Page:Calcutta, Past and Present.djvu/173

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CALCUTTA: PAST AND PRESENT

Baird, and appropriate emblems; and on the northern front was a transparency forty feet high —"Britannia supporting the world to which she has restored Peace." Arabesque scrolls of light connected the whole in one continued illumination, comprehending an extent of near three miles.

Among the most remarkable objects in the fireworks were four figures of fire representing the fight of elephants, admirably conducted, and an ingenious device of a globe, which, after discharging fire for some time, opened, and discovered a transparency in Persian characters to the following effect: "May your Prosperity be perpetual."

This grand ball, the first of the long series of splendid entertainments which Government House has seen since that day, was followed a few months later by a public breakfast, on the anniversary of the fall of Seringapatam, the 4th of May. The company assembled at half-past eight o'clock, and were conducted to the breakfast tables prepared in the centre and south rooms of the marble floor, the columns of which were beautifully ornamented with a variety of flowers corresponding with the ornaments of the tables, which were also decorated with various emblems in the form of columns, temples, and trophies,

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