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Whenever possible, these have been omitted from filming / II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajout^es lors d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte, mais, lorsque cela ^tait possible, ces pages n'ont pas 6t6 fiim^s. Additional comments / Commentaires suppl^mentaires: D D D D L'Institut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplairAtl PREFACE. I DESIRE to express my deep gratitude to their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales for the gracious manner in which they received my colleagues and myself, and gave us the great privilege of record- ing their memorable tour through the Empire. This is a record, not of ceremonies but of im- pressions and incidents, and is made in the hope of interesting rather than of instructing those who have felt the inspiration of that racial and Imperial pride which has come upon the people of Greater Britain in these later days. My thanks are due to the First Lord of the Ad- miralty, the Earl of Selborne, for granting me per- mission to accompany their Royal Highnesses ; to the officers of H.M.S. Si. George, Royal Arthur, Gibraltar, Ophir, and Niobe, lot much kindness during this long voyage; to the Ministers and Governments of many C jlonies and States ; to the directors of the Canadian Pacific and Grand Trunk Railways in Canada ; and to viii PRSFAOS. my confreres in many parts of the world, and especially m Australia and Canada. To the proprietors and the Editor of TAe Standard I am mdebted for the liberty to make use of the material contributed by me during the tour. The letters have oeen in most cases re-written, and contain new matter. 1 o Mr. J. Walter Jones, who accompanied the Prince throughout the tour. I am indebted for most of the photo- graphs in this volume. W. M. CONTENTS CHAPTER I. The Imperialism of Greater Britain i-arauei Colonial Loyalty-" The Old Home.' CHAPTER II, The Governor of Gibraltar rACB I CHAPTER III. Scenes in the Suez Canal * * • • • fmill^p'Mc^"'''" ^^^P^^"" Junction-Our Rever-" ential Pilot-Suez and its Sights-We Set Sail for Aden: CHAPTER IV. The Famous Tanks of Aden '*'*"■ A Day of Festival— The Town_Th» r,-,. d — Thp n-AA.- • r, ^own— ihe Oreat Reservoirs 13 19 OONTENTa. CHAPTER V. The Beauties of Ceylon . I'ACB 28 Arrival at Cc" "^ bo— Reception of the Prince and Prin- cess—The Cocoanut Valley— Ksndy— A Graci . al Wel- come. CHAPTER VI. The Sacred Elephants 34 A Strange Spectacle — Devil Dancers -Presentation of Colours to the Ceylon Mounted Infantry— Durbar in the Audience Poom— The Exile from Egypt— The Temple of the Tooth. CHAPTER VII. Boer Prisoners in Ceylon . . , . . Adam's Peak — The Boer Camp — Krugersdorp and Steynsville— General Olivier— The Fighting Predikanl — Play and Prayers— Children in Camp — The Irish- American Brigade— The Foreign Contingent. 41 CHAPTER VIII. The Mystery of Race Our last Night at Colombo— Our Singhalese Fellow Subjects— On Board Again— Prickly Heat— A Wel- come Storm. 5t CHAPTER IX. Singapore and the Malays First Impressions — A Singapore Sunday — Durbar in the Town Hall— The Sultan of Perak— Malay Prob- lems. 57 CONTENTS. CHAPTER X. A Trip to Chinatown ........ fi^ The Chinese of Singapore— The Two Chinatowns- The Decoration of the .Merchant guarter— The Great Green Dragon- A Mar 'ell'^us Procession— An Opium Dtn— A Tea House— TI . Singing GirU CHAPT- - \1, Frbimfn of the Sea . King Neptune comes on li at Court— Sunday Service rhe Prince P -ticnted 76 CHAPTi^ .* — Federa' Statesmen. 81 CHAPT^ER XII! The Golden Cities of Ai^iRALiA The Eureka Stockadr r^allar^^t ? The Hon. Peter Lalo Ballai 1 mftcsburg- 90 CHAPTER %|^ Military Cadets .... Military Spirit of Australia— Tlie A«b^,on of Schools —Review at Melbourne— How 1; Cadet System is Worked— Its Popularity— Educati ^ in Scho U nnd Universities. CHAPTER XV. yUEENSLANP AND BrishanK A Picnic on the Darling Downs— Glenrowan and the Kelly Gang— Wagga-VVagga and "The Claimant"— The Queensland Club— A Notable Review— I.ytton 97 104 sU OONTKNIR CHAPTER XVI. The AOiTRALIAN AflORIOINAL . Ill A Corrobboree-An Irreclaimable Race-A Complex liikS****" '^"''"' '^y"«"-Sup.r,t.tion and Re CHAPTER XVII. The Attractions of Sydney "Our Harbour ••-Mrs. Mncquaric's Chair-Hyde Park -A Paradise for the Unemployed-The Rival Capital, of Australia— Sydney's Suburbs. ■The CHAPTER XVIII. The Land of the Golde.n Fleece Pastoral Australia - Drovers and Squatters- Romantic Story of a Great Cattle Drive. CHAPTER XIX. Bush Life and Sport . V'LYH^f Aristocracy of Austra!ia-The Squatters Homeste,d-An Historic Family-f . ,h Impressions 124 132 CHAPTER xx. Impressions of New Zealand Wellington-Christchurch-Dunedin-A I n.^ „* ^^' W.a,.hy D.b,„._o, Soldiers ,.a 'of S.da.isL°lM;' CHAPTER XXI. The Commonwealth and New Zealand Mounf EdL^'p' "°"^ Aloof-Auckland Harbour-" '"' COJVTAAVr.v. m CHAPTER XXII. Maori Chieftain A Visit to the Maoris— Patarangukai and his Great Deeds— His Death and Burial—The Custom of Muru— Maori Decadence. «55 CHAPTER XXIII. A Trip to Gkysbrland Wh-karewarewa and its Legends— A Famous Guide- The Visit to the Geysers— A Maori Idol— Tikitere. 163 CHAPTER XXIV. Maori Dances and Customs A Race of Fighting Men— The Maoris and the Boer War— A Maori War Dance. 169 CHAITER XXV. A Journey THRoiroH North Island lyg The Way to Wanganui- Convicts on Parole— Waio- tapu— The Geyser Valley— Lake Taupo— A Beautiful Forest River. CHAPTER XXVI. A Land of Orchards . The Last of New Zealand— Hobart— The Resources of Tasmania— The Switzerland of the South. 191 CHAPTER XXVII. The Model City of Adelaide lo- Arrival at Adelaide— Its Charms and Feauties- The Royal Visit to the University— A Happy Inspiration— The Wine Industry of South Australia. xlv CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXVIII, Farewell to Australia Rough VVeather-Tis an 111 Wind. etc.-Tl.e Surprise Visit to Albany— Fremantle. PAGB 203 CHAPTER XXIX. The Island of Mauritius ..... Our Longest Voyage— Fine Steaming— Port Louis- The Mauritians-Curepipe-The Sugar Industry- Mauritian Race Question. 2og CHAPTER In the Shadow of War XXX. Arrival at Durban-Maritzburg en Fcte-0\d Friends —Heroes of the War— The Distribution of V.C 's and D.S.O.'s-The Zulus Pay Homage. CHAPTER XXXI. Cape Town Cape Town Revisited—" Then and Now ' — The Boer Prisoners and the Princess— Basuto Chiefs in Cape Town-The Royal Visit to Mr, Rhodes's House-Sir W. Hely-Hutchinson. CHAPTER XXXII. The Voyage to Canada .... Afloat Again-The Royal Suite-St. Vincent-Good- bye to the St. George and /u»o~The Niobe-Cave Breton. "^ 2l6 224 232 CHAPTER XXXIII. A Queen amono Cities The Entry into Quebec-Reception at the Town Hall- The Address of Welcomc-The Loya.ty of the French- Canadians -The Abbe F.iguy's Tribute - Quebec and Its Memories. 2.W CONTENTS. XV CHAPTER XXXIV. The CiTV of Mumkual .... A Modern City-Adchcsse, of Welcomc-Tl.e McGill Un.vers.ty-The Laval Univer.ity--Thc Ville Marie Convent. TAGF. 249 CHAPTER XXXV. A LJkight Little Capital How Ottawa Became the Capital- A Great Military Display-The Princes and Trooper Mullov-The limber Trade of Canada. 356 CHAPTER XXXVl. Shootlng the Slides . A New Experience-A Picturesque Flotilla-Voyaeeur and then Songs— • Log Rolling." 262 CHAPTER XXXVn. Fko.m Atlantic to Pacific After Two Score Years-' he Royal Train Lake Nipiss,ng--C)ur Heart is French, but our Head i. lintish —Lake Superior— Manitoba-Winnipeg. 269 CHAPTER XXXVIII. An Indian Pow-Wow .... The Prairie Cami^Whitf Pup and Bull's Head-The Pow-Wow-Poetry and Prose-The Indian Children. 278 CHAPTER XXXIX. Across thh Kocky Movntains The Charm of the Kocktr.v -A R>de on a Cow-catcher- Hanff and its Beautict. 28S xvi 00NTENT8 CHAPTER XL. Chinese in British Columbia 295 Vancouver and Victoria— Rival Cities— The Chinese of Columbia. CHAPTER XLI. The Cities of Ontario 302 Homelike Ontario — Canadian Weather — Two Days in Toronto— London, Ontario — Hamilton. CHAPTER XLIL Impressions of Niagara 306 " Three Minutes to See the Falls ''—The Penalties of Greatness— The Emerald Horse Shoe. CHAPTER XLIII. Newfoundland and Home 314 The Thousand Islands— ^British American Societies Farewell, Canada—" The Sport of Historic Misfortune " —Potentialities of the Island. APPENDIX 321 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. The Voyage of the " Ophir " : Map Maltese Villagers . View of Aden ... A Street in Singapore A Corrobboree An Australian Cattle Ranch Trke Cutting in Xkw Zeala.sp A ^fAORl Village , . The King River, Tasmania. Proclamation Tree, South Australia ^ULu Women, Durban . A Kickshaw Boy, Durban Street Scene, Durban : " Eyes Right ! " Arrival at Simon's Bay Frontis To face page 12 * »» 22 »» 58 • »j 113 • »» 124 • 14.5 • 157 ) '93 i» ■> ' ,, 218 11 220 ») 222 >) 226 XVIU LIST OF TLLUSTRATIONS. !| 1 View from the Citadel. Quebec, with the "Ophir" LYING AT Anchor . . • To face page The Indian Pow-Wow at Calgary . . • .. An Indian Brave " Indian Brave and his little Daughter . Shaganappie Point, near Calgary ...» Banff: View from the Hot Sulphur Springs Vancouver, B.C.: Their Royal Highnesses leaving the Station to visit the City . „ Vancouver, B.C. : The Fort Simpson Indian Cornet Band playing before Their Royal Highnesses » Arrival at Victoria, B.C.: Their Royal Highnesses accompanied i.y Sir Wilfrid Laurier and Sir Henri Joly de Lotbiniere, leaving the •• Empress of India " for the City 242 278 280 282 284 292 204 zgfi 29S WITH THE 'm\\ ROUND THE EMPIt[E. CHAPTER I. THE IMPERIALISM OF GREATER BRITAIN. The Britains beyond the Seas-A Pilgrimage without Parallel —Colonial Loyalty— 'The Old Home.' If you would know what is meant by Greater Britain you must take ship and circle the world twice over, and after that you must travel by train or horse distances of which Europe can give you no conception. And every- where you will meet men and women of your own race, living practically the same hves, having the same thoughts and ambitions and the same moral and re- ligious standards. Surely in the dim past this little island of England was a vast continent, and some benign power scattered its fragments over the face of the earth so that they might grow and multiply. They have fallen thick in the Northern and Southern hemispheres, for there are many Britains destined to be great, not only from their Hmitlcss resources, but from the energy and vitahty of their people. It is the fashion among those who visit the United States for the first time to be awed by the restless activity of its citizens, and to see m that nervous display of energy the impending downfall of Europe. There are volcanoes in many parts of the world, but the scientist will tell you u.at the energy of them all is not one-hundredth part of the energy calmly and quietly expended by the thermal WITH THE OPHIE' springs. And thus I believe it is with these new Britains. For nearly eight months we journeyed from country to cou .ry and from capital to capital, and in all of them we have seen, not convtilsions, but a cease- jess flow of energy directed to objects that must make a people great And the nearer we came to the rising and the set- ting sun the more clearly did we see the dawn of a new hope. The heir to a throne set in the hearts of a world- spread people saw with his own eyes that the union of Our race is not the shadow of a dream, but a truth toward which men are tending. In Canada, in Aus- tralia, in New Zealand, in South Africa, and in the islands of the sea to which our course was bent, the presence of the Prince and Princess has quickened the spirit of brotherhood, and brought us nearer to the accomplishment of the desire of statesmen and patriots. Under the shadow of the sword we have seen that pride of race and loyalty to the Empire are undying impulses. The loyalty of men who have carried our language, our customs, our traditions, our creed, and our freedom over ten million square miles is of the strong, {>ersonal kind that endures no sordid ends. We have heard it again and again strike the deep chord that will vibrate to the doom. Who having seen and heard can doubt that the bond which time and blood are welding will last and give strength and security to every part of the Empire ? In their pilgrimage of nearly forty-seven thousand miles the Prince and Princess of Wales only once set foot on foreign soil, and that was at Port Said, where ROUND THE EMPIRE. 3 Britain rules if she does not reign. They visited seven- teen British possessions in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and America, with an area of seven and a quarter million square miles and a population of nineteen million. Of these, eleven million are of European origin. The vast majority are English, Scotch, and Irish, who by courage, industry, and energy have made new Britains in the waste places of the earth. They have changed their sky, but not their character. Chmate, milieu, and occupation, no doubt, create modifications, yet they are not deeper nor more marked than the differences among people of several counties in England. The Australian and the ( ..ladian are as British in their habits, ideals, and mode of life as the men and women who pass their lives in these islands. The real difference is in their sur- roundings. Space and light and air are the common heritage. Their towns are not hot-beds of dirt, disease, and crime. Men, women, and children ahke live clean, wholesome hves. Seeing, one could not but regret that the stream of emigration from our crowded cities cannot be increased, or at any rate diverted from the United States to our own lands, whose limitless resources await only labour and capital. We have made some advance in knowledge and common-sense since the day when statesmen spoke of the Colonies as a burden to be laid aside at the first opportunity ; but we do not yet realise the potcntiahties of these national estates. The value of the trade betv/een the United Kingdom and her Colonies is estimated at ;^200,ooo,ooo a year, and of this sum the countries visited by the Prince and Princess contribute ■if ■. WITH THE 'OPllIR more than one hundred millions. Yet we have but scratched the surface, and the danger in Canada, at any rate, is that we may leave the capitalists of the United States to reap the harvest which we arc reluctant to sow. And in these Colonies there is another and a more valuable asset that cannot be stated in figures. They may be made the home of millions of healthy, con- tented, and prosperous citizens of the Empire, who will carry on the traditions of our race, and be to us — as we have been and will be to them — a source of strength and pride when the enemy is at our gate. In years to come, when destiny has set them on the throne of this great Empire, the Prince and Princess will not be stranger-j to their people in the uttermost ends of the earth. They have met and spoken with the men to whom are comn.itted the interests of the King's dominions beyond the seas. They have noted the material, moral, and social condition of the people, and the resources and potentialities of their countries. They have been the central figure in a succession of brilliant ceremonies. Everywhere they were received v/ith a heartiness that must have assured them of the sincerity of the attachment of the colonists. It is the custom to talk of loyalty as a sentimental virtue, and to assert that the only sure bond among men is common interest. In the Colonies it is recognised that loyalty lies at the root of every powerful nationality, and that security and pro- gress are made certain by the unity of the Empire, by the defence of its rights and the maintenance of its prestige. It is true that they aw the people only in moments of enthusiasm, and that the cities were adorned ROUND THE EMPIRE. , for a holiday. But under the trappings incidental to a Royal reception there was a scnlinicut of Imperialism and loyalty so strong, so impulsive, and so natural t? at it could not be mistaken for the mere effusion ol a passing excitement. Their Royal Highnesses have brought back many pleasant memories, but the most inspiring moniory uf all is of the energy and vitality of the people, of their strength and pride of race, and of that passionate Imperialism wliich has acclaimed them in every part of the world. They have returned with experiences that vvill be of service to them and of benefit to the people And above all they have seen that tliis Empire of ours IS neither old nor in decay, but has only begun to realise its strength, and to feel that inspiration of unity wnich will give it greater power and nobler ambitions Let x3nta.n be as loyal to her children as thev are to her. and she need fear no splendid isolation. We who live in the heart of Imperial traditions and associations until they become as the breath of our nostrils do not always understand and value at its true worth that sentiment which unites the scattered race that calls England • Home." You must touch the limits of the Empire before you can realise the force and vitality of the sentiment and can sympathise to the full with those who speak of ■' the old home." even though their eyes may not have seen this little island. As in the magnet tl>e strength seems greater at the poles, so in the utter- most ends of the Jiriti Empire do you feel the strength ot that pnde of race wnich fires the imagination and stirs the heart WITH THE 'OPE in' CHAPTER II. THE GOVERNOR OF GIBRALTAR. Arrival at "Gib."