tingent of Houssas, or Fiji troops, or some other dark-coloured
Colonial subjects, were replaced by an Oriental combination of varied
uniform and complex colours. They numbered twelve hundred strong and the
Eastern side of the display was one which the stricken King--deeply
sensitive to the Imperial significance of the Coronation as he
was--would have greatly appreciated and understood. The _Times_
description was an eloquent one: "To those sitting in the stands it
appeared as if a great rich ornamental carpet of kaleidoscopic colour
had been suddenly unrolled across the gravel of the parade-ground; a
line of dazzling tints, before which the impressive grandeur of
Household uniforms with attendant cuirasses, bear-skins, scarlet and
bullion, dwarfed into insignificance. The front of the Asiatic line was
crested with fluttering lance pennons, and beneath these flags were
stalwart frames in vermillion, rich orange, purple-drab, French-grey,
and gold-tipped navy-blue, dressed shoulder to shoulder, making a nether
border of snow-white or orange breeching."

One after another the representatives of famous Indian regiments passed
by and no Roman Emperor, or conqueror of old, ever had such a triumphal
gathering in victorious procession through his ancient capital as this
which passed the windows of the room where the Emperor-King lay slowly
verging toward recovery. Finally, they had all passed--Rajpoot, Sikh,
Pathan, Afridi, Jat, Hazura, Gurkha, Dogra, Multani, Madrassee, Baluchi,
Dekani--and, after a great cheer for the Emperor of India and to the
strains of the National Anthem and personal cheering of another kind,
the Queen and Princess of Wales drove from the grounds followed by the
Prince and the rest of the Royal family.

In the evening a ball was held at the Crystal Palace, the proceeds of
which were to go to King Edward's Hospital Fund, as a sort of Coronation
tribute to His Majesty's well-known interest in this subject. The
function, which had been managed by Mrs. Arthur Paget, Lady Maud
Wilbraham and others was a great success. During the same day Mr. W. H.
Grenfell M.P. entertained the Colonial Premiers and visitors, on behalf
of the British Empire League, at a water-party on the Thames and a
luncheon at Taplow Court. The King's Dinner to the poor people of London
took place on July 5th and constituted probably the most remarkable
event of the kind in all history. A statistician estimated that six
hundred thousand p