and had cliffs here and grottoes there, and lakes and waterfalls, and trees with artificial monkeys and birds and serpents, which by concealed machinery were made to move among them as if alive, and winding paths that led to the top, where an elegant gilt pavilion gleamed in the sun.
The ceremonies on this occasion commenced with the chanting of prayers in the hall of state at the palace by twenty-four head priests of the chief temples of the city, and the lighting of "the candle of victory," a huge wax candle six feet high, which burned day and night till the moment the hair was cut. The next morning these same priests were sumptuously feasted at the palace, and dismissed with presents of priests' robes, cushions, fans, etc., and another company took their place.
In the afternoon was the first of the grand processions to escort the young princess to the great hall of state where the religious services were held. In the open square in front of this hall seats were provided for six or seven hundred of the nobility to witness the procession, themselves a most brilliant sight in their coats of gold brocade, many sparkling with diamonds. As soon as the king arrived and seated himself in the high pavilion prepared for him a troop of beautiful girls in glittering dresses descended from the golden mountain—from the gilded temple