— Sir George White— Recollections of Lady- smith— The Channel Squadron— Again Under Weigh. WHr:N Alexandre Dumas came to Gibraltar and saw the famous Rock shrouded in fog his surprise was pn al. A Frenchman and a novelist, he was not at a loss to explain this unnatural phenomenon. Before the arrival of the British the skies were blue and he air was clear. At first the Englishman was content ; but, after a time, he was seized with an uneasy suspicion that something was wanting to his happiness. A brilHant genius made the discovery, and won the undying gratitude of his countrymen. " What we lack is a fog." Being an eminently practical people, the English made a fog, and lived happily ever after. Certain it is that rain and mist are often the lot of Gibraltar even when the Mediterranean is a sunny lake of laughing blue. On Tuesday, March the I2th, when the St. George cast anchor in the Bay, the sun shone ; but next day the rains descended, and dark clouds hung like a pall over the bold grey crag that kc^ps ward of the Straits, boding ill for the voyage of the Ophir. We left Portsmouth on Thursday, the 7th of March, and three days later sighted the coast of Portugal. The time had come for firing practice, and decks were ROUND THE EMPIKB. cleared for action. Live shells were hoisted from the magazines, men mustered at their quarters, j^uns were run out, and two huge triangles of wood and canvas with flags at the corners were dropped astern as targets The funo, as senior ship, took command, and stcanu-d ahead, flying signals that we were to follow in a circle and open fire with our starboard batteries. Such a target is not easy to keep in sight. A sudden squall arose, and when the moment came, behold iho '.iiial. was nowhere to be seen on the rufHed waters ! Obedient to our small companion, we went back upon our course in vain search. Next day we were more fortunate. Off Lisbon we sailed into sunny waters. Once more the decks were cleared and the men mustered. Our great guns, fore and aft, each of g.2 calibre, firing a shell of 380 pounds with a cordite charge of i6c pounds, moved to the touch of their captains as if their 22 tons had been so many ou s. Thick tongues of crimson flame darted from the side of the Juno, lightning flashed and thunder rolled from her fightmg tops, and smoke wrapped her graceful lines in the fog of war. The battle had begun. Sweeping in wide circle, she poured shot and shell from her star- board batteries until the sea rose in fountains of spray, and a trim little yacht, coming out of the -unny disc, j, paused in her flight and hung on the wi ,, nKe a s! 'Id sea gulL Then the St. George opened fire wit,, in-r heavy armament. To the dull roar of the 9.2 guns was added the crash of ten 6-inch guns with a loo-pnurid shell, of twelve 6-pounders, two 9-pounders, and five 3-pounders. Shell after shell rent the air and churned » WITH THE Ol'llIR the sea arounl the targets, each sounding its famihar note — now tlie rush of an unseen express train, now the scream of an hysterical woman, now the hiss of rifle bullet. We went ashore on Wednesday, and I called upon the Governor, Sir George Whit-?, whom I liad not seen since that memorable day in March of 1900, when the relieving force marched in triumph tlirough the streets of Laflysmith. We strolled iii the garden of the Residence, which was a convent five or six centuries ago, and contains many objects of historic interest. It is a beautiful little garden of date palms and orange trees hanging with golden fruit, and a wonder- ful dragon tree said to be a thousand years old. A dainty little maid in white sat upon a swing in a green bower. "This is part of the Governor's duties," said the General, giving the board a push that sent a rosy, laughing face high in the air. We talked of Ladysmith. The subject came naturally, for I was one of the besieged. I recall Sir George White's parting words in Natal: "Whatever controversy may arise in connection with the siege, there is at least one point of agreement— we were a liappy family." How could we be otherwise with a leader of such old-world courtesy and chivalry, with men like General Sir Archibald Hunter, " brave as a lion, gentle as a child "—to use his late chief's words — hke General Sir Ian Hamil'on, ever alert and keen, and like Colonel Sir Edward Ward—" the best supply officer since Moses "—full of resource and the contagion of good spirits. Everybody knows now that the unflinching courage ROUND THE EMPIUE. and steadfast determination of Sir George White saved the Empire and the army from lasting (hsgracc. These are quahtics one would naturally look for in the soldier who rushed the heights of Charasiah and slew with his own hand the leader of the Afghans who had checked the advance of the Gordons. I am not going to enter into any controversy about the famous helio- grams of Sir Redvers Buller. General White, as man)- of us then in South Africa have long been aware, did not act upon advice which at first he believed had been misinterpreted, and which, when repeated, drew from him a reply that will be memorable in the annals of war. We wore not sorr> to see the last of the Rork. l"or tliree days we in the Si. George iiad played the pari Cinderella and been at the beck and call of our eh sister the Juno, who, after all, carries no y.2 guns, am. displaces only 5,600 tons of water. While she lay calmly in the basin displaying her dark hull and military tops to the admiring gaze of landsmen, we liad to ride at anchor in the bay. Our berth near the mole was wanted for the t.nannel Squadron, and yet the Squadron could not be scon, for, lilwn — is not an attractive creature, and at Port Said he is even less interesting than at Cairo or Alexandria. We left him without a pang, after lying for two hours in front of the fine offices of the Suez Canal Company. The Juno remained to coal, drawing less water than her consort. With full bunkers the St. George draws ."^ feet 8 inches, and would not be allowed passage through the canal, whose maximum draught is 25 feet 7 inches. We therefore made for Suez, where 530 tons of coal awaited us at 39s. 3d. a ton— los. per ton dearer than at Port Said. There were a few pre- M WITH THE OPHIR' liminaries before we entered the canal. Our pay-master, Mr. Pritchard, handed over to the Company a bill for ^792 1 5s. 7d., that being the amount of the canal dues at 9 francs a ton, on a Board of Trade certificate for 2,219 tonnage. Happily a large part of this sum comes back to our own pockets as shareholders in the canal, thanks to the foresight of Lord Beaconsfield. The reflection helped us to l)ear with equanimity the evi- dences of an alien administration that dictates the language of Port Said and the nationality of the pilots of the canal. Our first pilot was a bronzed and genial Frenchman, who looked like the master of a Thames steamboat. His fault was a too demonstrative reverence for the authorities that the wisdom of the Company has set over him. When we passed the superintendent of the Port Said section he bowed low and much. We chanced upon the general superintendent, and he almost tumbled off the bridge in excess of joy. The navigating officer, Lieutenant Grant, kept a sharp eye on him after that, being filled with gloomy forebodings as to what might befall the pilot if so exalted a personage as a director suddenly came along. I'^orlunately we were spared that catastrophe, and, steaming at five knots, made our way slowly through the shallow waters, followed by a little American army transport that looked too frail to brave an Atlantic storm. Two or three times we had to tie up to the bank in order that vessels might pass. The level reaches of tawny sand that bound the canal ghded silently past, fading from tremulous heat into a mirage. A herd of camels browsed among the SOUND THE EMPIRE. >S thin acacia bush and rank herbage. Some wild duck rose from the salt edge of a lagoon. A group of natives washed their clothes at a gushing fresh water pipe, their dark brown bodies gleaming like copper in the sun. A family — man, woman, boy, and girl, obviously French- came out of a neat little house with its border of green that marks a station in the canal, and gazed after us. They must have a lonely time, these custodians of the Suez Canal on the fringe of two deserts, with no com- pany save goats, and cattle, and steam dredgers. At the ferry across the old caravan route waited a string of cai -Is. They raised their heads and gave us a super- cih. s stare, while their dark-visaged masters in turbans and picturesque raiment sat on the sand with the grave and contemplative air of men for whom time and dis- tance are not. Whither were they tending, these sons of Ishmael, about to enter that unbroken solitude in which centuries of commerce and countless generations of bare and sandalled feet have failed to leave a trace that the wind and the sand of the desert may not wipe out at will ? To Jerusalem or to Damascus, which I have seen them enter after long and weary months in the deserts of Arabia, or it may be to Mecca itself— Mecca the holy and the unchangeable. At night we tied up to a buoy in the open water beyond Ismailia, a few cables from a British India steamer which two panting tugs were trying to pull out of the mud. " Have you a pilot on board } " shouted the crew, pausing in the work of shifting cargo and dashing the sweat out of their eyes. There was no mistaking the 16 WITU THE OPHIIt' I tone. Bitter sarcasm and wrath were in the voices. They put the question out of pure and disinterested friendship. A word and they would have announced their readiness to provide the whale, for they, too, had had a pilot. I am not sure that we could not have obliged them next day, when we nearly ran our propeller against a buoy at Suez. But we could not then prophesy as to the conduct of the round little Frenchman ^vho came on board at Ismailia with a blue and white check ker- chief under his arm, and sulked because he could not have cocoa and serge, and other articles that he con- sidered indispensable to the pilotage of a British man- of-war. We hurried through the Bitter Lakes, slowed down in the narrow reaches, tied up for a Japanese warship and a British merchantman, and came at last in sight of the hills beyond Suez. It was Sunday and Suez, yet we wanted to go on shore. When we anchored a couple of miles from the beach and looked upon the pilot we thought regretfully of the invitation of the stranded British India crew. Captain Anstruther, of the Cockatrice, the guardship of the station, almost gave up the chase of us, and the coal contractor was in despair. His lighters were ready to coal us close to the shore, and could not venture so far into the gulf because of uncertain weather. Though of foreign aspect, he spoke English with such ease and perfection that he could only be a Greek — one of those ubiquitous, enterprising polyglots who are the Jews of the East. We coaled next day, and those who could went on shore to escape the dust and dirt. liOUND THE liMPlKl-: ,^ Suez is of the East, if not actually the East. When you have traversed the sea wall by rail or donkey, when you have quitted the main street with its shops and cafes of European style and Iiave plunged into the reek- ing bye-paths, you might imagine yourself in some mean Damascus, or Jerusalem, or native quarter of Cairo The houses of sim-baked mud have some onginalily, and here and there a moulded window or gateway arrests the eye. But it is the people and the costume that attract-the strange mingling of races and the perplexing diversity of dress and colour. The narrow streets and bazaars are crovvde.I. Tinsmiths and coppersmiths at work in their narrow cells add a musical note to the cries of friut vendors and v.ater carriers. Under heavy canopies that cast a black shadow on the divans sit grave seniors in turbans, smoking the hubble-bubble and drinking Turkish coffee with the solemn, contem- plative air that gives grace to almost every action, how- ever trivia of the true Oriental. From the square come the dismal notes of the tom-tom. keeping time to ^he gliding feet of a group of dancing girls who are com- petinpr for piastres with a conjurer and his booth We drove to the Sweet Water Canal, which lies hidden a mile or two away behind a belt of vivid green Our driver had been a Cairo donkey boy. and had lost none of the manners of the race. Until we had firmly resisted he offers of a guide he knew no EngHsh. We had not time to congratulate ourselves on the fact before he proclaimed himself master of five languages, and cer- ^nly he was never at a loss to mal*itli sucli liomsty atil iipii^jliliioss fliat no one wiis ever known to lose by dealing with him." Who- ever the saint may have been, he was honoured in a becoming manner. Everybody, even the youngest cliild who usually appears in a state of nature, put on clean and gay apDarcl. In a narrow lane, between whitewashed house, at the foot of a mountain of brown lava, you came upon a microcosm of Arabia. Here \va3 a group of Arab mcrrhants and shopkeepers with .silk or cotton turbans rolled jauntily roimd the head, loose jackets of dyed cotton reaching to the hips, white kills wound about the loins and held by parti-coloured waiit-bands, and scarves of Sural silk thrown artistically over the left shoulder. I'hcy were sipping coffee flavoured with ginger, and playing " tab," a game re- sembhng backgammon. In the shadow of the door, through which floated the scent of frankincense, squatted three or four women in shirts or tobes of silk girdled Willi green leather belts, their bright red shawls half drawn over their tattooed faces. A few yards beyond several sturdy Somalis in white tobes, with shaven heads, looked on smihng at a game of Sari, or prisoners' base, played by boys whose heads were plastered thickly with white earth to make the hair crisp and frizzy. Four Hindus in bright attire bent over an Indian draught- board. Jews, drinking a vile spirit distilled from dates, Dankalis in sheepskin wigs dyed crimson, Persians, Abyssinians, Seedees, and all those Asiatic and African races that make the population of the settlement, were crowded in this picturesque lane. Even these have their " dudes " or " mashers "—gay young '• bucks " tricked HOUND THE EMPIRE. a, out in as many colours as a pantaloon, swagperiiig up and down the street anrl displii}inK their nrrkhues r.f double rows of speckled beads riaspod with rrrcat Imnp of beautifully polished amhrr. The town of Aden cannot be seen from the shore. It lies at the back of the lava hills in an arid sun-bun, I crater, swept by a hot, sandy wind known as the Shamal. or north wind. Through this town the Prince and' Princess passed to inspect the famous cisterns or tanks, tliose marvels of antiquity and of cnjjinecrinfr slcill. My driver was a belated hadji. whose green turban pro- claimed his pilgrimage to Mecca, and we were quickly beyond the noisy supplications of the crowds of beggar children who make a visit to Aden one lo-ifr and sor<> trial to the patience. For some distance the'road ims almost parallel with the bay until you come to the village of Maala, whose white-washed houses and mat huts are occupied chiefly by Somalis. A winding road leads un to the main pass, a deep cutting through red lava, whirl, m the sunlight looked like a wall of fire. We hailed Tor a caravan toiling slowly and silently out of the c'rp'er -camels bringing coffee-berries, pulse, fruit, vegetables ^-nd kat from the districts of Mokha and Hajariya •' camels and oxen laden with wax and ghee, and grain :^.nd saffron, from the interior of Yemen, whose armed .cruardians have braved the dangers of a journey through the land of the predatory Subaihi tribes. Once through -he defile a rapid descent carries us past the barracks of the native Indian regiment, a company of .vhich, in shirts and turbans, are exercising on the brown plain Ihe white town spreads out over a broad table land 33 WITH THE 'OPUTTf- in Hi shut in by precipitous and jagged cliffs of brown and grey and green lava, for the most part solid and com- pact, yet in places resembling a coarse sponge, and in others passing into scoriae. What strong enchantment has drawn men to this wild and wasted valley set among hills that are as the burnt-out wreck of a nether world ? The very ear^h on which we tread with I -stering feet is white and carious, like the dusty floor of some infernal lake in which the bones of men have melted and dried in liquid fires. Mountains of mouldering ashes heave around as if the hidden flame struggled to break its prison and leap in one overwhelming torrent upon the pale town. Scattered blocks of dull red stone lie heaped one upon another like cinders cast from some mighty furnace, and upon the jagged lava peaks that lift them- selves against the glowing sky the torrid sun beats down until they seem like tongues of flame. Yet centuries of men have fought and endured hunger, and thirst, and toil, and wounds to possess this inferno— prophets and pirates, kings and caliphs. Hebrew, and Turk, and Christian, from the day that Seba. son of Cush. ruled the land until the Cruiser and the Vo/age, two of her late Majesty's ships of war, bombarded and carried it by assault. The ruins of forts that crown every summit attest the importance which bygone generations attached to this and spot, while the tanks are startling evidence of former magnificence. When and by whom these great reservoirs were made is uncertain. Some