Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1882-09-22
The Queen Of Burmah.

The Queen kept us waiting two
hours. At length there arose sligh:
hubbub, which meant that she was com
ing. and all the court put itself into the
usual attitude for receiving majesty in
Burmah, i. g.: they prostrated them
selves, and folded their hands far in
front of them as if in prayer. The
Queen is only twenty-one years old
She is very nice-looking. unusually fair
for a Burmese. and her expression is
really good. and makes me inclined to
credit the assurance. given me by Sister
Teresa. that she knew nothing at the
time of the horrible massacres that took
place at Mandalay about eighteen
months ago. l had to sit in front OF
her Majesty, who herself did not occupy
the throne. but sat on purple velvet
carpet, with cushion for her
elbow to rest on. Sister Teresa
then introduced me by name. BY
the way, Camp had been ques-
toned about me in the morning. and, to
my great amusement, heard that she
had described me as a parsonage ONLY
second to royalty itself in rank The
more they think of you the better was
the explanation she afterward gave me
of this wonderful romancing. NV
presents were then mentioned, and
then a maid of honor handed me a
beautiful gold cup, and a piece of silk
the Queens gifts. made a low bow.
The Queen then took a puff at
a huge cherOot. and then asked my age,
and several other personal questions.
She seemed little shy herself, and
when the conversation tagged she once
or twice laughed like schoolgirl, and
made all the PROSTATE ones, including
the nuns. laugh, too, by some remark
of hers. A mischievous little dog that
would run all about the throne-room
upset her gravity first, and for once it
took off all the stiffness of the thing to
sec the general giggle. The Queen
course | had nothir g but praises of all l
saw. Upon this she said that these next
few days would be great Burmese
festival, and that there would be all sorts
of entertainments at the palace that she
would like me to stay and see. really
feared there would be no escape this
time, but begged Sister Teresa aside in
French to get me out of the difficulty.
So she expressed my thanks to the
Queen, but sad my husband was
obliged to leave at once for Rangoon.
then asked if might see the Princess
the baby. The Queen smiled graf
ified maternal smile, but said baby
aged two months and half-was asleep.
After few moro fOrmalities the inter-
view came to a sudden end through my
foot being little cramped, so that I
tried to wriggle into more comfortable
position, seeing which the Queen consid-
erately remarked to Sister Teresa that I
must be tired of sitting ON the ground,
and, rising herself. left the room. Hero
l must say that women fare much better
than men at these interviews. All that
is necessary is to keep ones feet out of
sight, and a woman. thanks to her
skirts, can easily do this, sitting tailor
fashion. and as comfortably as she
would on her hearth-rug by the fire.
But the unfortunate men-Europeans-
must twist themselves into positions
that soon become torture in order to
keep their feet behind them. We did
not talk politics. or say word on either
side that could give rise to discussion
only one thing l told the sister to say
emphatically. and that was that COM
piled with the Queens wish to see me
because heard that she herself was a
good and humane woman. was very
glad the King did not appear-one
could not pay him the same compli-
ment. When the Queen left, the Prin-
cesses clustered around mo again. and
one of them took my hand and said
something that seemed very amiable.
1t turned out to be that she loved me
very much. Already! Poor things.
they have not much outlet for their af-
fections, for they are more closely i'm
INJURED than the nuns in the convent.
There are about 80 of them, all,
believe, daughters the late King. who
had SO wives and 10 children, OF whom
only SO were alive at the time of his
death.-Frazer Magazine.