I had been watching with breathless attention, and so tense and absorbed had I become that the sudden cessation, when the bird finally came upon her finger, caused me a throb of almost pain. No one else, however, of her entourage seemed to think this anything extraordinary. After a few moments she handed the bird to one of the eunuchs, and we continued on our promenade. I saw another instance of her magnetic power, this time with a katydid. One of the Princesses, seeing one on a bush, tried to catch it, but in vain. Her Majesty held out her hand toward the beautiful insect, made a peculiar sound like their own cry, and advanced her outstretched finger until it rested upon it. She stroked it gently for a few moments, and then removed her fingers, and the katydid made no effort to fly until she put it down! CHAPTER XVI THE GREAT AUDIENCE HALL--SOME OFFICIAL CUSTOMS When His Majesty the Emperor reigned alone, he was in the habit of holding his Audiences as early as three o’clock A.M. It is said, however, that this custom was owing as much to his personal shyness as to his love of early rising, for at these Audiences he would allow but two candles on the Throne-table in front of him, and the Great Hall was lighted elsewhere only by the beautiful Chinese lanterns, which shine with but a dim brilliancy and are not very effective as lights. Thus his face could not be seen if an official should so forget the Proprieties as to raise his eyes to the Imperial Person. Their Majesties’ Audiences are held in the Great Audience Hall, a detached building apart and quite distinct from all the other buildings of the Palace inclosure. The inscription over its great doors points out that it is the “Hall where Industry is to be applied to State Affairs.” In all the Palaces the Audience Hall is nearest the outside walls and entrances, so that the officials who are privileged to have Audiences must only pass through the outer courts to reach the hall--Their Majesties’ Palaces with their private apartments being at some distance beyond. At the Winter Palace, where there are so many walls within walls, each of Their Majesties’ Palaces is surrounded with walls, and the Audience Hall is also in a walled-in inclosure near one of the Great Gates, but at the Summer Palace there are no walls except the exterior ones!