authorities put the date at i;oo B.C., when the great dam at Mareb was built- others ascribe ihem to the second Persian invasion of [fl ROUND THE EMPIRE. ,3 Yemen, in the year txx) AD. According to the quai.ic chrt ...cle of the Arabian traveller, Ibn El Mojawir. the wise men of Hind believed the tanks and aqueducts to be the work of two magicians, who were Efreets of the Jmn, and laboured unceasingly for seventy years. For generations the cisterns we-e hidden under f^tones and soil washed down from the hills, and it was not till 1856 tnat the work of restoration was begun. There are in and about Aden, fifty tanks, with a capacity of o'ver thirty million gallons, and about a score of these have been repaired. Thirteen of them can store nearly eight milhon gallons, and have a depth of one hundred fathoms. The hills that form the wail of the crater are almost circular. Those on the west are steep and hard, with- out any absorbent power of soil or vegetation, so that rain hWiug upon them would be carried rapidly toward the sea. To arrest this precious flood, which comes in decades, and not in years, the reservoirs were constructed. Their shape is fantastic, for advantage has been taken of every feature in the ground. Here a dyke has been built across the gorge of a valley; there a curve of masonry shuts in an angle. One is a great pit, eighty yards across, with a double staircase cut out of the rock. Another is a tiny lake dotted with white islands, while out of the depths of a vast quarry rises a pillar of stone shaped after the fashion of a minaret. Channels have been cut in the gently sloping surface so that the over- flow of one cistern shall be caught and stored in another Each reservoir is faced with stucco, so hard and white and polished that it looks like marble. Alas! they were li ^;lll ** WITH THE OPHIS' empty, and have been for several years. A green puddle in the topmost tank under the hills was all the moisture to be seen. Yet an attempt is made at cultiva- tion. Several plants struggle feebly into life, and a banana tree gives shade to the well from which itself draws existence. On the hillsides are several hanging tanks, the white walls and gates of which are cool and pleasant to look upon. The supreme importance of this water question at Aden may be measured by the fact that nearly every drop of water drunk or used has to be distilled from the sea and paid for in hard cash. Wells are few, and water is not always sweet after carriage in leather bags on the backs of camels and small donkeys. From Shaikh Othman, a village of Abdal, on the shore of the bay, is an aqueduct, but condensers alone are reliable sources. Having seen the cisterns we rode back to the town and walked through its streets and bazaars. They are full of the bright colour and still life of the East. The mixture of races is not so apparent as at Steamer Point, where a demand for labour has been created by shipping and coaling companies. Arabs, Jews, and Persians are the majority, and do the bulk of the trade. The Jews have a speciality in ostrich feathers, of which consider- able quantities are exported. The process of drying and cleaning is guarded as a secret, and the short and spoiled feathers are made into boas. Apart from this there is no special industry in Aden, though the market- place, with its flocks of fat-tailed, black-faced sheep from Berbera, its bales of cotton and silk, and its camels laden with hides and grain, are indications of prosperity. ROUND THE EMPIRE We returned to Steamer Point by way of a long tunnel through the north wall of the crater, passing, the barracks o the West Kent Regiment, close to the bay on whose blue waters slept a fleet of native craft, from sca-eoine bu^q;alo-.v3 with long over-hanging stem, square stern, and raised poop, to small dug-outs. It was with relief that we saw the lights of Aden fade m the distance. For five days we had seethed and boiled in this tropical kettle, awaiting the coming of the Ophtr. At seven o'clock in the morning of April the 7th her grey hull glided over the horizon, and moved silently toward the little volcanic island at the entrance of the harbour. During the night she had been signalled from Perim. the bare rock, seamed with dry water-courses and covered with coarse grass, in the Straits of Bab el Mandeb, where a detachment of Indian troops keep guard over this important coaling station. Aden is under the government of India, and the Political Resident went on board without delay. Before noon the Sultan of Abdali paid his respects, and presented the Princess with a necklace of gold sequins, a beautiful piece of Arabian work. Aden is not a place where you would look for lavish display. Nothing that is green or beautiful grows on this cinder heap, and no man lives there for pleasure or for the good of his health. Yet Aden succeeded in making an admirable show. Camels had for days come into the town laden with millet leaves and stalks from the interior of Yemen. These feather)^ leaves and palm- hke branches adorned triumphal arch and pavilion. The deluge of paint had dried up and left even the native WITH THE OPIIIR' « lli!! quarter a Arivid white and green. Plant pots had not escaped the flood, and so fresh and green were the shrubs near the landing stage that one could not avoid the thought that they, too, had submitted to the ubiquitous brush of the painter. Fairy lights, fed with evil-smelling cocoanut oil, hung in festoons along the beach. The Prince and Princess were welcomed in a pavilion, and received an address from Mr. Cowasjee Dinshaw, a wealthy Parsee merchant, whose father had a like honour in 1875, when the King visited Aden. A group of Indian and Arab ladies in robes of silk, officers in white uniform, and the Sultans of two tributary States, gave colour to the scene. The Sultan of Abdali is a handsome man with a strong, dark face, and looked imposing in the rich, dark dress of an Arab sheikh. His retinue, short, sturdy youths of true Bedouin type, carried their curved daggers in heavy girdles ornamented with silver, and had a wild, bar- baric aspect and attire that sent the imagination in full flight across the inhospitable deserts of Arabia Out- side, in the sun-scorched square, stood the guard of honour of the West Kent regiment, and the Aden troop of Bombay cavalry — tall, lithe men in khaki and turbans. Beyond them towered the bare, rugged mountain of brown lava, with scintillating points of white, and blue, and red. These bright dots, that looked like figures carved on the rock, were Somalis, Arabs, Hindoos, and Seedees, who had come to greet " the great lord of the seas." They made a strange picture, the like of which I have seen only on the dusty slopes of Syria and Pales- tine, when the German Emperor made his pilgrimage. mjTJfT) THE EMTIHE Sweltering days and hot. breathless nights marked our passage across the Indian Ocean. We were between the monsoons, and suffered. The sun beat relentlessly upon the white decks and upon the dull sea until it was a viscous 0.1 through which the Ophir appeared to force a way with effort. On her spuming heels slipped and glided the graceful Juno. At night she was three or four pomts of light-white and green, and the Ophir a silent palace of lights which some genii had taken up out of a great city and set down in a dark and desolate plain. Those hot. breathless nights! The very air sweated and grew sour. Deck and cabin alike were ovens m which men panted and perspired, and drean.^d bad dreamc, and awoke to imagine that they had not slept for a hundred years. as WITH THE OPEIR CHAPTER V. THE BEAUTIES OF CEYLON. Arrival at Colombo— Reception of the Prince and Princess— The Cocoanut Valley— Kandy— A Graceful Welcome. The Singhalese liken the island of Ceylon to one of their own beautiful elongated pearls. It is a pearl set in sap- phire and crowned with emerald. That must be the thought of any man who has sailed in the shadow of the palm-fringed shore and lingered among the mountains of the interior. When the Ophir cast anchor before Colombo the sun had risen, and the dark peaks were creeping out of the blue mist. The sea was dotted with canoes — hollowed trunks of trees with outriggers to balance them. They look as unstable as the coracles in which our rude ancestors first tempted the ocean, yet they stand the roughest weather and fly before the wind like a bird. Within the fine breakwater, of which the first stone was laid by the King in 1875, were men-of-war wreathed in flags— the Highflyer, flagship of the East India station, the Pomone, the Marathon, and the Porpoise. The beach was a gleaming line of colour, for the natives were waiting to welcome the Prince and Princess. Colombo, never cool, is hottest in April, and after Aden and the Indian Ocean one turns with longing to the free air of the mountains. For this reason the stay in the capital was short, thougii it gave time enough to demonstrate the enthusiasm of the colony and to enable their Royal Highnesses to appreciate the hearti- mVND THE empihb 29 wath men and women, whose colour and dress proclaim how vaned are the races that compose the British EmpiT There were Smghalese of sienna complexion, with br^ht cloth wound artistically round their graceful figures. L women weanng white bodices and the men twisting their haar anto a ch.gnon held by large combs. Something of the femmme they have. too. in the oval face, the arched eyebrows, and the lustrous dark eyes that look out upon the world w,th gentle and kindly humour. The Tamils descendants of the invaders who overran the northern' provmce, are distinguished by having the right side bare to the hip. the women having ornaments in their noses and the men bearing on the forehead religious symbols in white, black, red. and yellow. Moormen-the name given to Mahomedans who are not Malays-with shaven heads and gorgeous camboys, or loin cloths. Afghans in gaudy attire. " burghers "-a mixed remnant of the Dutch occupation of the island-and coolies formed solid walls of colour, upon which the sun shone with dazzling radiance. ^ The Prince and Princess were received in the kiosk or pandal erected in front of the jetty. These pandals are characteristic of Ceylon. They are pavilions or arches of bamboo, adorned with foliage, fruit, and flowers, and have a lightness and an elegance rarely seen in this form of decoration. The pandal in which his Royal Highness accepted the addresses of the Legislative Council, the Municipal Council, and the Chamber of Commerce was large enough to hold a great company of Europeans and represLitatnc^ of the native community. From the 30 WITH THE OPHIR' green pillars hung bunches of green cocoanut, plantains, orchids, and lotus blossoms. Behind the dais on which their Royal Highnesses took their places stood two Singhalese boys in silk comboys, gently waving long golden fans of split bamboo. Under the long, delicate fringe of leaves that curtained the sides of the pavilion one caught glimpses of the crowded streets. Near the entrance were a troop of planters in khaki and a troop of Bombay Lancers in turbans, while over against them were the Lascoreen Guard, in quaint dress of crimson and gold, with lofty hats of the old Grenadier type, and having the appearance of the Vatican Guard. The journey to the railway station was through crowds of natives, some of whom attempted to imitate a British cheer, while the majority rbrtped hands and shouted a welcome. When their Royal Highnesses had given a glance at the devil dancers and the representatives of the ancient kings and queens of Kandy — groups recalling the waxworks of some country fair — they entered the saloon, and the signal was given for the departure. Two little daughters of the station-master scattered burnt rice in front of the engine, that being the Eastern manner of wishing good luck, and presently the train steamed to- ward Kandy. The ancient capital of the Singhalese is in the hollow of hills that rise nearly two thousand feet above the sea. Though the distance is only seventy-five miles by rail, the scenery is most varied and most beautiful. The journey is a debauchery of vegetation — an orgie of colour. Nowhere, save perhaps in South America, are the jungles so dense and the plants so luxuriant. For some miles ROUND THE BMPIRB. the train glides rapidly along the lowlands, past paddy fields-niere swamps, out of which the rice will presently spnng-bordered with palms, among which the brightly clad natives move like brilliant butterflies. The ascent begins beyond Veyangoda. the centre of a cocoanut area and the nearest station to the Kelani Valley tea district.' to which a narrow gauge railway from Colombo is bein^ constructed From that point to Polgahawela, or the Cocoanut Valley, is a succession of pictures not to be surpassed m any part of the world. Away in the distance are mountams modelled from the Alps. Their rugged flanks are clothed in eternal green, and shine like emeralds m the dazzling sunlight. Above and about them hover the blue clouds, forming their crests into fantastic shapes Deep valleys and gorges divide the hills, and seem to pour out a torrent of trees and foliage and flowers Here are suriya trees that bear delicate primrose blossoms, gorgeous crotons. banyans overgrown with orchids, climbing lilies, and giant ferns, over which that strange and graceful palm— the giraffe of the vegetable world- casts its shadow. Rain came down in a torrent, and down the seamed sides of Allagalla roared brown cataracts that spread over the rice fields or were tamed and im- prisoned in the terraces of the tea -planter. Winding slowly up the mountain, now between deep cuttings, now on the edge of a precipice, we ca^e to Polgahawela, where the Prince alighted for a moment to receive an address from some native chiefs. At the foot of the pass known as Kadugannawa, which the Kandyan leaders held for generations against the Portuguese and the Dutch, the line rises 1,400 feet in a little more than twelve I 3* WIT If THE OFHIR !! mile%. From this height we look down upon the yellow river that flows past ;,'cntlc slopes, clothed in lonpf, straight lines of gicen. The short, vivid ihrub which seems to fill the l;indscapc is t!ie tea plant, the source of Ceylon's prosperity and the cause of those brown huts, about which are clusters of coohrs, and of those great buudings that have t!ie ai pearancc of mdls and factories. The sun was sinking behind tht" mountains when we came to Kandy. This villa '. , et among the hills in a green bower, was once the capital. Hither the King fled after the Portuguese invasion in 1552, when it was re- ported to him at his new ra])ital of Gotto that a ship had anchored nea'* Colombo 'containing a race of men " sur passingly white and beautiful, wearing boots and hats of iron, eating a white stone and drinking blood, and having guns that could break a castle of marble." Kandy has none of the wonders of Anuradhapura and the buried cities of Ceylon, with their mountain figures of Buddha and their vast temples carved out of the rock. Yet it has relics of ancient state and dignity. There is the Temple of the Tooth, or Dalada Maligav.a, an object of veneration to four hundred millions of people in the island, in India, in Burmah, and in China who have faith m the " Four sublime Verities," and aspire to that Nirvana which is the preparation for extinction and n lease from the Wheel of Life. There is, too, the lake — one of those great engi- neering works in which the kings of the East delighted, to the well-being of their people and to their lasting fame as rulers and as artists. And, coming to later days, there is the Pavilion and its garden, one of the most beautiful in the world. 1^ ROrNI) THE FAfPIRE. To this country house of the Governor th.- Pru.re anH Pnnccs were driven. The.r progress from if.e railway stafon was a triumph. Only in the native tradin^^ quarter are there streets of the conventional kind-- av.-nues ol whitewashed shops anrl houses open to the inquisitive eye of the stranger. Tlie town is a network of country lanes, dividing lawns of v.vid green, now wander- rnsj by the lake, now winding under spreading bran hes of banihoo and palm and cinnamon tree up to some d.,inty bungalow with deep. rn,,l verandah and rows of white pillars, about which climb hlies and ferns and orchids It was through lanes likr these that their Royal Highnesses pass.-d. On cither side was a border of daz/.ling r olour- ■.hite and red and blue, in all those deligl combina- tions and shades that make the East. Ti.ese were the people oi Kandy and the villages round about— Tamils and Smgl .dese. and Moormen and Afghans. Each wore the distinctive dress of his race, and each welcomed the visitors after his kind, some with shouts, some with cheers —feeble imitations of their masters-some with clapping of hands, and still more with that stolid ga/e and immo"^ bihty which characterise men who dwell under the sun. At several points were i .ndals or arches of welcome- delicate frameworks f bamboo, shaped like temples or towers, or simple rches adorned with flaming lotus blossoms, with the tender green of the bamF>oo, the rich green of the young cocoanut. and the russet gold of the cocoa pod. Nothing could have been more natural or more graceful th - ^x.