Chief in command, following a squadron of the Royal Horse Guards, rode
Lord Roberts, the famed and popular general, who was hailed with an
uproar of shouts of "Hurrah for Bobs!" Close behind him came a troop of
the Canadian Hussars and the Northwest mounted police, escorting Sir
Wilfred Laurier, the premier of Canada. Premier Reid, of New South
Wales, followed, escorted by the New South Wales Lancers and the Mounted
Rifles, with their gray sombreros and black cocks' plumes.
In rapid succession, escorting the premiers of the several colonies,
came other contingents of troops, each wearing some distinctive uniform,
including those of Victoria, New Zealand, Queensland, Cape Colony, South
Australia, Newfoundland, Tasmania, Natal and West Australia. Then came
mounted troops from many other localities of the British empire,
reaching from Hong Kong in the East to Jamaica in the West, and fairly
girdling the globe in their wide variety.
Among the oddities of this complex multitude we may name the Zaptiehs
from Cyprus, wearing the Turkish fez and bonnet; the olive-faced Borneo
Dyaks; the Chinese police from Hong Kong, with saucepan-like hats
shading their yellow faces; the Royal Niger Hausses, with their shaved
heads and shining black skins; and other picturesquely attired examples
of the men of varied climes.
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