The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-12-30 00:00:00

THE DELHI ASSEMBLAGE.

On Saturday afternoon, the 23rd, Lord Lytton, Viceroy of
India, made his public entry into Delhi, once the capital of
tte Mogul Empire, and now the city selected as the site
where Queen Victoria will be proclaimed Empress of India.
The procession was three miles in length, and for six miles
the road was lined with troops and thronged with spectators,
The Viceroy and the officials were for the most part on ele-
phants, of which there were upwards of 1,000 on the ground.
—The following is an extract from the interesting letter of
the correspondent of The Times :

"At two o'clock precisely a Royal Salute from the
fort announced the Viceroy's arrival. In half an hour
later anothes salute told us the procession was beginning
to move. A little longer and the head of the oolumn
came in sight, advancing up the road towards the
Musjid. First came the Deputy Assistant Quarter-
master-General, next the 11th Hussars, the A battery
of Horse Artillery, and a regiment of Bombay
Cavalry, gay in blue and silver. Some staff officers
followed, and then appeared a personage anxiously
looked for by us all, I mean Major Barnes, the
Chief Herald. The Imperial Assemblage selected
him for that important post—so, at least, the
Indian papers say —by reason of his Wog
the biggest officer in the Army. What his exact
hPight may be I know not, but sitting on horseback he
did not seem greatly to suipass the ordinary stature.
But if there be any deficiency in his inches his
gorgeous dress made ample amends. To describe it
properly would require a knowledge of heraldic
nomenclature which I do not possess. Suffice it
to say that so long as he remained in sight he
was the cynosure of all eyes and the glory
of the Viceroy. The native chiefs seemed pale
and insipid beside him. In attendance on Major
Barnes were his 12 trumpeters, six Europeans, and six
natives, mounted on fine grey horses and riding by
threes, the Europeans and natives alternately like
squares in a chess board. Their dresses were on the
same model as that of the Chief Herald, but, of course,
far inferior in point of splendour, and the little peaked
jockey caps which the Europeans wore must have
made them supremely uncomfortable in the full blaze
of an Indian sun.

"Following the Chief Herald and trumpeters came
a detachment of that splendid body of men the Body
Guard, the flower of the Native Cavalry, and imme-
diately behind, seated in a glittering howdah on the
back of a magnificent tusker elephant, appeared the
Viceroy and Lady Lytton. A gilt umbrella was held
over their heads, and an attendant seated behind
waved off imaginary flies with a brush made ef a
yak tail. This seems to be a necessary adjunct to all
Oriental pomp, and though it may look well, it
was hardly necessary yesterday. The Viceregal
elephant, as has been said, was a magnificent tus.ker,
and he appeared to have a •fair idea of his
own importance. Instead of walking on quietly
and steadily as a well-conducted elephant should,
he would insist upon stopping every now and then
and taking a look round. Nor could anything
persuade him to move until he had satisfied his
curiosity. The result was that every few minutes
the " halt " had to be sounded, se as to preserve the
line of procession unbroken.. As the Viceroy passed
Musjid he was received well but quietly by the na-
tives. All seemed excited, but there was no cheering.
This, however, is not to be wondered at. The natives
are not given to express their feelings in our manner,
and the silence of the crowd is not in itself any mark
of disloyalty. The next elephant carried two little
girls, daughters of the Viceroy, who seemed to enjoy
the affair greatly, though I daresay they were very
tired before the end of the three hours' ride. Behind
them osme the remainder of the Body Guard and a
squadron of the 10th Hussars; then the three Lieu-
tenant-Governors each on an elephant, and each
attended by his Staff; next the " members of the
Council. the Secretaries to the Government, and the
Chief Justices of Bengal and the North-Western
Provinces ; thou volsh topes, Is-bolting ;Angularly out
of place in their judicial robes. Lastly, there came a
number of Native Chiefs, their elephants painted
with all the colours of the rainbow, and glittering
with gold and silver trappings. Their attendants,
arrayed in fantastic dresses, formed a confused but
picturesque group. The procession wound slowly
through the tortuous streets of the Native town, and
converging from the city reached the ridge and'turned
towards the north, passing along a road lined by the
elephants and retainers of the great chiefs Scindiah,
Holkar, the Gaekwar, the Nizam of Mysore, and
others. When it arrived at the flagstaff at the tower
it turned sharply off to the left, and, descending from
the ridge, advanced up the main street of the Vice-
roy's camp about five o'clock. A few minutes before
sunset a Royal salute, the third fired during the day,
marked the arrival of the Viceregal cortege at the end
of its journey."
The Times' Correspondent also adds :—" I have' just
heard of an interesting incident which occurred yester-
day at the railway station while the Chiefs and officials
were waiting for the Viceroy. The families of the
Nizam and the Guikwar, each of which is now repre-
sented by a boy, have been at deadly feud for more than
a century. The feud, let us hope, was happily terminated
yesterday, for Mr. Melvil, Resident at Baroda, led up the
young Guikwar to the Nizam, and Sir Richard Meade in-
troduced the two boys to one another. The Nizam, as
the elder, remained seated while the Guikwar stood up.
They bad a short talk, chiefly, I am told, about riding,
and then parted on friendly terms. The incident will
perhaps, not lead to much, but it is remarkable as
being, perhaps, the first occasion of a Nizam and a
Guile-war speaking to one another for a century and A
half."