■ 'come to Kandy 34 WITH THE 'OPHIR' CHAPTER VI. THE SACRED ELEPHANTS. .A Strange Spectacle — Devil Dancers — Presentation of Colours to the Ceylon Mounted Infantry — Durbar in the Audience Room— The Exile from Egypt— The Temple of the Tooth. Of all the spectacles presented to the eyes of the Prince and Princess the strangest and weirdest was the Perahara, or procession of elephants. These processions are part of the Buddhist ritual, and Ceylon is noted for its ele- phants. A sacred stud of forty is kept for festivals, the chiefs in the neighbourhood acting as guardians. It was darh when the performers began to assemble at the entrance i , the Pavilion grounds — a long line of animals and men in fantastic dress. The air flamed with torches and reeked with cocoanut oil, and thousands of natives filled the lanes with a medley of colour. Their Royal Highnesses, having dined, came out upon the balcony of the white house with the massive white pillars. The gardens were shrouded in blackness and silence. Suddenly out of the distance came the sound of tom-tom and the shrill note of the Chettey pipe. There is a subtle sameness ir. all Eastern music. The tom-tom and the pipe of the devil dancer were in my ears as the echo of Dervish drum and omobeiha sounding the charge at Omdurman. The head of the procession appeared. It was a white elephant on a cart drawn by a patient bullock, and attended by a headman in flat, round cap. One was naturally curious to learn why this very obvious projierly nOUND THE EMPIRE. 35 animal should have the place of honour, seeine that ,o beautiful, replied the headman, hiding under an air o grave courtesy his surprise that any should doubtl claim olded rlr """^"^ ^"' ^^°-'^ *h^ procession un fdded Itself in waves of yellow light from hundreds of rder of tt '' '^ ^— ^-ed Singhalese. The dL '"'"'"^ "'' ^^'^^ *'^'« f-^hion. First wanted a company of men in loose robes of white and red or clad only in camboy or waistcloth. the light glean^nt' on heir shming bodies. Behind them marched thee elephants in rich trappings, the middle and largest havin! a crimson gold-embroidered cloth drawn over s head leaving only eyes and ears uncovered. On their heels' whirled the devil dancers-lithe figures, stripped to the Z^'^ir^\ '''7T' ^^^'^ ^^^^^ ^-'< '^^'^^ as they eapt a^d turned and chanted a strange, monotonous chan^ to the beating of drum and the shrieking of pipe Some were children, others white-headed and o7a slmn countenance grotesquely out of harmony with their strange antics. .nn^"" '^!f °^ '"^ P"^" '"^ ^'^"'^y ^°"W deign to appear in these processions without his devil dancers I do not know whether rank is measured by the number or fcstt T^-^- *'' ''"'^- '' ''^' "°- ^he less mani- fest that distmctions exist even in devil worship, for the number, the dress, and the noise seemed in proportion to he ^avity and magnificence of the chieftains who fol- lowed these cyclones of colour and sound. TheKandyan chief may be a handsome and even an imposing man. He has the dignified solemnity of the Turk and the beard WITH THE OPHIR of the prophet. His dress, too, is splendid. In the days of the kings it was simple white, but since they can no longer be courtiers at home, the chiefs have put on the dress of their kings. Round the waist are wound nearly sixty yards of white silk, embroidered with crimson and gold. The many folds are gathered at the waist into a great bulk, and end in gold fringes, that fall over tight white linen trousers, with broad, frilled edges. The feet are bare, but on the head is a hat in shape not unlike a shrine, and in wealth of gold and gems not unworthy the altar of some saint. The upper part of the body is clothed in a zouave jacket, richly embroidered in red and gold, and worn over a white frilled shirt. EacL hief has on the second finger of the right hand a ring of enormous size, resembling in shape the apostolic ring of the Pope. The chiefs walked in companies of six or seven, having between them elephants and devil dancers and torch- bearers. When they drew near to the balcony there was a short halt, and the procession, turning to the left, re- formed in front of the Pavilion, The elephants ranged themselves in line on the green lawn that shone a strangely vivid green in the light of the torchc 5. The devil dancers gathered together in the centre, and gave themselves up to a frenzied dance. Not the dancing dervishes of Damascus not the howling dervishes of Berber could excel them in antics and noise as they sweated and turned and threw themselves into the air with an energy and an abandonment that had at least the semblance of reli- gious frenzy. Their exertions were rewarded by a few words of th.anks from the Prince, who declared himself greatly pleased and interested. nOUNB THE EMPIRE On Saturday tho 13th the Prince received frc, tic foX^r ";""'■°"^^"^ ^" enterprising body of .nen. to whom Ceylon owes ,ts prosperity-an address enclosed in a very beautiful coffer of ivory, set with twentj- fne different gems of the island. His Royal Highness was also mterested in a king cocoanut and a fine specimen of Jack fnnt. brought by Mahan Madaliyar Bandaranaike from Fort Hangwella. where the King planted two trees dunng h,s visit in 1875. In the afternoon there was a presentation of colours to the Ceylon Mounted Infantry and to men who had served in South Africa. One of the l^rmces missions was to thank the Colonies for the patriotism that sent into the field so many of their sons India and Ceylon were not laggards, and in Lumsden's Horse they had as fine a body of soldiers as any com- mander can desire. During the march to Pretoria it was more than once given me to record their acts of bravery and to admire their skill with the horse and the rifle The presentation of colours was a simple and graceful little ceremony. A company of the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry-who are the garrison of the island-was drawn up on the lawn in front of the residence. On their ri-ht were the Ceylon Mounted Infantry, and on their left the Planters' Rifle Corps-all dismounted' nno in khaki ser- vice kit. The Prince addressed the men, thanking them tor their patriotic services, and recalling the devotion of one family of planters-named Thomas-who sent to the front three of their sons. Dr. Coplestone, Bishop of Colombo, blessed the colours, and Mafor Gordon Reeves who raised the corps, received them on his knees, pro- nusrng to defend them with his blood and his life A WITH THE OPHIR more delightful place for such a ceremony would be hard to find — smooth green lawns, soft as velvet to the foot, long avenues that lose themselves among banyans, and bamboo, and cinnamon, and palms, the fragrance of flowers, and away in the distance the purple mountains, over whose rugged sides and bold crests hung dark thunderclouds. The durbar in the evening was interesting. It was held in the Audience Hall, a building of some antiquity, if one may judge from the richly carved pillars of dark brown wood that support the ceiling. The chiefs stood on each side of a broad avenue, carpeted with a beautiful piece of work from the looms of India, and leading to a dais. Upon this platform were four chairs — one of them was taken from the temple — behind which stood pages in white native dresses, the sons of chieftains, carrying long split bamboo avanas with which to fan the air On the sides of the dais were several handsome tusks of ivory, some of which were lent by the Buddhist priests. The wives and daughters of the headmen —gentle-looking, dusky maidens and women, in soft robes of white silk — • sat on the right, while Europeans and others had places under the roof, that sloped down to the open sides of the hall. Among ihem were three men wearing tl fez. The tall and portly man in the middle, with thi ^rey beard, strong, healthy face, and dark eyes, whose keen- ness was masked behind blue spectacles, was none other than Arabi Pasha. He has lived in exile here since his failure to make himself master of Egypt, and seemed to have grown content with his lot in this beautiful island, which he has now left for his old home on the banks of mUND THE EAfPIRE 39 the Nile. There were many chiefs, and their decrees were marked. The principal were presented separately to the Pnnce, who shook hands with them. Others of less degree were presented in groups, and having made obeisance by clasping the hands in front and bendin^ sharp from the waist were dismissed with a smile One or two drew their gold-handled daggers, and clasping the blade between their hands held the handle towards the Prince m token of allegiance. Only two native ladies were presented to the Princess, who remained seated, and bowed as they came to the foot of the dais. Both were aged-one the mother of the native police magistratc- and both returned with unconcealed delight to their places, where they were looked upon by their less favoured sisters with that frank envy and admiration which school girls give to a clever companion who has just been the object of some special attention. After the d. .bar a visit was made to the Temple of the Tooth. It is told of King Bh.tiya Pisa that his great piety admitted him alone of laymen to the secret passage of Ruwanveh dagoba to gaze on the wondreus relics and treasures that filled the inmost chamber. The Buddhist priests— those strange-looking men with shaven heads and faces, clad in yellow or red robe according to their degree-are not always eager to display the treasures of their temples. To the Prince and Princess and to those of their company who succeeded in penetrating to the inmost chamber everything was shown, from the long yellow piece of ivory which is Buddha's tooth to the imagj of him cut out of a giant emerald. Their Royal High- nesses leading, under the conduct of the high priest we 40 WITH THE OPHIR' passed through a narrow doorway between two pairs ot enormous tusks, and came at last into a low-vaulted room with bare walls. This apartment was filled with yellow and red-robed priests, some of whom held lighted tallow candles. They chanted a low, weird chant as we walked between their close ranks. The chant ceased as soon as their Royal Highnesses entered the small chamber cut out of the rock in which is the sacred tooth. Tradition says that the King of Kalinga — the modem Orissa — unable to defend the relic from the fanaticism of the Brahmins, sent it for safe keeping to Ceylon in charge of his son and daughter, concealed in the folds of the daughter's hair. The tooth lies in a shrine of pure gold, encrusted with pearls, rubies, emeralds, and catseyes. This little casket is enclosed in five other shrines of precious metal, the last two being covered with rubies. A dagoba or bell-shaped shrine on a solid silver table, and beneath a crimson canopy sparkling with gems, encloses the six shrines. When my turn came to inspect the relic, it lay on a tiny tray of gold. It was as unlike a human tooth as one could imagine. Their Royal Highnesses looked upon the relics with manifest interest, and re- mained a considerable time in the hot atmosphere of the cell-like room, to which even much wealth of gold and gem failed to give an aspect or an air of dignity or solemnity. ROUND THE EMPIRE. 41 CHAPTER VII. nOER PRISONERS IN CEYLON Adam's Peak-The Boer Camp^KruirersdorD -,nH «- —General niiv,«r tu {7^"''"K"saorp and Steynsvil c VrLZrllr^y? l^ I-'ghtmg Predikant-Play and -XT f" '" ^^"P-The Irish-American Bri/aSe -ihe foreign Contingent. origaae DIVATALAWA is the headquarters of the Boer prisoners flrr ?' °T. V' '" '" P^°^'"^^ °f ^-- '- hour J^m Kandy. The Goverr^or of the Colony. Sir Joseph West R.dgeway. put a sleeping coach at my service, and 1 set out to see some of our friends the enemy. The P anters havmg eaten and drunk and shown their loyalty after the manner of Britons, whether they dwell in the wet woolly heat of Colombo or in the fogs of London, were retummg to their estates in the interior of the island They swept down upon the station at two o'clock on Sunday morning with aggressive energy. Vigour of ody and sp.nt have not been sapped by change of sky for they are a hardy, independent, and even boisterous W? '^rr"" ^^° ^^^ °"'" ''^P°^^ ^"d their pockets. When day dawned we were winding slowly up the moun- ains to a height of six thousand feet. The air was cool and refresbir,. after the heat of the plain and the valley Ihe char .er u the scenery was different. The vege- tation had ios^ some of its tropical luxuriance, and far as the eye could see the slopes were covered with long straight lines of low. bushy shrub, which was unmistak- ably tea. Though bare in comparison with the teeming exuberance of Kandy. the country is very beautiful 4» WITH THE OPHIR Purple ridges girdle the horizon, and lofty hills rise into the solemn space of clear blue sky. Like a watch-tower in the midst of them stands Adam's Peak, trodden by many pilgrims, for Buddhist and Hindu and Mohamedan claim the " footprint " on its summit as the sign of Buddha and Siva and Adam. Clouds wreath its sharp sides and haunt the shapely crest, now falling like a veil over some hidden shrine, now stealing ghost-like across, until the sun came out of the east and smote upon the summit and scattered them in fair white foam. We drifted past the jungle, that primaeval wilderness of forest in which the elephant and the leopard and the boar and the buffalo roam with the python, the cobra de capello, and the tic polonga for dangerous company. After Ohiya we were in a new land— a land of bold, bare hills, rolling like monstrous waves of green over close-shaven valleys, and in the distance shone iron roofs and white tents. We were descending upon the Boer camp. It was no strain on the imagination to carry one's thoughts back to the Elandsriver valley and the British prisoners at Nooitgedacht. The hills are the same, and the bareness of the land is the same. Whatever com- plaint they make, the J^oers cannot say that they are prisoners in a country that banishes all thought of their own. The likeness must appeal to them. Colonel A. C. Vincent, of the Scottish Rifles, is commandant, and met us at the station and conducted us to the camp, which is about a mile distant. As I approached the camp I was struck by the contrast it presented to the places in which the Boers confined their prisoners of war. I remember the tin shed at Pre- ROUND THE EMPIRB. toria in which many of our officers spent nine months • the racecourse, where our men were left exposed to heat and cold and rain ; the enclosure at Waterval outside Pretoria, m which our soldiers found fewer comforts than the worst criminals in any civilised community ; and the barbed wire fence at Nooitgedacht. where British officers and men were herded like cattle without shelter from the fierce sun and the fever-laden air of the valley. The camp covers a table land of considerable extent four thousand feet above the sea It is reached by a well-made road, and has an aerial line from the railway for carrying stores. A double barbed wire fence surrounds and divides It into two unequal parts. That part nearer the railway is known as Krugersdorp, and is inhabited mainly by Transvaalers, while the burghers from the Orange River Colony have christened the other part Steynsville. Two sentries stand at the entrance to Krugersdorp, and we are admitted through a low wooden gate. At inter- vals on the right of the road are small shops with corru- gated iron roofs— precisely like the " winkle " or village store in the Transvaal. Here is the barber, and there the universal provider, the one trimming the black beard of a Boer, the other sitting among his tins and his boxes with an air of placid content that the " winkle " keeper on the veldt might envy. Six or seven men are walking leisurely in front of us. One of them is in white dress, and wears a white helmet like a planter ; another is in flannels and a straw hat— he might be coming from a spin on the Thames. The others are as well, though not so distinctively, dressed, and have red or yellow puggrees round their helmets or hats. " What do these colour? 