pavilion, where the Menghyi himself stood waiting to greet us, and were
ushered up to the broad, raised, carpeted platform which may be styled the
drawing-room. Here was a semicircle of chairs. On our way to these, a long
row of squatting Burmans was passed. As the Resident approached, the
Menghyi gave the word, and they promptly stood erect in line. He explained
that they were the superior officers of the army quartered in the capital--
generals, he called them--whom he had asked to meet us. Of these officers
one commanded the eastern guard of the Palace, the other the western; two
others were aides-de-camp after a fashion. Just as the Menghyi and his
subordinate colleagues represented the Ministry, so these military people
represented the Court. The former was the moderate constitutional element
of the gathering; the latter the "jingo" or personal government element,
for the Burmese Court was reactionary, and those military sprigs were of
the personal suite of the King and were understood to abet him in his
falling away from the constitutional promise with which his reign began.
Their presence rendered the occasion all the more significant. That they
were deputed from the Palace to attend and watch events was pretty
certain, and indeed the two aides went away immediately after dinner,
their excuse being that his Majesty was expecting their personal
attendance. After a little while of waiting, the _mauvais quart d'heure_
having the edge of its awkwardness taken off by a series of introductions,
dinner was announced, and the Menghyi, followed by the Resident, led the
way into an adjoining dining-room. Good old Pio Nono, who, I ought to have
said, had been with the Menghyi a member of the Burmese Embassy to Europe,
jauntily offered me his arm, and gave me to understand that he did so in
compliance with English fashion. The Resident sat on the right of the
Menghyi, I was on his left; the rest of the party, to the number of about
fifteen, took their places indiscriminately; Mr. Andrino, an Italian in
Burmese employ, being at the head of the table, Dr. Williams at the foot.
Our meal was a perfectly English dinner, served and eaten in the English