ladies.

The Audience Hall was about two hundred feet long by about one
hundred and fifty feet wide, and at the left side was a long table
covered with yellow satin. When Her Majesty came down from the
chair she went into the Hall and mounted her throne just behind
this table, and His Majesty mounted a smaller one at her left
side, the Ministers all kneeling on the floor in front of her and
on the opposite side of the table.

At the back of the Hall was a large dais about twenty feet long by
about eighteen feet wide, enclosed by a magnificently carved
railing about two feet high running all the way round, open only
in the front in two places just large enough for a person to pass
through. These two openings were reached by a flight of six steps.
At the back of this dais was a small screen and immediately in
front of this, in the center, was Her Majesty's throne.
Immediately behind was an immense carved wood screen, the most
beautiful thing I ever saw, twenty feet long by ten feet high. In
front of Her Majesty's throne was a long narrow table. At the left
side was a smaller throne for the Emperor.

The theme of the carving and furnishings of this dais was the
phoenix and peony most exquisitely carved in ebony wood, in fact
the theme of the entire room was the same. On each side of Her
Majesty's throne were two upright ebony poles on the top of which
were peacock feathers made into the shape of a fan The upholstery
was entirely of yellow Chinese velvet.

Just before Her Majesty took her seat on her throne she ordered us