44 WITH THE OPBin ' 1 mean ? " I asked. " The red marks an officer, and the yellow a man who serves in some capacity in the camp, such as clerk. The two wearing the yellow belonged to the Irish-American brigade." Krugersdorp and Steynsville are made up of long huts or houses of corrugated iron, placed wide apart, and giving accommodation to fifty-six prisoners. They arc furnished with camp-beds, and down the centre is a tabic flanked with benches. Here the men sleep and eat. The officers have similar houses, though they arc divided into living and sleeping apartments. Officers of high rank occupy separate houses, each having the exclusive use of a good-sized bedroom and a living-room. We called on General Olivier, whom I met once when he was lighting in the Transvaal. He is a tall, heavy, black-bearded man, with a free-and-easy manner and a good-natured laugh. We were received cordially, and seated round the table ♦alked of the war. " When do you think it likely that yor will go home } " asked someone. " You must be a better judge of that," replied the general with a laugh, as his glance fell upon the yellow telegraph form in the colonel's hand. " Is there any news ? " he continued. " No news." " I thought from your smile that you brought good news," said General Olivier, with the same ready laugh. Bidding our host good morning, we resumed our walk through Krugersdorp, and easily fancied ourselves back in Middleburg or Machadodorp. We passed the closed door of General Roux's house. Ho is known as " the fighting predikant," and has brought to Ceylon the odium theologicum as well as the irreconcilable spirit that has always characterised the Dutch Church in South ROVND ras EMPIRE. Africa, and l.as made it a breeder of strife instead of a peacemaker As far as I could gather during the short visit, the Boers are divided into three parties There is the irreconcilable section, who. if free to-morrow, would take up arms again. These are a numerous body, and are kept up to the mark by men like General Roux. There is the peace party, who are prepared to accept British rule but dare not proclaim the view to their compatriots, and there is the obstinate and unintelligent lot. who believe that the Boers are conquering all before them, and that a fleet of foreign transports is on its way to Colombo to rescue them from prison. Few even of the educated Boers credit the reports that come from South Africa through British sources, though within the last few days they had begun to discuss as probable the rumour of negotiations by Botha. On the road to Steynsville we passed the galleys or open sheds in which the prisoners were cooking their dinner, and the swimming bath, where Boers young and old were disporting themselves. The recreation hall is close at hand— a large, well-ventilated room, covered with palmeto. A stage occupies one end of the building, and there is a piano, for which the prisoners themselves paid. Smce the removal of the foreign element the recreation hall has been used as a chapel, the Boer having no taste for amusements which he looks upon as sinful. People in Kandy and Colombo complain that they are deprived of the military- band, and that it is reserved for the prison- ers. On the other hand, the prisoners have requested that the band should not play more than once a week, as it " interferes with their devotions." Most of their time is ■f: 46 WITH THE OPHIB' spent in singing psalms and listening to long sermons, of which thpy seem never to grow weary. The naturally austere and religious character of the people has been strengthened hy their confinement, until in many cases it has become a form <>• nvmia. As we approached tlie hospitil we passed through a crowd of young men coming from a religious serv -c, carrying bibles and hymn books. Some of them saluted tlie comr: ndant, while others gave an aggressive stare Tlie hospitals— one for convales- cents and anollKr foi serious cases — are cool and com- fortable buildings, lined with match-board, and furnished with every ntco>i.ary arliclf Uo'^r doctors and Boer attendants look aft^r the sick, and the cordial manner in which the commandunt was welcomed in the wards was convincing evidence . hat lie does everything in his power to heal and make them comfortable and contented. There were about one liundred patients, and hardly a serious case. Among the convalescents was a nephrw ol De Wet. The little cemetery is on the hillside, and eighty-four white stones mark the resting-place of pti >o.i. ers to whom drath has given release. The nun.l - 1 r small, having regard to the fact that at one time tl -". were nearly 5,000 men, that some have been here sinr^ August the 8th, 1900, and that many came from the veldt weak from long labour and privation, and having in them the germs of that dread camp follower, enteric. Some hysterical people have sought to raise an outcry against the presence of young boys in camp. These children have been represented now as victims of British oppression, now as heroes who outshone David in prowess, slaying giant Guardsmen and holding at bay kOrryi) ffjg EMPIRE 47 whole battalion,, and ending the.r warl.Uc career -u prison rather than take the oath of al)<-,.anco. .von at the mu.Hc of this kmd to your heart's content, especally ,f you are a woman or one of those - patriots • who have no country 1 remember hstenins to these legends on the railway .^laf-" form at Pretoria. The narrator was a sturdy little youngster of seven years- ., miniature Boer. wiM, the slouch hat and rough, unt.dy dress-^ chubby little bnght-eyed boy. whom ever^ Tonuny petted, though' they could no. understand a word of his " lingo" His pockets were bulging out with sixpenny and threepenny pieces, and he produced with murh pride a new purse that h.s fnend Atkins had given him. Like Sampson, he had slam h.s thousands," and was on his way to his mother ffi charge of one of the survivors. There are children in the camp at Diyatalawa-250 of them go to school, and are taught b)- Dutch teachers at the cost of the Dutch South African Fund. They came with their fathers and brothers and uncles, and have no near relatives to whom they could be entrusted. If any misguided person .vishes to tear them from prison let him come with a strong guard, for he certainly will need it. All I can say is that they are better fed better clothed, better taught, and better housed man the majority of the children in the Transvaal at this moment. These model villages have even a bank. For pru- dential reasons, and to avoid the temptation to bribery, no prisoner is allowed to have in cash more than twenty cents or a quarter of a rupee. In order that he may suffer no inconvenience from this restriction of pocket-money, Ill 48 WITH THE OPHIR' notes are issued for fifty cents, one rupee, five rupees, and ten rupees. These notes, signed by the commandant, are accepted as cash when presented by prisoners. They have drawn about 27,000 rupees, and, thanks to the gene- rosity of sympathisers in Holland and South Africa, have still to their credit nearly 70,000 rupees. Even this wealth does not make them less prone to those little economies and tricks that have earned for the Boer the qualification " slim." Some draw their allowance, conceal the notes, spend nothing, and report to the commandant or to Colonel Jesser Coope their inability to pay for their clothes. Before leaving I had a talk with some members of the Irish-American brigade — Major Menton, formerly of the Transvaal detective service ; Captain O'Reilley, whose advertisements for recruits were the most entertaining reading in the Standard and Diggers' News, and who now c'aims to have saved the Rand mines from destruc- tion ; Sergeant- Major F. Reilley, W. Howie, and F. A. Dunlop. They are a cheery lot, whatever may be their record, ?nd the authorities find them always ready to assist. Some have eniployment in the camp, and amuse themselves by making collections of beetles and butter- flies, and by prospecting for gold. One of them showed me a piece of gold-bearing quartz. Captain O'Reilley was arranging the fireworks that were to follow the pro- cession of elephants on Monday in honour of the Royal visit to Kandy. They have a large moss lent and sleep- ing tents to themselves, and having the Irishman's good humour appear to be as nearly happy as men can exi)ect to be. nOUND THE EMPIRE. 49 less res.ric.io„s are „„, „p„„ „„ „,„ "[^^^ j^" -;;'- move about the camp a, „,11, and every 7JZ I rfsr:i:Cn:r ■•-Tr ^^ •- ^--^ - --' .l-y please. 7atteeZ:.T""""^ ''-'"^''^- - s.,ow„ a large „„,„„„ „f .„a^^'::2 .l^^ ri^Brr^nTX'r; ''-"■^"'- --- ;n Ho„a„. T,.ey a^re br^^^rrj:,: « have ever seen ti.em in (heir own coun, " V "" houses are clean and comfortable. Their conduct is ^oo and tbey have g,vcn little trouble since the forei^e ' :::: "": '» -°".>" -"■?■ Each oncer may ha 0!";: gla ses of w,ne, spirits, or beer a day. the issue bei,„ based on lwo-tl„rds of the mess, as abstainers were ta fc hab^ of towms .heir allowance of into.-cicant, and l! Lg'o men who were not entitled thereto. The food is fh,? of .he BrWsh soldier, with such additions as ,ey c>-e «as that they do no, get enough beef. Most healthy men wou d be more than content with one pound and . qua«er of beef a day. The Boers gave their priso:.: at Pretona and at Nooit^edacht half a pound of me,t .-ce a week. In Colonel Vincent they have a lyZ^. m S,r J. West R.dgeway they have a governor who in- i 1^ IP WITH THE OPHIR' vestigates thoroughly any real grievance, and is always approachable by memorial On the whole, then, the Boer prisoners at Diyatalawa have every cause to be as con- tented with their 'ot as can be expected of men whom the fortune of war has for a time robbed of their liberty. The foreign contingent I did not see. They were a constant causp of trouble among the Boers, and have been removed to Ragama, nine miles from Colombo. They are in charge of a civilian, Mr. Allnutt, and live, I was told, under similar cop.ditions lo tbose of the burghers. One indulgence they have because of the hotter climate near the coast; they have native cooks. The foreigners number 340, and are of twenty-four nationalities, includ- ing a Turk and a Dalmatian. The commandant at Ragama is Captam Regiment. Ingram, of the 1st Gloucester ' !i HI: k\\<* noUNJi THE EMPIBK. 51 CHAPTER Vlir. THE MYSTERY OF RACE. Our Last Night at Colombo— Our q « u , Ob Board A.a.n Jj'ST^^Ie "f A Wh'"^''"" ""''J-'^- The- I . , ' ""'A Welcome Storm. The last „,»ht a. Colombo was one ,0 live Tl,c „■ , streets wtl, ,he blood-red earti, were riv^ r , colour. T|,e Prince ,„,l p ■ "' ''"'" ="'! houserecc,v jri:' :rr Tr ■" ""■• '^"™'^ f w^t^:ts^::i;; br~--f ~:rdrbrrtiron:r-^-'- acrid sweat of Kl. n ^ ^ ^ °^ cocoanut and acrid sweat of black humanity gripped you by the throat but all the perfumes of Arabia would have been' ."' ^10. oft. spectacle. The East was out To/ i.^L" and had put on ,ts coat of many colours. Sienna faced Singhalese shaven Moormen, who look as ,f tl" w d disembowel you for a slip m the Ten Commandments bkck with flakes of cnide white and red and blue, and 1 th! nr r °' ^'^ ^ast-Aowed along the streets. and the light of w.ck and wire flashed from them new and dazzling shades. Men on horseback-handsome fellows carved out of satin wood, richly clad, picked their way with sloping lance. Rickshaw boys-slaves of the cent-clamoured a passage, and men in nava! and military \ 5» WITH THE OPHIS uniform went by with stolid faces, and were swallowed up in the swirl of the multitudinous, many-coloured East. It was a strange and wondrous sight — this palpitating mass of aliens who had been quickened into life by the touch of an unseen hand. They have the air of men who prosper and are content, living in the shadow of a great security. What were their thoughts? Among men of our own race, even of our own colour and faith, whose civilisation has followed the same or parallel lines, we are not altogether strangers. We know something of the habits, the traditions, the impulses, and the prejudices that mould their opinions and prompt their actions. The machinery and the material of thought are not unfamiliar factors, and we can tell with an approach to accuracy how they will work under certain conditions. But among people whose voices carry no message, whose history, creed, impulses, prejudices, and habits of thought differ from our own as strongly as their colour, their lan- guage, and their dress, we are as men looking at a strange picture-book, without any text to enlighten the under- standing. The form and the colour please us— the blues and the reds and the whites, intense vivid hues that gleam aid shine Hke living lights under tropical skies — the supple brown bodies that move with the grace and strength of an untamed lord of the jungle, the calm, in- telligent faces, lit by dark, gentle eyes— all these things appeal to us. But we are strangers still. Only to the few who have spent their lives in the quest is it given to pierce the veil that divides us in thought. The history of European relations with the East has been written in letters of blood. How few they are that can read the signs ! r r ; ROUND THE EMPIRE. r"'^'' ^'■'-'" "-quarter of ,hepeople?f.h;eart,r to many, even among princes i, J.^, , '^°' end ofsenS^^nrtt^ool:,^' -tlt™'^ '^^ the solid rock, the gold and the f ems"^ ^"kIhc T "' and that little piece of ivory L™ in thr'""' and n,i„,, ,f ,„„ -und J mi,l,™^:„"';^J'-;'^ Thibet to Burmah and Cevlon filVrf ■"'"•from far thouehts A<, th. I.- I ""^ *■'"■ "range d,„^.. . . '"«'' P""' paid homage to the relt devouUy and humbly, one fel, ho. hard i, mu„ be o Zl .' '°"^"'^'■' "■" """ --P' ""= a cu^e and death a transmigration through the animal, the vegetable and even the mineral kingdom^ to that Nirvana wh cht extinction for all time. Yet the Singhalese are a simple people, and their religion, though without a god, ^^X^. them chanty. p„ri,y, patience, and courage. The streets of Colombo on that last glowing night show that some, at any rate, of these lessons are not forgotten. At midnight the Prince and Princess were released iron, a ceremony which they endure with admirable patience and carry through with grace They drove WITH THE OPHIR' I along the streets, still palpitating with people, and from the deck of the Op/iir saw the harbour light up with a myriad colours and the warships lined against the sky in festoons of fire. Next morning the guns boomed a fare- well from the shore, flags flew from masthead to stem and stem, ensigns dipped, and we took leave of Ceylon with pleasant memories of its beautiful scenery, its gentle people, and its able Governor, Sir J. West Ridgeway, whose kindness and hospitality won the gratitude of all. Notwithstanding the attractions of Colombo and Kandy, it was a pleasure to return to the 5/. George, and to see the graceful /titio and her consort glide into their places behind the Royal ship. To our escort were added the Highflyer, a second-class cruiser, and the Melpomene, a third-class cruiser, both of the East India station. They kept us company for eight hours, and then the Highflyer steamed north, leaving the Melpomene to return to Trin- comalee after taking letters on board. There are reforms in battleships that even a Chancellor of the Exchequer would advocate strenuously after such a month of hot days and stewy nights as we endured since we left Port Said. They were days when the heart's desire was to have nothing to do, nothing to think about, nothing to wear, and to be fed by some occult and unconscious pro- cess. To think of the men in the hot bowels of the ship • — the stokers fanned by the breath of" the furnace, and the engineers living in an atmosphere that almost chokes you wlien it comes up from below in a hot, oily blast, is to realise that we have invented at least one inferno of which Dante never dreamed. We sweated till the overwrought pores became inflamed, and protested in prickly heat. Our HOUND THE EMPIRE 55 clothes dung: to our bodies like clammy, feverish hands and as we looked upon the o.Iy waste of water in which he .V,. and ,^ j ,„, „,^ ^^.^^^^ ^^^ ^ ' ^I'at t..e Ancient Manner " did not lie. Rain brought a momentary sense of relief. It fell wkh tropical viofence or several manutes on the three last days, beating upon he awnmgs and the decks with the patter of bullets- Imge drops shot from the low thunder clouds. Then the sun hcked it up with hot hps. and it was gone in vapour And the mghts! In the most torrid lands night usually brmgs to the aid of sleep the cool refreshment of a breeze In the deserts of the Soudan, where the sun gives ,20- in the shade, the nights under the stars have consolations Sirocco-swept Syria. Arabia Felix, with its blighting -^iudy S.amal, .viozambique and the bush veldt of the Transvaal, with their furnace breath, have nights in which the earth cools rapidly and gentle winds fan you to sleep But the tropical sea is pitiless, and holds fast to the heat of the day to distil it through the breathless night. We fled the cabins, and lay about the quarter-deck until the floods descended and drove us below to soak and gasp in unre- freshing sleep. On Friday the storm broke before midnight. The sea was calm and unrufiied and the air a vapour bath. Tom and streaming thunder clouds moved over the Southern Cross, and lost themselves in the hollow of the night. Dark, fantastic forms stole out of the horizon, and from behind them leapt tongues of yellow flame, that spread over sea and sky. until the whole world seemed one vast fire, burning with a cold, lambent flame. The thunder roared and rolled and the rain came down in cataracts, 56 WITH THE OPHIR' and OpAir and /una and St. George were written on the yellow sky in lines of ink. On the morning of that day we saw the dark island of Pulo Rondo, and beyond it the hills of Sumatra, that ^Teat and fertile island, which the Dutch hold, and in which our astronomers were making ready for the eclipse of the sun. We were in the Straits of Malacca, steering through the islands for Singapore. The end of our tropical discomfort was in sight. I ROUIfD THE h:MPinE. 57 CHAPTER IX. SINGAPORE AND THE MALAYS '-£-;::-- A S.ngaporc Sundav-Durb.u .