AN EXAMPLE OF MJELlSE ETIQUETTE. 313 



round and then be met. Each was accompanied by 

 a large escort, and the officer by several other gentle- 

 men also. Just round the corner the Rajah waited and 

 waited, expecting the British functionary to make 

 his appearance, and quite prepared to dash forward 

 on his elephant, with smiling face and full of com- 

 plimentary expressions ; but he would not budge an 

 inch till he saw the officer. Thus they waited, each 

 of course perfectly cognisant of the close neighbour- 

 hood of the other indeed, portions of the escorts had 

 mingled. The best of it was, too, that one of the 

 agency assistants an officer of the army had been 

 despatched according to etiquette to escort the Rajah 

 all the way from his palace ; and there he was also 

 waiting and waiting for the appearance round the 

 corner of his own superior. At last, after a con- 

 siderable lapse of time, and after several messages 

 had passed between the native functionaries on both 

 sides, each advanced a little, and the Rajah catching 

 sight of the Englishman, smoothed his ruffled 

 countenance, and came gleefully forward as if 

 nothing unusual had occurred to interfere with his 

 oily gladness at meeting. No verbal reference to the 

 circumstance was made just then ; but the precise 

 point of meeting afterwards formed the subject of 

 considerable official correspondence. 



" The same chief was said, also, to have gone to 



