture, and the place was the house in which the king receives his mandarins. In the morning six cannon reports announ- ced that the ambassadors had set out from their house, and imme- diately afterwards 9 other guns made known that they had reached the gate of the interior town. The king had already repaired to the place where he was to receive his diploma; he advanced beyond the gate to receive the ambassadors; when the latter perceived this, they descended from their palanquins and all entered together, the king on the right, the ambassadors to the left. The diploma was laid upon a kind of estrade or altar in the midst of perfumes.