„ the To.n I he Sultan of Perak-Malay Problems. SINGAPORE has attractions, but they are of the kind "nt are seen at the.r best ,n blue-books It is very "L u ^now that ,h. .s one of the greatest ports ,n the wore that ten thousand ships enter the hLour eve y " ' nd that the value of Us imports and exports fs W er^atln. t ""''' "'""°" ^'^"^^^- ^^'^ -^ ^ grat fy,ng to our .mpenal and commercial instincts. But most people who are not salamanders, and have not had he pr,v.Iege of bemg brought up in incubators, would rather view them from the cool distance. Only when we escaped th.s vapour bath did we think of the scen.c and soaal potenfahties of Singapore. There are beauties beyond the town-gardens and orchards where the red mangastine grows and the evil-smelling durien for which men cultivate an unnatural taste. I have pleasant memories also of a drive, in the cool of the evening to the impounding reservoir, and of meeting the Princess of Wales on her way to admire this beautiful English lake that was lately a swamp. But Singapore after all IS a business house, and a port of call for the far Fast It IS supposed to be a British Colony. It looks like a hit of China with a leaven of Dutch and German You can sn,ell the Chinese as soon as you have left tlie little lano-locked harbour with its border of perspiring green i> WITH THE OPUIR' The Dutch and German you have not long to search after, for their names arc written large on the great warehouses and stores tfiat proclaim the prosperity of Singapore. On the road from Borneo wharf, where the Ophir and her escort filled their bunkers, your rick- shaw runs past acres of coal piled like ramparts, and coolies from China, who swarm hke ants in dirty loin clot lis and conical hats of straw, with baskets slung on bamboo poles. They are carrying coal to the ships. Despite their multitude and activity, ships have to wait every day to their loss, for wharfag*^ is limited. It is whispered that the Tanjong Pagar, or company that controls the docks, has grown too fat to be enterprising, tuid that masters of ships in want of coal are beginning to patronise the Dutch estabhshment, Pulo Way. But Singapore was not thinking of business. For two days there was holiday in honour of the Royal visitors. They landed on April 2 1st, under a remorse- less sun, and were received by the Governoi, Sir Frank Swettenham surrounded by the British rommunity, and some of the principal Chinese. The Sultans of Pahang, Perak, and Selangor were in the company, but the Sultan of Johore had taken a holiday in Europe. The recep- tion was of the conventional kind — a pavihon hung with flags and flowers, three or four banks of ladies in cool, white dresses, and five score perspiring Englishmen in frock coats and silk hats. After a few presentations, the Prince and Princess drove to the hou.se of the Governor among the trees overlooking the bay. It was Sunday, but the people have no fine scruples. In their quiet, Oriental way, they made the most of the X 8 * M MiaiOCOfY RESOIUTION TEST CHART (ANSI and ISO TEST CHART No. 2) 1.0 I.I 1.25 12.8 1 2^ ■ 3.2 2.2 12.0 1.8 ^ APPLIED IIVMGE I ^K 1653 Eosl Main Street S^S Roctiester. New York 14609 USA ^S ("6) 482 -0300 -Phone ^S (7'6) 28S - 59S9 -Fan I / ROUND THE EMPIRE. 5, occasion. The streets and buildinrrg—Singapore has some fine shops and offices— were gay with flags. The esplanade, runninpr close to the blue edge of the bay, with it3 crowded shipping, and bordered by a bell of trees, amid whose ricii green shone the scarlet " flame of the forest," or flamljoyant acacia, looked bright and refresh- ing. Groups of coolies found it a pleasant retreat and a safe place for indulging the national vice of gambling with dice and a small square of cloth divided like a chess board. These games are prohibited, but no one pays attention. The Chinese quarter was especially gay. These inscrutable yellow men in shiny black or blue, with pig tails j^etting into the way of their heels, have peculiar aptitude for decoration. Their principal street, a long, broad thoroughfare that might have been trans- ported from Pekin, was covered with a canopy of blue, white, red, yellow, and green, from which hung thousands of coloured lanterns. At either end stood an arch, round whose columns fiery-tongued dragons coiled themselves under hideous masks. The Chinese were very proud of this display, and certainly it did credit to their taste as well as to their patriotism. My rickshaw boy, I am convinced, took me a couple of miles out of my way in order that I might admire the dragons and the lanterns, and would have kept me circling all day round a pagoda erected at a cost of two thousand dollars. After I had driven him off he kept his head turned for half a mile, so that he rniglit not lose a glimpse of this coloured paper monstrosity, around which a small Chinese popula- tion were squatted with wondering eyes. The Tamils, too, had done their best to show their pleasure, and had 6o WITH THE 'OPHIR 1! built an arch of many-shaded reds and golds. In short, nothing appears to be wanting to impress the Royal visitors with the wealth and loyalty of this strange and interesting community. At the durbar, in the Town Hall, on Monday, were men of many races— Chinese. Arabs, Malays, Tamils, and all the medley of blood that makes the East. They came with tributes of loyalty, and laid them at the feet of the son of their suzerain — tributes of words, and of gold, and silver, and ivory. In the twelve deputations that added to the pile of precious caskets were men whose history one would have listened to with eager interest. Who was the Chinaman in feminine dress, with the pea- cock feather stuck in the back of his fool's cap } Why did he appear and reappear as if no presentation and no address could be regular without him ? What were the thoughts of the two sober-looking Malays, sons of a deposed Sultan of Johore, when they noted the absence of the occupant of their father's throne, and saw men smile and shrug their shoulders ? But the figures that attracted most were the four behind the chairs of the Prince and Princess. They were picturesque if not im- posing men, in shining raiment. Three of them wor- jacVets and trousers in which gold and silver threads were cunningly blended with heliotrope and green. From the waist to the knees } -or thj; graceful folds of the sarong, or skirt of shimxx,..ing silk, in tartan and deep orange shade. The fourth and central figure was dressed more after European fashion, though the blue sarong and the brown irregular features proclaimed him Malay. These were the native rulers of the Federated ROUND THE EMPIRE. 6, Malay States^-the Sultans of Perak, Pahang, and Selan- gor. and the Yam Tuan of Negri Serabilan. The de- putations filed past with addresses and caskets— British- born subjects, tlie municipality of Singapore, the general community of Penang, the municipality of Penang, the general community of Malacca, the Singapore Chamber of Commerce, the Malays, the Chinese, and the Straits Chmese British Subjects Association, the Arabs, the Tamils and Chetties. the Chinese representatives of the Federated Malay States, and the Moslem Association— a microcosm of East and West, in silk hat and turban, frock coat and burnous. The heap of scrolls and caskets grew larger and larger until it overflowed the table. Malays brought a fine tusk mounted in gold, the men of Penang a lordly bamboo set in gold, and Chinese of Malaya a fire-screen on which their most famous craftsmen had employed their ornate skill, and had graven the address. When these presentations were at an end the Sultan of Perak— he of the semi-European dress— was invested with the order of a Knight of Michael and George, the Prince putting on his shoulders the blue and red ribbon. The ceremony must have gratified these native rulers, for they hanker after titles of honour, and love place and power. They spring from a proud and sensitive race, full of prejudices and contradictions. Exclusive and suspicious, the Malay is still tolerant of strangers ; he is a Mahomedan, yet no fanatic ; a man of peace, though an enemy not to be despised. I had an interesting talk with the Sultan whose name had just been added to the roll of knighthood. Though reserved in manner, his 62 WITH TEE 'OPniR Highness of Perak gave his opinions readil . When he spoke of the visit of the Prince and Princess his pleasure and loyalty were manifest. Of his loyalty he has given proof, and indeed with reason. His State, with an area of ten thousand square miles, is peaceful, and extremely prosperous. There has been no disturbance since the murder of the British Resident in 1874. when it was necessary to bring troops from India and China *o restore order. Piracy, once so common in the Malacca Straits, is unknown. The Malay has no use for his mur- derous kris, and even tlie despised Sakai aborigine roams the jungle unmolested, with his blow-pipe and poisoned dart. The development of the country has been re- markable. In 1879 the people numbered only 81,084; to-day they are 295,000. The revenue has increased from a quarter of a million dollars, in 1875, to six and a half million dollars; the imports from eight hundred thousand to nearly twelve million dollars, and the ex- ports from seven and a quarter million to nearly twenty- six million dollars. This prosperity depends mainly on the tin mines, which in 1899 yielded a revenue of 3,037,000 dollars on an output of 18,960 tons. The Sultan takes an active and intelligent interest in every- thing affecting the welfare of his people. Schemes for education, for railways, for reclaiming and cultivating the land, and for improving the health and adding to the comfort of his subjects, have his strong support, and he has recentl) given valuable assistance in the attempt to codify certain portions of the Mahomedan law as modified by Malay cnrtom. More interesting perhaps than these signs of material nOTJNL THE EMPIRE. 63 progress are the relations that exist between these semi- independent States and the suzerain. The history of these States is a record of great achievement by cour- ageous, capable, and masterful men. Little more than a quarter of a century ago they were for the most part snake-haunted swamps and jungles, infested by people who had the reputation of being lazy, sullen, and vin- dictive, and ruled by chiefs who derived their weallli and authority from slavery, piracy, raids, and murder. Perak slew its first British Resident in 1874; Pahang, in 1889, accepted a Resident after a struggle in which blood was spilt; Selangor submitted, in 1874, after acts of piracy that called for vengeance ; and it was not until 1898 that the nine States round Malacca, now known as Negri Sembilan, were reunited under one head. Six years ago these States entered into a federation, the success of which is beyond doubt. In wealth and civil- isation they have progressed by leaps and bounds, and offer to the world an example of what may be accom- plished by firm, just, and enlightened administration. These things we owe to men whose very names are unknown to the people at home. To them has been entrusted the novel and responsible task of regulating "the general a. ministration" of pseudo-independent States with powers that have never extended beyond those of mere advisers. Their position is peculiar, and has no parallel in India or Egypt, or any country own- ing British suzerainty. It says much for the character md capacity of these Residents that they have won the confidence and controlled and directed the powers of the men to whom they were sent " as advisers, not as 64 WITH THE OPHIP' I ': ' rulers," with the official warning that " if they take upon themselves to disregard this principle, they will most assuredly be held responsible if trouble springs out of their neglect of it." The native rulers are content. Their revenues and their influence have increased rather than diminished under this advisory sway. Federation has brought them into closer personal relations, and has given them a greater sense of power. These are the views held by the Sultan of Perak, and I have reason to believe that they are the opinions of his brother chiefs of Pahang, Selangor, and Negri Sembilan. There is a greater problem awaiting solution, and that is federation from the Straits of Singapore to George Town. Such a union would appear to be a natural sequel to the federation of the l\Talay States. Upon this subject, however, there is at present no unanimity. Divergence of interests, and the curiously independent State of Johore, which -huts the island of Singapore from the peninsula, are urged as insuperable objections. The political and soci , " -ons of the States and of the Colony are dissin, ■ in some respects vitally dissimilar. The Stat ttle or no white popula- tion, and the natives c.c out-numbered by Chinese immigrants, whereas in Singapore there is a white popula- tion, small in proportion to the Chinese, yet controlling local affairs. There can of course be no permanent union without equality, and to merge this white and prac- tically self-governing Colony in a confederacy of native States would seem impolitic and unnatural. Time and circumstances will bring the solution. Meanwhile the Idea has support, even in Singapore, and circumstances I ROUND THE EMPIRE 65 are tending to draw closer the bonds, not only among the native States, but between the St.tes and the Colony Railways are binding them togethe,-. The proposal to carry the railway from Seremban in Negri Scmbilan to Johore Bharu is about to be realised. This will give direct communication from Singapore, thn.ugh the peninsula as far north as Pinang The commercial and pohtical advantages of this ey'^nsion of the Malay rail- ways are obvious. Johore must share the material benefits, and will be brought into closer touch with the Settlement, until the time comes when the control of its affairs passes from the India to the Colonial Office. This will be a step in the direction of federation. The fiscal and commercial obstacles in the way of complete union are insignificant. The ports of Singapore and the native States are free ports, and their commercial prosperity is m a very large measure interdependent. The revenue for the Colony in 1899 was 5,200,000 dollars, whereas that of the Federated States amounted to the sum of 33.;65,ooo dollars, an increase of more than four and a half milhon dollars on the revenue of 1898. and the in- creased value of trade was twenty-six and a quarter million dollars. This enormous growth of trade in the States has naturally suggested some attempt to equalise the incidence of taxation, and is found among the reasons advanced in favour of extending the principle of federa- tion so as to include the whole of the Straits Settle- ments. As far as I can learn, the native rulers look upon this proposal without alarm. They have every con- fidence in the wisdom of the acting-governor, who is also their high commissioner, and believe that any change 66 WITH THE OPHIR would not deprive them of a voice in the affairs of their cout ly. The dandier they foresee and are most anxious to guard against is the swamping of their own race by the rapidly rising flood of Chinese immigration. T'lc Malay will do no laborious or menial work, and has handed over to the indefatigable yellow man the undeveloped wealth and resources of his country. He is content with a small part of the inheritance which was his birthright, and he has the common-sense to see that he is master in his own house only as long as he can claim the protection and support of the British. That is the reason why the Malay chiefs look with indifference upon the scheme to draw them closer to the island of Singapore. They would not actively oppose it. yet if consulted they would rather we left well alone. nOVSD THE E^tPtRE. 67 ( HAPTER X. A TRIP TO CHINATOWN. Die Chinese of Sinir inm..^ TK„ t r^ ■ tion of th. , "*• '''""^^"'^'^'' Two Ch,natowns--Tl,e Decora- ^on of the .Merchant Quar.e, Tho C.reat Green DraKon- A Marvellous Procession-An Opium I)en-A Te. I The Singing Girls. " """^c~ streets u , h st,c.n««^s were still at the Governors restd, ., e-a palat.al sort of building, set among f„,e trees o^erlooktng the Straits They had d.ned with the If -g-Covemor, Sir F. Swettenham, and were waiting for ep^cesston of lanterns In its way this process.on^a as s, ange d almost as weird as the procession of ele- phants and devJ dancers at Kandy The assembly was boy fr l^'rl'f""^ "''"'■ "^ P-^P'""" -^'l'- wrathful dragon as they do«=d with a vicious snap, now na^owly e^ap:..g the fate of Jonah in sonte mon tZ fish, whose mtemal accommodate was re. y ,ll„minated and now by a hair's breadth avoiding shipwreck of aX 1 »! I'M -I 70 WITH THE OPHIR' ing junk. When the procession moved its wonders began to unfold. They have an odd taste in reptiles and demons, the Chinese, and can produce marvels with skill and ingenuity that stamp them as artists in the unnatural. Some of these monsters came, I am told, from temples, and were escorted by bands of devil dancers, beating tom- toms. The pit of Acheron, the Stygian creek, and the primaeval swamps must have been dragged for models. There were serpents darting flaming heads and writhing forty yards of shimmering green over oily, yellow shoul- ders. There were dragons, vampires, devils, fishes, ghouls, and af rites — all that was fabulous and monstrous — magnified a hundred-fold, and lighted like constella- tions. The only objects with which a "mere foreign devil " could claim familiarity were the junks, the boats, and the elephants. The elephants were of paper, and white, but their very presence betokened another racial element in the procession, for the Chinese do not under- stand these great living monuments of patience and intelli- gence. The elephants were the offering of the Tamils who had a share in this entertainment. I did not attempt to follow the trail of the demons, with their escort of shrieking dancers and tom-tom beaters. The crowds were too dense and too evil-smell mg. I encountered the great green dragon again in the early hours of the morning. He was crawling through a narrow lane in the coohe quarter, amid a greasy, yellow throng of worshippers, who were letting off Chinese crackers in his honour. His head was darting flame in one street while his tail was turning the corner of another. Tan-Poh-Chuan was our guide and interpreter, and we ROUND THE EMPlTtE. 