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 XVIII.

THE STATE BALL.

January 7.

TT is curious and rather amusing to reflect how 1 many predictions about this Imperial Assemblage have been falsified. For instance, it was said that plague would turn the camp into a vast charnel house. It was said that there would be innumerable deaths from pneumonia among visitors unaccustomed to the rigours of tent life in the Punjab. It was said that fires would sweep away acres of tents. It was said that the elephants would never march in procession through Delhi, and that the first one that met a motor-car would run amok. It was said that the Durbar would be a hopeless muddle and a failure. It was said that none of the preparations for any single function would be completed in time. It was said that heavy rainfall would inevitably ruin the principal spectacles and turn the camp into one huge swamp. It was said, though no one seemed quite ready to explain why, that the Viceroy would destroy his great reputation and wreck his ca- reer in consequence of the certain ignominious break-down of the whole project. None of these things have happened. In every respect the prescience of the Viceroy and the ability of his chosen assistants have been signally vindicated. Every gathering