From six in the morning, all the windows overlooking the Arno at that point were occupied by elegantly dressed women; these windows had been let at enormous prices. There were, moreover, stands on both banks of the river intended for spectators. The quays were absolutely black with people from the rural districts. The excursion, in their minds, was invested with the solemnity of a pilgrimage. Their varied and picturesque dresses offered a unique sight. A large stand, richly draped, had been erected for the queen, the court, the corps diplomatique, and foreigners of distinction who had come from all the Italian Courts. Craft of all dimensions, displaying bunting from prow to stern, and provided with elegant tents, crowded the river. They had bands on board, and a glance showed the preparations for cold collations everywhere. This flotilla alone was a delightful sight. On both sides of the bridge there were other craft: they, as it were, constituted the riparian police, and were charged with keeping both boats and spectators at a distance. Their second mission consisted in affording aid to the combatants who from some cause or other might tumble into the stream. Such accidents, to judge from a picture at the town hall, painted more than two centuries before, were by no means improbable. The canvas represented, among other phases of the struggle, two knights clinging tightly to each other, and continuing the contest, while dropping into the river. The living picture that day was scarcely less curious, with the noise, bustle, and stir of the spectators, the constant movement on both banks of the stream, the diversity of Italian dialects, and the innumerable incidents of that outdoor life which in this sunny clime seems the most natural. At twelve o’clock the combatants donned their armour; their trainers and chiefs crowd around them and renew their counsels and instructions. To watch the excitement of their wives and their womankind one might have taken them for so many Spartan matrons handing their bucklers to their sons and saying: ‘With it or on it.’ Thus armed, the combatants repair to their respective encampments; refreshments are served out to them under tents, and this time the solids are washed down with wine from the best cellars of the town. At the bugle-call they emerge from their encampments and form in line of battle; then, preceded by their military bands and with banners unfurled, they slowly gain the side of the bridge they have sworn to defend. The banners were attached outside the parapets. On each side plans of attack and defence had been prepared, and so carefully elaborated as to elicit the admiration of a most competent judge in military matters, namely, the General of Division Duchesne. He had made the campaigns of Italy, Holland, and Egypt, and considered them (the plans) samples of strategical skill, from the manner in which the forces were disposed for an engagement in which everything depended on physical strength.