Following in order was another band of music. Then came Teeka Singh, Azimoolah, Tantia Topee, Bala Rao, and other members of the suite. They were all mounted on handsome charges, and bore at their sides jewelled swords, while fixed to their heels were golden spurs. They were escorted by a strong body-guard of picked troops. These were succeeded by files of men carrying silken banners. Then a hundred boys, bearing long poles, attached to which were silver bells, and five hundred girls clad in garments of cloth of gold. Every girl carried before her a jewelled vase, that was filled with the most exquisite flowers. Behind the girls were two thousand troopers--the flower of Dundoo’s army--and all mounted on superb horses; and last of all was a grand display of artillery. There were guns of every description, which had been plundered from the English arsenal. It was, in truth, a gorgeous show, well calculated to daze the hordes of illiterate natives who crowded every thoroughfare, with its pomp and importance. Dundoo and his wily admirers had learnt the secret of the importance of outward show, if the masses are to be impressed, and they used their knowledge to advantage. The procession moved slowly forward--a long array of glitter and glare, of noise and bewildering richness. Literally hundreds of thousands of natives had gathered; they swarmed on every conceivable spot from whence a view could be obtained. On the housetops, in the trees, on the walls, the huts--every place where a foothold offered itself were Nana’s future subjects to be seen. They rent the air with their cries of welcome; they sang songs of victory, and howled out execrations against the Feringhees. Through every street and road where it was possible for the procession to pass, it went. The white elephant, with its costly silken houdah, beneath which was the Tiger of Cawnpore, towered above all--a conspicuous and central figure. Soon after mid-day the show returned to the Bhitoor Palace, where preparations had been made on a grand scale for the ceremony of the forehead mark, or the crowning of the Peishwah. In one of the largest halls a stately throne had been erected, and on this Nana Sahib took his seat. Then there was borne into the hall, on men’s shoulders, a platform covered with cloth of gold. The platform was railed round with golden railings, and in the centre stood a Brahmin bull, covered with jewels and held by gold chains. Following the bull came a large number of priests, carrying small brass idols, and chafing-dishes containing fire. The bull was placed in the centre of the hall, and the chafing-dishes and idols ranged round it. An aged priest stepped up to the head of the animal, and, after making many mystic symbols, he held up a gigantic sword, and cried out in a loud voice-- “The enemies of Brahma shall be smitten to the death.”