Page:Picturesque Nepal.djvu/197

 join in this, the principal figure being the Commander-in-Chief, who, accompanied by attendants bearing a great brass basin of fresh blood, now conducts the ceremony. Marching up to each stand of colours, this fine-looking warrior, dressed in easy but appropriate "mufti," solemnly dips both hands in the basin of gore, and claps these together with the fabric of the flag between, thus stamping an impression of a bloody hand on each side of the standard. Each colour is treated in this way, and the ceremony at this stage is dramatic in the extreme. Hot glaring sunlight illuminates the scene, flashing on the brass implements, censors, lamps, etc., which, strewn with offerings of flowers and fruit, lie tossed and tumbled about in reckless profusion. The banners themselves of all hues are a brilliant note of colour, while added to this are the uniforms and costumes of the performers, who, profusely garlanded with marigolds, move to and fro. The wild music of the band, the spasmodic firing of guns, the revolting mounds of decapitated bullocks, the ground almost awash with blood, the strong smell of which