Page:Guatimala or the United Provinces of Central America in 1827-8.pdf/31

Rh displayed a greasy olive skin, under the uniform of a captain of infantry. On one side, a cautious noble might be seen, carefully braced up to the chin, like a modern dandy, defying the most penetrating eye to prove him shirtless; while the mathematical movements of a fourth, panting under such tight habiliments, expressed the fear and trembling with which he awaited some awful accident.

The order of the procession being arranged, the cavalcade moved towards the church; his Mosquito majesty on horseback, supported, on the right and left, by the two senior British officers in the settlement, and his chiefs following on foot, two by two. On its arrival, his majesty was placed in a chair, near the altar, and the English coronation service was read by the chaplain to the colony, who, on this occasion, performed the part of the archbishop of Canterbury. When he arrived at that part of the service, where it is written, “And all the people said, Let the king live for ever, long live the king, God save the king,” the vessels in the port, according to previous signal, fired salutes, and the chiefs, rising, cried out, Long live king Robert!

His majesty seemed chiefly occupied in admiring his finery, and, after the anointing, expressed his gratification, by repeatedly thrusting his hands through his thick bushy hair, and applying his