First came a company of beauteous
youths, walking two by two, and strewing flowers; then a band of
musicians in flowing robes of cloth of gold, plaintively sounding their
silver trumpets. After these followed slaves of all climes, bearing
a tribute of the most rare and costly productions of their countries:
Negroes with tusks and teeth of the elephant, plumes of ostrich
feathers, and caskets of gold dust; Syrians with rich armour; Persians
with vases of atar-gul, and Indians with panniers of pearls of Ormuz,
and soft shawls of Cachemire. Encircled by his children, each of whom
held alternately a white or fawn-coloured gazelle, an Arab clothed in
his blue bornouz, led by a thick cord of crimson silk a tall and tawny
giraffe. Fifty stout men succeeded two by two, carrying in company a
silver shield laden with gold coin, or chased goblets studded with gems.
The clash of cymbals announced the presence of the robes of honour,[63]
culled from the wardrobe of the commander of the Faithful; the silk of
Aleppo and the brocade of Damascus, lined with the furs of the sable
and the ermine, down from the breast of the swan, and the skins of white
foxes.
After these followed two grey dromedaries, with furniture of silver, and
many caparisoned horses, each led by a groom in rich attire.
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