Some people[19], among the other unwarranted things they have advanced, have said, That, at the king’s coronation, a gold ear-ring is put into his ears, and a drawn sword into his hand, and that all the people fall down and worship him; but there is no such ceremony in use, and exhibitions of this kind, made by the king in public, at no period seem to have suited the genius of this people. Formerly his face was never seen, nor any part of him, excepting sometimes his foot. He sits in a kind of balcony, with lattice-windows and curtains before him. Even yet he covers his face on audiences or public occasions, and when in judgment. On cases of treason, he sits within his balcony, and speaks through a hole in the side of it, to an officer called Kal-Hatzè, the “voice or word of the king,” by whom he sends his questions, or any thing else that occurs, to the judges who are seated at the council-table. [Illustration: 1 _Crown_ 2 _Standard_ 3 _Shield outside_ 4 _Shield inside_ 5 _Javelins_ 6 _Ornament after victory of all Kasmatis_ 7 _Silver disc worn on festivals by soldiers of quality._ London. Publish’d Dec{^r.} 1{^st.} 1789 by G. Robinson & Co.] The king goes to church regularly, his guards taking possession of every avenue and door through which he is to pass, and nobody is allowed to enter with him, because he is then on foot, excepting two officers of his bed-chamber who support him. He kisses the threshold and side-posts of the church-door, the steps before the altar, and then returns home: sometimes there is service in the church, sometimes there is not; but he takes no notice of the difference. He rides up stairs into the presence-chamber on a mule, and lights immediately on the carpet before his throne; and I have sometimes seen great indecencies committed by the said mule in the presence-chamber, upon a Persian carpet. An officer called Serach Massery, with a long whip, begins cracking and making a noise, worse than twenty French postillions, at the door of the palace before the dawn of day. This chases away the hyæna and other wild beasts; this, too, is the signal for the king’s rising, who sits in judgment every morning fasting, and after that, about eight o’clock, he goes to breakfast. There are six noblemen of the king’s own choosing, who are called Baalomaal[20], or gentlemen of his bed-chamber; four of these are always with him. There is a seventh, who is the chief of these, called Azeleffa el Camisha, groom of the robe, or stole. He is keeper of the king’s wardrobe, and the first officer of the bed-chamber. These officers, the black slaves, and some others, serve him as menial servants, and are in a degree of familiarity with him unknown to the rest of the subjects.