7, were a party of nine bent upon seeinfj the Chinaman in his true habitat. The Chinaman of commerce is a creaturo of Western civihsation— a sleek, smiHng human being, somewhat eccentric in dress according to our notions, yet highly intelligent and shrewd, and in the way of acquirinc^r those nerves, if not that moral fibre, which are conspici^ ously wanting in his unsopliisticated countrymen. " Hi-yow, hi-hi-yow ! " The rickshaw boy knows no language under the sun, and understands no signs, but he can make way through a crowd at the risk of your neck. On we dashed, Tan-Poh-Chuan's pig-tail waving in front, wrestling with mobs, turning corners, darting among scurrying rickshaws with reckless speed. The road was long and devious, carrying us through dark and noisome streets, until we plunged into a new world— the world of Chinatown. The streets were crawling ant-hills of oilskin-faced men. How they swarmed and stank! Every other shop was a restaurant, before which were wooden benches and packed rows of half-naked men, de- vouring rice and chicken like vultures. Those who were not eating surged round little stands, over which men of inscrutable yellow visage presided. Gambling is strictly forbidden, but in Chinatown the coolie is a law unto him- self, and his hard-earned " cash " clinks on the fan-tan board. Tan-Poh-Chuan hurried us through the ugly crowd, until we came to a dimly-lighted and almost de- serted street. Stopping before what looked like an empty coach-house, he knocked thrice. A voice answered, some signal was given, and the door opened to admit us into an opmm den. It was not a luxurious establishment, though cleaner than any of the dens I have seen in New York or 72 WITH THE OPHIB Hi: 11 Chicago. Three Chinese reclined upon the mats on raised couches that stretched along the sides of the room. Their heads rested on porcelain pillows, and the sweet, acrid smell of opium smoke came from long bamboo pipes held over tiny lamps. Two other Chinese, who had evi- dently just risen, were drinking a dark mixture out of a dirty kettle, and in a small compartment hidden behind the door a boy was preparing lamps and pipes by passing wires through the metal bowls or roses. Everything about the place was mean and sordid, more like a stable than an ante-chamber to the paradise of dreams and houris. Tan-Poh-Chuan threw off his white coat, rolled up his pig-tail, and set about preparing pipes. The process is long and delicate. You unfold the tiny strip of dry leaf in which lies the black, viscous drug, and dip into it a thin wire. When you have a small globule on the wire you heat it into the flame of the lamp, and spread it in imper- ceptible layers over the bowl or rose of the pipe. Take another globule, heat it until it bubbles, and plug it into the central duct of the rose. Then you stretch yourself luxuriously on the mat, rest your head on the porcelain pillow, hold the rose over the lamp, and in a dozen whiff^s it is finished. I am told that the gates of the paradise of dreams are not thrown open till you have offered the burnt sacrifice of ten pipes. We had neither the time nor the temptation to repeat the experiment of smoking the drug that haS the flavour of senna with the sweetness of molasses. The theatres were closed, and Tan-Poh-Chuan led the way to a tea-house. It was nearly midnight, yet the ^ HOUND THE EMPIRE 73 streets seethed with the yellow flood. We walked up a steep flight of steps into the arms of a Chinaman, who barred our entrance with the air of a man whose private house we had invaded. A word from the faithful Tan- i-oh-Chuan, and his straight, narrow eyes lighted Half a-dozen sturdy hands sei.ed a wall of the house, and down came a section that looked as permanent as the building Itself. Beyond this cleverly designed screen lay a wind 'ng passage leading into a room with a balcony looking out upon the street. It was a large apartment, with d.vans nnd settees and curious chairs of carved ebony Lamps were lighted. The table was spread with a crimson cloth, and tea was brought in cups on brass stands with saucers over instead of under them. The tea was so weak that it had to be imagined, though we were assured that it was the choicest of China leaf, brewed after the true Chinese fashion. Other delicacies were laid before us m little porcelain plates-tiny buttons of cocoa- nut, slices of sugar cane, a tasteless speckled red berry pieces of putrid fish, and bits of banana. All these we tasted, and even made cigarettes of Chinese tobacco that smoke like candle grease. At intervals an attendant cooled our brows with cloths steeped in hot water and sprmkled with eau de Cologne. A Chinaman appeared with a little glass case, in which were enshrined rows of Chinese characters. After long and serious consultation with Tan-Poh-Chuan he painted marks on the glass over certain of the characters 1 hese we afterwards learned were the names of the sing- ing girls-yellow little Cantonese in shiny black gowns who beat with sticks on a metal instrument about as pretty 74 WITH THE OPHIR' 111 r and as harmonious as an anvil, and sang a monotonous chant as musical as the note of a corncrake to the ac- companiment of a coffee mill. Their song was as a Chinese play for duration, one singer succeeding another, until in despair we bargained for the barbaric fiddles that made a hideous cacophony by way of accompani- ment. Truly the music of China does not sootlie Western ears, though when the damsels — than whose demeanour nothing could be more modest— tried their skill on an instrument akin to the dulcimer the effect was delightful, and made one forget the agonies of the fiddle and the anvil. Having exhausted these sedate amusements, we called for the bill, and were presented with a document like the ornate paper cover of a tea-chest. The faithful Tan-Poh-Chuan eyed it with well-simulated amazement, and debated it with ever-growing fervour for the space of fifteen minutes. The proprietor of the establishment was by turns apologetic, explanatory, indignant, and despair- ing, and in the end allowed a discount of ten per cent. We got to the ship, a mile and a half from shore, before the end of the middle watch, though Chinamen rowed us in flat-nosed sampans. On the igth of June, 1819. Sir Stamford Raffles wrote from the island of Singapore : — " My new colony thrives most rapidly. We have not been established four months, and it has received an accession of population exceeding 5,000, principally Chinese, and their number is daily in- creasing." The people continue to multiply daily — still principally Chinese. They monopolise the tin mining industry that has ruined Cornwall by supplying sixty-five per cent, of the tin used in the world. They are the main- TtOUNTi THE EMPIRE 75 stay of trade and commerce in the Federated Malay States. They are the skilled artisans, thr, workers in wood and metal, the merchants, the mare first Parliament. '^ ° "^""'^ "P^"^'' Melbourne is a marvulous city. Its broad streets its lofty and magnificent buildings, and, above all the ac ive strenuous life of its citizens mi„,t lead you to il* neTa .t had eentunes of histo^-. Ye, only sixty yeTrs hav" passed s^ce the famous Tasmanian bus'hman John Batman, bought for a few blankets, knives, and liking WITH THE orHIH' I »i,! Illf glasses six hundred tliousand acres, and fixed upon Port Philip as " the place for a village." The village has now over half a million inhabitants, and hns been chosen as the temporary seat of the Commonvvealtli Government. On the sandy flats, through which shuffles the stream named by the aborigines Yarra-Yarra, or " Ever flowing," have risen great blocks of shops and warehouses that remind one of New York or Chicago, or San Francisco. They represent the trade and wealth, not of Melbourne alone but of ninety thousand square miles of hinterland, out of which come wool and wine and mutton and gold. As the Prince and Princess drove through the seven miles of crowded streets it was not easy to believe that they were eleven thousand miles from home. I have seen many Royal progresses, but never have I seen one more hearty and spontaneous than that of the multitude of well- dressed men, women, and children who thronged the streets daily for nearly two weeks. Enthusiasm was at its height on Th^ Jay, when their Royal Highnesses drove to the Exhibition Buildings to open Parliament. Heralded by a fanfare of trumpets, the Prince and Prin- cess were escorted by the Governor-General, Lord Hope- toun, to their seats under the central dome, where they faced a compact group of Senators. Beyond the Senators were members of the State Parliament, and behind the Royal dais sat the Governors of i\\c six States and their suites in uniforms of blue and scarlet laced with gold. On the right were military and naval officers, consuls and judges, while floor and galleries were fiUcd with the people. Those who have attended the opening of Parliaments ROUND THE EMPIRE at Westminster may have missed some of ihe stately uul P.cturesque .olon.n.ty of these ceren.onies. T ; Ex.ub t.on in..Id.ngs are not adapted to p.,,eantry. Thett roo . bare of ornan.ent. the wide spaces oflor ou 'r V. cha.rs and benches, and the long wooden ga Jr Alexandrp'r^'^' '""" '" '^^°^'^^'-- --''«' ^ ' Alexandra Palace m .ts rigid ut.htarian aspect. In the -npany there was an absence of uniform and colour t> wh ch our eyes are accustomed on all ceren.onial o.: asions. But these contrasts were quickly swept aside when one ^oked on these twelve thousand people. The greatnes and the meanmg of .t all were an overpowering nnpres- s.on. It was as .f a nation had come to look upon the consecration of a new epoch in its history The procedure was modelled on that of Westminster Proclamations were read by Black Rod summoning the House of Representatives-technically we were m the Upper House-and making known the desire of his Royal P.^.ness that members should attend immediately to hear .0 Royal Commission. The interval was a startling yet a most impressive innovation, for the vast organised industry. Men no longer scratch a fortune out of the earth with their fingers, or pick up nagget; like the " Welcome " and the " Lady Hotham," whicl; sell for ;^ 10,000. The number of men employed in min ing is about seven thousand, a little more than half being engaged in recovering gold from tlie quartz, while the rest are on the alluvial workings. The yield is more thar two hundred thousand ounces a year, and the gold is oi the finest quality. An >ld prospector told me some ii cresting stories of the days when the people were " drunk with gold." Before the rich surface washings were exhausted it was no uncommon thing for a man to take out of a claim in a few days ;^ 10,000, and sell the claim for ;^ioo to another, who in turn passed it on after making his modest pile. One claim, owned originally by a blacksmith, yielded no less than ;{^26o,ooo to its several possessors. But they were not always so easy-going. Not many years ago it was found that a cemetery stood in the way of some rich alluvial diggings. At first the Government were reluctant to disturb the ashes of the dead, and resisted the efforts to force them to proclaim the grave- yard a gold-field. But the pressure was too great. For ROUND THE EMPIRE. „ many days and nights the cemetery was held by thousands of ghouls, who waited only the notice in the Gazette to peg out their claims among the dead. There were a score of rlaiinants encamped on every prescribed allotment, and nrize-fightrrs came from Sydney to pro- tect the "rights" of those who cared to hire them. When the official notice : ipeared, the rush was terrible, and the scene horrible. With rough and ready justice the warden made his selection among the rival claimants, beginning by rejecting those whose pegs were not exactly of the length laid dowr in the mining laws of the dis- trict. Scenes like these are happily of the past, and at Ballarat ( rrtainly everything is done in order, and with the quiet | ^cision of a great factory. No doubi there is a reverse side of the golden shield that Ballarat held up before the eyes of the Prince and Princess. What it is a four hours' visitor would not presur:e to say. In olden times— that is, thirty years ago, as antiquity is reckoned in Australfa— men wan- dered into the bush to die of thirst and have their bones picked by wild dogs, and buslirangers lay in wait for the convoy carrying gold to the coast. These are evils of the bad old times, before law and order were as firmly estabhshed as in England. Poverty and crime are still to be found, but they are not obtrusive, and, measured by European standards, Ballarat can be accounted happy among the golden cities of the world. And her future is assured, for it rests on a more solid and permanent foundation than glittering soil or quartz. Ballarat is the centre of a great agricultural district. In the journey from Melbourne we passed through forests WITH TUB OPHIR' of timber and broad expanses of grass land fenced w.th eucalyptus, in which were flocks and herds. Here and there were trim little liamlets breathing an air of comfort and prosperity that reminded me of homesteads in Surrey. Stretching to the foot of rounded hills are broad expanses of rich chocolate-coloured soil that yield bounteous crops of wheat, and limitless tracts of grass land on which cattle and sheep are fattened for the markets of the world. When the gold of Ballarat and Bendigo is forgotten, and the prospector and miner have gone in search of new fields, the sheep walks and farms and pastures that enshrine Ballarat will continue to pour forth that stre.im of wealth which, flowing toward the sea, has made Melbourne a great and marvellous city. 1,1 ROUND THE EMPIRE. 97 CHAPTER XIV. MILITARY CADETS. ^'''I'tVr" °' Australia-The Ambition .f Schools-Review at Melbourne-How the Ca.lct Syxem is Wo,ked-Iu Popular.ty-Educa.ion in School, and Univer.I.ils. The strong military spirit that permeates Australia is re- markable. It was conspicuous everywhere, and at all times. This ardent militarism has its origin in no instinct of aggression, but in that fervent patriotism which has led many to lay down their lives on the battlefields of South Africa. War is not always an unmixed evil. In Australia, as m other parts of the Empire, it has called forth the best qualities of the people, and has accom- plished m one breath that which political philosophers have dreamed and statesmen have toiled after in vain Sternly and consistently democratic. Australians are attached to the Empire and to the Throne with a passion so strong as to bewilder those who believe monarchy to be incompatible with the democratic spirit. They are de- termined that their children shall be patriotic, loyal, and brave— healthy in mind and body. Dr. Morrison, Principal of the Presbyterian College m Melbourne, in his address on May 15th, used words that echo the sentiment of every city and " back-block " of the Commonwealth :— " We have striven to send forth from our schools good and true men, loyal and patriotic citizens, who will not only do their work well .n every social, civil, and religious capacity, but will fight if need be for their King and country, as so many of our old boys 98 WITH THE OPHJH recently have fought. Patriotism and loyalty are natural products of Victorian soil, and we humbly pry your Royal Highness to tell our King and Queen t' it tinough- out his Majesty's wide dominions there is nc spot where the sentiments of loyalty and devotion to h ; Majesty s person and Government are stronger and more genuiitc than in this distant comer of the Empire, which is proud of bearing the ever-honoured name of Victoria." A striking proof of this is to be found in the cadet corps which flourish in every State, and in which sixty per cent, of the Australians who fought so nobly in South Africa had their early military training. The review on Flemington Racecourse was one of the surprises that Mel- bourne had in store. Sixteen thousand men and boys paraded before the Prince and Princess with the bearing and precision of trained soldiers. It was difficult for the most part to distinguish them from the men whom I had seen doing yeoman service with General French and Colonel Hutton in the Transvaal and Orange River Colony. Sturdy, stalwart men, they rode like Centaurs and marched like bluejackets or marines. Four thousand cadets — boys whose age was from twelve to nineteen — went past the saluting point in close order with the set faces of veterans, their blue eyes looking straight ahead, as though they saw before them the destiny of their race. Their motto is " Pro Deo et Patria " — " For God and hatherland." Their uniform is khaki, with soft felt hat ; their accoutrements are brown, and they carry the light, small-bore Francotte rifle. Cadets from secondary schools are distinguished by the school badge on the collar, and every boy has a number on the shoulder strap. ROUND THE EMPIHE 99 I watched the review from the stand allotted to naval ast^ Xr"' ^^^"^^"•.