DURBAR SCENES

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 191, 10 February 1912, Page 10 (Supplement)

DURBAR SCENES

THE GAEKWAR'S APOLOGY. "What impressed them most?" "Khyber Pass." This was the Rev. Stacey Waddy's tribute, given in the Sydney Morning Herald to the boys of the King's School, who have just toured India. Evidently they are very practical young Australians, for Khyber Pass, the great northern portals of the Indian Empitfe, made a greater impression on them than all the luxury and splendor of Delhi. Fourteen lads of the King's School returned with Mr. Waddy from their memorable jaunt to the Durbar; and they had a right royal time. Offers of hospitality came from all over India, and in the limited time at their disposal they saw a great deal. They were the first school boys to see Khyber Pass. They were amongst the few privileged Australians who saw the most gorgeous and magnificent spectacle that the world has I record of.

Mr. Waddy himself, while quite appreciating the imposing central scene of the occasion, was particularly taken with the high quality and the marked anility of the Anglo-Indians. The British residents of India were the pick of the Empire. The Indian Civil Service was an eye-opener. White men were no good in India unless they were picked men. Delhi during the Durbar was full of these splendid Empire-builders. It was a great congregation of men—men who had done something lor the Empire. That was the secret of the British rule in India. There was a handful of Britons and millions of Asiatics. There were places where millions of people never saw a British soldier, yet they were quiet and law-abiding. The lonely but strong white Civil servant stood for the might of the Empire. The incident connected with the Gaekwar of Baroda was curious. He was the second Prince of India, and he followed the Nizam of Hyderabad in making his salaam to the King-Emperor. The dignity and punctiliousness of the Nizam contrasted with the perfunctory and curt salue of the Gaekwar. So his jaunty air and his turning his back on the King were especially noticeable. But that night he had a heart-to-heart talk with the British Resident and the next morning published a most abject and humble apology for his discourtesy. We are apt to look upon the Field of the Cloth of Gold, where Henry VIII. was entertained by the King of France, | as the grandest pageant in which an English monarch participated. But the Durbar was a far more brilliant function. It easily outshone the gorgeous festivals at which the old Indian potentates spent their millions so lavishly. It was undoubtedly the greatest and most gorgeous pageant in the history of the world, not excluding the far-famed reception by King Solomon of the Queen of Sheeba." Some of the Indian princes wore jewels to the value of over a million pounds. One wore a garment known as the "million-pound coat." An incredible amount of money was spent on the Durbar. There were about ten thousand tents occupying nearly 30 square miles. Over sixty thousand pounds was spent on the laying out of temporary roads. Some of the Indian tents were so lavishly ornamented as to cost twenty thousand pounds. One was burned down in a few minutes. It cost ten thousand. A colossal amount was spent in uniforms and dresses, which blazed with a wealth of pearls and diamonds and rubies, that would cost a King's ransom. All the splendor of the Occident and the lavishness of the Orient met to fittingly commemorate the great Durbar.