In order to give a sort of political eclat to the steps taken to reinstate Shah Soojah on the throne of his ancestors, it was resolved that he should be solemnly inaugurated at Candahar, and nothing was omitted that could possibly tend to render the ceremony imposing. On the morning fixed for its celebration, the whole of the British forces were paraded in review order on a large plain to the north of the city, whilst the Shah's troops were drawn up at a little distance. In the centre of the field stood a platform canopied with crimson silk, and ornamented with numerous banners and devices, the seat reserved for the Shah being ascended by a broad flight of tapestried steps, and covered with cushions of crimson and gold. The other accessories of the pageant were got up in similar costly style, but the effect, on the whole, conveyed to the mind rather the unsatisfied feeling which attends the hollow show and glitter of the theatre, than the idea of substantial power. The weather was beautiful, the sun shedding its gorgeous rays full upon us, and finding innumerable reflections in the military panoply beneath. The heat was however excessive, and the majority of us would have willingly exchanged our places in the ceremonial for the shade and repose of our tents. As early as six o'clock the Commander-in-Chief took up his position in front of the line, and was received with a general salute. The Shah was soon after observed leaving the gates of the city on an elephant, the howdah of which was of solid silver. His Majesty appeared to me to be between fifty and sixty years of age; of middle stature, and somewhat inclined to corpulency. His features were large, but regular, and the expression which played about them was not calculated to leave a favourable impression on the physiognomist. It had a mingled character of vaccillation and cruelty about it, which impressed one with the notion that the possessor could sink with ease from the extreme of tyrannical self-will to the abject and fawning humility of the slave. His Majesty was accompanied by his Vizier, a tall, spare looking man of a thoughtful and rather melancholy cast of features, and somewhat older than his master. Immediately behind the Shah rode Sir William McNaghten, in full court dress, such as is usually worn by officials at her Majesty's levees in England, and he was followed by Sir Alexander Burnes, in a plain suit, and surrounded by the Affghan chiefs, with whom he appeared to be in close and friendly converse. The winning smile and frank and courteous manner of the latter gentleman appeared to have gained for him a degree of consideration amongst the natives, which no other European could boast of, and which was principally attributable to the talismanic influence of qualities that have a never failing effect in softening down and subduing even the most rugged and intractable natures. Nothing could exceed the splendour of the costumes in which