He was enjoying his pipe and a cup of tea, resting the latter on a little table at his side.  He was an old man,—­of how many years I dare not try to guess,—­with a thin gray beard on his short chin, and a face that might have been worn by the Knight of the Sorrowful Countenance.  I was introduced as an American who had come to see China, and especially the portion bordering on the Amoor.  We shook hands and I was motioned to a seat at his side on the edge of the divan.

Tea and cigars opened the way to a slow fire of conversation.  I spoke in French with Borasdine, who rendered my words in Russian to the governor’s interpreter.  The principal remarks were that we were mutually enchanted to see each other, and that I was delighted at my visit to Igoon and Sakhalin-Oula.

Several officials entered and bowed low before the governor, shaking their clenched hands at him during the obeisance.  One wore a red and another a yellow ball, the first being in a black uniform and the second in a white one.  The principal feature of each uniform was a long coat reaching below the knees, with a cape like the capes of our military cloaks.  Both dresses were of silk, and the material was of excellent quality.

The floor of the room was of clay, beaten smooth and cleanly swept.  The furniture consisted of the divan before mentioned, with two or three rolls of bedding upon it, a Chinese table, and two Chinese and three Russian chairs.  The walls were covered with various devices produced from the oriental brain; and an American clock and a French mirror showed how the Celestials have become demoralized by commerce with outside barbarians.  The odor from the kitchen filled the room, and as we thought the governor might be waiting for his supper, we bade him good evening and returned to the boat and the Russian shore.

During my stay at Blagoveshchensk I was invited to assist at a visit made by the governor of Igoon to Colonel Pedeshenk.  The latter sent his carriage at the appointed hour to bring the Chinese dignitary and his chief of staff.  A retinue of ten or twelve officers followed on foot, and on entering the audience hall they remained standing near the door.  The greetings and hand-shakings were in the European style, and after they were ended the Chinese governor took a seat and received his pipe from his pipe-bearer.  He wore a plain dress of grey silk and a doublet or cape of blue with embroidery along the front.  He did not wear his decorations, the visit being unofficial.

In addition to the ball on his hat he wore a plume or feather that stood in a horizontal position.  His chief of staff was the most elaborately dressed man of the party, his robes being more gaily decorated than the governor’s.  The members of the staff wore mandarin balls of different colors, and all had feathers in their hats.  The governor’s hair was carefully done up, and I suspect his queue was lengthened with black silk.