296 COURT CEREMONIAL. 



doors; the apartments were filled with attendants, 

 pages, and officers of every rank in gala uni- 

 forms ; and the etiquette of the Spanish court 

 was as much as possible adhered to throughout 

 the proceedings. Persons whose rank entitled 

 them to the honour of a presentation to the 

 King, were conducted into the audience-chamber, 

 which was splendidly adorned with hangings of 

 Chinese silk : here the picture, concealed by a 

 silk curtain, was placed on a platform raised a 

 few steps from the floor, under a canopy of silk 

 overhanging two gilded pillars. The colonel on 

 duty acting as Lord Chamberlain, conducted 

 the person to be presented before the picture, 

 and raised the curtain. The King then appeared 

 in a mantle lined with ermine, and with a crown 

 upon his head ; the honoured individual made a 

 low bow ; the King looked in gracious silence 

 upon him ; the curtain was again lowered, and 

 the audience closed. 



On the 6th of December, the immense multi- 

 tudes that had assembled from the different pro- 

 vinces, to celebrate the solemn entry of the 

 portrait into the capital of the islands, were in 

 motion at daybreak. The lower classes were 



