"  There  were  men  in  khaki,  with  broad  brimmed  hats  bound
with  red  ribbon,  the  flaps  turned  up  on  the  right  side.  Who  were
these  ?  Bushmen.  Then  there  were  men  with  Zouave  trousers
and  red  fezzes.  Who  would  have  thought  that  West  Indian
regiments  were  costumed  thus  ?  You  might  have  taken  them  for
Frenchmen.
"Those  Colonials,  with  green  cock  feathers  spreading  over
their  felt  helmets,  are  just  like  Italian  bersagliers.  In  such  con-
fusion, remark  and  observation  the  time  was  whiled  away,  until
suddenly,  at  a  word  of  command,  all  these  incoherent  elements
grouped  themselves  together  as  if  by  magic.  A  distant  bell
began  to  toll.
416  STATELY  POMP  OF  THE  FUNERAL  MARCH.
'* '  Reverse,  arms ! '  rang  out,  and  in  columns  of  companies  tlie
soldiers  wlio  had  been  guarding  the  route  joined  in  the  proces-
sion, the  top  of  which  had  been  formed  some  hundreds  of  yards
ahead.  Very  slowly,  with  features  almost  ecstatically  solemn,
they  passed  along.  Flashes  from  the  white  flags  of  the  signalling
corporals  accompanying  each  battalion  and  squadron  regulated
the  rate  of  progress.
"The  black  tinselled  helmets  of  the  artillerymen,  the  sombre,
billowy  mass  of  busbies,  the  flutter  of  the  Lancers'  pennons  of
red  and  white,  the  flash  of  the  Dragoons'  helmets  and  cuirasses,
and  also,  under  the  forest  of  lances,  the  thin,  tilted  straw  hats  of
the  sailors  over  their  blue  and  white  uniforms,  the  brown  fur  of
the  Yeomanry's  hats,  the  shining  black  and  brass  ornaments  of
shakoes,  the  gold  braid  of  dolmans,  the  glitter  of  steel  and  brass
and  red  and  gold  succeeded  one  another  in  endless  arraj^,  an  orgy
of  mufiled  magnificence,  the  half  hidden  pride  of  color  subdued
by  the  fog  of  mourning.
REMINDERS    OF    WATERLOO.
