At the appointed hour the troops were again under arms, and salvoes of artillery announced the Shah's departure from his tent. His Majesty was, as usual, borne on an elephant, the howdah of which was of silver, and the caparisons crimson and gold. On each side of him sat Sir William Mc Naghten and Sir Alexander Burnes, the former attired in the same court dress which he had worn at Candahar. His Majesty appeared in excellent health and spirits, and addressed much of his conversation to Sir Alexander Burnes, who seemed to be high in his favour. The Shah's costume was, as usual, magnificent, his turban being ornamented with a single diamond, whose value was estimated at £100,000. Immediately after came six elephants, containing the ministers and household of the Shah, and then followed the Commander-in-Chief, with the whole of the general officers and staff in brilliant uniforms, and decorated with their various orders. The next feature in the procession, and a ludicrous one it was, was the appearance of two burly-looking fellows, dressed in red and yellow, and wearing conical caps, out of which shot two large horns. We at first supposed they were his Highness's jesters, but instead of that they turned out to be his executioners, functionaries far more essential to the comfort of an Asiatic prince. The Shah's troops, consisting of two thousand infantry, brought up the rear, our own lining the route along which the procession passed. On approaching the city his Highness was received with loud acclamations by the populace, who gave expression to their satisfaction in barbarous music and salvoes of small fire arms. Many of the houses were decorated with flowers, and the windows were crowded with spectators. At the entrance, and in the courts of the palace, was stationed a body of about 250 horsemen, whose steel armour and splendid horses gave them a martial and imposing appearance. They received us with stern and scowling looks, which plainly indicated that their hearts were not in the ceremony which they were compelled to sanction by their presence. On the Shah's entrance into the palace he held a durbar, at which all the British officers were presented to him, and his Majesty took the opportunity of expressing to them individually and collectively his thanks for the exertions which they had made to replace him on his throne. We had several reviews of the troops during our stay at Cabul, and on each occasion we were honoured by the Shah's presence. In order to give his Highness some notion of an English horse race, it was agreed that the officers should get up sweepstakes amongst themselves, which the Shah no sooner heard of, than he added a splendid gold hilted sword with Damascus blade. This increased the spirit of competition, and the Derby or Oaks was never looked forward to with more eager interest. The place selected for the course was a level plain immediately beyond our lines, and about a mile and a half from the city.