^--"- -d I^utch. as le The A • ^^''V''"'P'""">'''"P^^^^^^ by the cadets The A an adrn,ral was enthusiastic. " That is real grand, he excla.n.ed. as the boys swung past wUh the martness and precision of veterans. " And it is for th! future, he added, after the practical manner of or cousms. This cadet system, which the Prince of Wales, in his notice of the Secretary of State for War. is not a mere amusement or a useless and expensive luxury. It is a practical busmess under the direct control of the State which recognises its educational and economic value I„' Victoria alone there are over twenty-five thousand young men who have served a course of two years' efficient driU and nfle-shooting while the cadets number four thousand, vith one hundred and sixty-seven officers. Yet the cost to the State in the year 1900 was only £,,y^, of which ^703 was paid in salaries to the permanent staff, ^600 in ree ammunition, and .^r,c^o in effective allowance, the i?-r.r u r"""^'""^ ^^"^ hundred-taking ^^450 whde the balance was distributed among the ninety-Te' detachments of junior cadets. The senior cadets are be- height of five feet four inches. The battalion drills at night, goes into camp with the mihtia. and appears on .11 ceremonial parades as an adult unit. In reality it is a junior mihtia or volunteer battalion. Junior cadets must be twelve years old. and of the minimum height of four feet SIX mches. Detachments may be established in schools TOO WITH THE OPHIR' where there are twenty such boys and a quaUfied person willing to take charge and to be responsible for the Government ecjuipment. At least one hour's drill with arms must be given each week, and the battalions must parade not tewer than six times a year. The musketry course consists of twenty-five rounds individual, and twenty rounds volley firing with ball, besides a preliminary practice of twenty rounds with blank ammunition. The effective allowance to officers in charge of a detachment is £l, with a grant of £e, a year if he is a teacher. To each detachment of cadets the allowance is only £1 a year. All ranks provide their own uniform, the Defence Depart- ment issuing Francotte rifle, brown leather accoutrements, and waterproof cape, the cost of which is ;^3 1 5s. In New South Wales, as their Royal Highnesses saw, there is an admirable cadet force in connection with the primary schools. 1 here the organisation rests not on a military, but on a school department basis, i^^^ ' nmandant being the Inspector-General of Schools. • th Aus- tralia and Queensland the system is simil . lO that of Victoria. Queensland started with three companies in 1898, and has now five comn. lies in Brisbane and the suburbs, with a drum and Lre band of twenty-nine, and three companies in Ipswich, Toowoomba, and Mary- borough. The capitation grant is £l di year for uniform and working expenses, with an allowance of / a year to each officer commanding a company. These officers are assistant teachers, and are drawn from the Teachers' Volunteer Corps. Cadets are armed with Martini-Henri carbines — useful for instructional purposes only — and with the converted Martini. They are drilled for an hour ROUND THE EMPinE lot on two afternoons each week : they attend the can,p of continuous tra.ning, and specially selected lads are len regular practice at the targets. " B^'-m The cadet system is popular with all classes, and re. ce,ves every encouragement from parents, teachers a^d Oovomment. They have found in it a valuable edu a .onal ms,ru„,ent-a means not merely of imp o i„g the phys,que of the boys, but of training them in habits of obcd,.nce, order, and self-restraint. The wearing of a national umform elevates his ideas of self-respert and responsibility, for it is a condition of admission o a dc tachmen that the boy shall be of good conduct S r t!at ht '°°, ■ "" ''""^ °' *^ '""™-' '" A-3- tra lia, has cause for groat satisfaction. There is hone as his Royal Highness said, that this example may be followed in England. ^ cadet *'Tht''""'' '''" "°"' ""^ ^° P°P"'- - ^he cade s. They were conspicuous among the ten thousand So rLp° ""' T:^'"" "^"^'^^^ ^"" -d -ercises before the Prmce and Princess in the Exhibition grounds at Melbourne. Several hundred dainty little nfaids in white with rosy cheeks and the fair hair and blue eye' of he,r Saxon sisters, danced round the Maypole as we have seen them dance on a village green in England. The children of Victoria differ little from their sisters and brothers at home save that they are always well dressed and well fed. and have none of the appearance of the pressure o life in towns. Their primary education is free, secular, and compulsory." and to the usual subjects are added drill, gymnastics, needlework, cooking, and lessons on health and temperance. The law of the State 102 WITH THE OPHIR' u: !1 <1 of Victoria directs that no State school teacher shall give any other than secular instruction in any State school, but it assigns as one of the duties of the Board of Advice " to direct, with the approval of the Minister, what use shall be made of the school buildings after the children are dis- missed from school, or on days when no school is held therein." Under this provision religious instruction may be given on school days — though not by a State school teacher — after the close of secular instruction, which must not be earlier than 3.30 p.m. Another phase of young Australia was piosented at the University Commencement ceremony. The under- graduates indulged in that freedom from restraint common to these ceremonies the world over. One could not but be struck by the large number of women and girls that presented themselves for degrees at Melbourne. None were of the type known as blue-stocking. Most of them were decidedly pleasant to look upon, and seemed to have lived more in the open air than in the study. I am told that they are the only disinterested scholars, for the aim of the Australian youth is utilitarian— to make for himself a career in business or in some lucrative profession. The collegiate system in Melbourne is denominational, and is in its infancy. The late Mr. Childers founded it on the lines of the English Universities, of which he was a mem- ber, and endowed it with large grants of public land. On these lands have been erected the fine college of the Presbyterians— the gift of a Scotsman— the Anglican College, known as Trinity, and the Wesleyan College. The Roman Cathuiics have also a site, but the collegiate system does not appear to flourish with them, and the mUND THE EMPIRE. land is still vacant. The number of undergraduates in residence is limited, but tlic tendency is toward increase The Warden of Trinity-Dr. Leeper-told me that the room m which I lunched with him used to be divided into two horse-boxes for studies, while the drawing-room con- tained three similar apartments. To-day each student has a bedroom, and shares a study with one companion. The common joom of Trinity is a club, with comic papers and magazines, and on the top ^oot—mirabile dictii— is a billiard table. * If . 11 104 With the 'ophir' CHAPTER XV. QUEENSLAND AND BRISBAN';. A Picnic on the Darling Downs — Glenrowan and the Kelly Gang— Wagga-Wagga and " The Claimant "—The Queens- land Club — A Notable Review — Lytton. Though Brisbane was disappointed, and even indignant, at the absence of the warships, which were detained at Sydney by rumours of plague, neither their Royal High- nesses nor the people of Southern Queensland and New South Wales had cause to regret the change. The Prince and Princess saw much more of the country from the train than they could have done from the deck of the Ophir, while many outlying districts had an opportunity of sharing the national welcome. Their Royal Highnesses had a glimpse of that famous country known as the Darling Downs, which the botanist and explorer, Allan Cunningham, discovered in 1827. This tract of four million acres of open land and rolling downs is very beau- tiful, with its broad meadows and pastures, its cornfields and homesteads, its villages and towns, like Warwick and Toowoomba and Dalby. It was on the fringe of these Downs, during the return journey from Brisbane, that the Prince and Princess left the tidin for a bush oicnic. On a wide stretch of scant brown grass, covered with scrub and eucalyptus trees, were a small tent and a camp- fire. One might have mistaken it for a gipsy encampment had it not been for the herd of bullocks, round which careered men on hcseback with long whips in their hands. nOUND THE EMPIRE. ,05 Passing through the barbed wire fence, the Royal party looked on while the stork riders rounded up their charge It seemed easy enough— until you tried, or began to think how difficult and dangerous it might be in the midnight bush, when the cracking of a branch or the flame of a fire might stampede the herd, and the driver has to head off the maddened torrent. The Prince was greatly inte- rested, especially in the process known as " cutting-out." A black or a white bullock would be selected, and the driver would ride in and endeavour to separate him from his fellow '.—an attempt that often ended in a hot chase, in which the animal sometimes showed himself a? ':jile, if not quite so enduring, as the trained horse. Lord Lamington. the late Governor of Queensland, Sir Arthur Bigge, and Viscount Crichton joined in the sport, with the success that one would expect from notable horsemen and sol- diers. Meanwhile, tea was being brewed in a " billy," or tin can, such as troopers and bushmen carry on their saddle. 1 he water was boiled after the approved fashion in a paraffin tin, though the tea was poured out of a silver pot, and served in cups that looked scarcely in harmony with the bush camp. The " damper "-or cake of flour and water cooked over the fire— looked and tasted better than that of the ordinary bushman or of the Australian trooper in South Africa The Princess seemed to enjoy the interlude, and drank her billy tea and ate her damper like a true daughter of the bush. The conditions of modern travel rob us of a certain emotion of change of place. We lose the sense of dis- tance. At noon on Saturday, May the i8th. we left Melbourne, and on Monday we breakfasted in Brisbane. io6 WITH THE HIR ; i I Between the capitals of Victoria and Queensland lie nearly thirteen hmdred miles of mountain and plain, yet the distance that Jivides them seemed less than the dis- tance between Florence and Rome. There are no mile- stones of tradition. So swiftly and smoothly did we glide over bare plains, past trim hamlets, and through forests of gum trees, that we had no time for the sensalon of change. In the twilight, when darkness rose like an emanation from the earth, and folded the pale, luminous sky in a starry mantle, the smaller details of the landscape faded, and we were hurried along - «^ black fields, out of which rose spectral white trees- ...e ring-backed ghosts of eucalyptus — gorges full of the mystery of night, hamlets where men were dim shadows, and desolate heaths, which the eye sought for cross and gibbet. Two townships have associations in keepu.j with these thoughts. It was daylight when we passed Glen- rowan, the scene of the last exploits of those daring bushrangers known as the Kelly gang. The inn out of which the marauders were burned by the police is now a police-station, as a resident told me with a smile. Here Ned Kelly, clad in armour that he had made o i of plough- shares, faced the bullets of justice, and might have lived to win the fame of a magician had not a commonplace trooper conceived the possibility that, hke Achilles, he might be vulnerable in the heel. Among so many signs of order it was hard to restore the details of the scene — the little inn in the scrub, the flaming walls lighting up the faces of the dead robbers, and the strange, almost super- natural figure of their leader standing in the shadow of gaunt trees under a hail of lead that fell from him like SOUND THE EMPinS. „7 drops of rain. Wagga-Wagga was less romantic. It is a typical squatting township, with broad, flat streets, shaded by trees. The Tichbome claimant was a butcher here under the name of Arthur Orton. The hills, over which we ran so smoothly until we climbed Ben Lomond, arc haunted with recent memories of the native tracker. Governor, who. with an aborigine comrade, raided and murdered and ravished over three thousand miles of country for several months before he could be captured. Brisbane has the air of a provincial town in England, yet the likeness is incomplete, for the atmosphere, even in winter, is clear and sunny, and the streets, though narrow, are almost mathematical in their regularity. The people live during the greater part of the year under semi-tropical conditions, and have not the robust physique and restless energy of their countrymen in Melbourne. The climate, however, is not unhealthy, and the winter is very pleasant. In 1845, six years after Brisbane ceased to be a penal settlement, the population was only 812, and the buildings were little more than convict barracks and a few shingle- covered huts. The people now number nearly i5o,(XK), and the public buildings, clubs, and gardens are finer than those of many European towns with twice the population. The Queensland Club is one of the best in Australia. Like similar institutions in other cities of the Common- wealth, it was founded as a town house for the landed aristocracy—the squatters. The race of squatters, who owned hundreds of square miles of country, and like the patriarchs of old, counted their wealth in flocks and herds, is dying out. They are being absorbed by financial syndi- cates, whose mission is to extract the uttermost farthing lo8 WITH THE OPHIR' . iP out of the land, and who have no strong personal induce- ment to develop a rural community. Of the squatters that still retain their holdings, many live in the cities, and leave the control of their estates to ag'-nts. They are to be met in the clubs of Melbourne and isbane, and as a class give one the impression of men wno need only public spirit and self-denial to make them the true leaders and governors of the people. The Johnsonian Club has a more literary and Bohemian flavour than the Queensland. It is also typical of the people, for Brisbane, having regard to its small population and its extreme youth, has an un- usually large number of cultured and educated men. The Royal week in the capital was purely social — dinners, receptions, concerts, and all that class of " func- tion " which brings weariness to mind and body. The welcome was very warm-hearted, and the street decora- tions were all in good taste. One is worthy of record — a triangular arch of ti-tree bark, brown and fibrous, like rough sheets of paper stained with umber — on which were grouped aborigines — men, women, and piccaninnies. The " black fellows " were armed with spear and boomerang, and their naked bodies were smeared with red and white, like the bodies of our ancestors, the Picts and Scots. At Lytton their Royal Highnesses attended a review, and had another illustration of the martial spirit that has come over Australia since she has been permitted to share with us the sacrifices and the triumphs of war. The parade state showed only four thousand men and cadets — the entire population of Queensland is half a million— but what must have struck a close observer like the Prince was the evidence of discipline and training in men and boys [ ROUND THE EMPIRE 109 who pass their lives in semi-tropical heat and in occupa- tions similar to those of youths in the large towns of England. The journey to Lytton. at the entrance to Morcton Bay. was by water, so that their Highnesses might see tlic famous river on whicli the cai.ital is built. At Vic- toria Bridge, twenty miles from the embouchure, the river is not wider than the Thames at London Bridge, but as It wmds between green banks to the coast it broadens and deepens. Three-quarters of a century ago, Oxlcy. m quest of a settlement for convicts, found this stream! which flows through a city, and whose wharves berth ocean steamers, the reedy haunt of stork and pelican. Looking upon all the signs of progress and commercial activity, tlie factories and the wharves, the ships and launches and trim yachts, the gardr . and villas, the warehouses and churches and public buildings, it seems impossible that between the wilderness and the city is the span of a single life. A straight, deep channel, in which the most power- ful dredgers are at work, enables vessels ot heavy tonnage to moor in the heart of the city, and gives hope that Bris- bane will maintain its supremacy as the port of Queens- land. The fear of its merchants is that Sydney, with its magnificent natural harbour, will monopolise the carrying trade as soon as tariffs and dues are made uniform under the Commonwealth. To those, however, who, like Mr. Gray, realise the hmitless resources of the State, this fear must seem idle. Queensland needs only people to be- come one of the richest parts of the Exnpire. It abounds in minerals, its forests and pastures are a source of un- failing wealth, it is the true land of the Golden Fleece, it no WITH THE OPHIR ' f has the richest gold mine in the world, the greatest rail- way mileage per head of population in Australia, the largest number of ports into whirh the produce of the interior can flow, and a climate and soil so varied that no limit can be set to its capacity for cultivation. mUND THE F.}friRg. Ill CHAPTER XVI. THE AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINAL. A Corrobborcc-An Irreclaimable Race- A Complex L.inguagc- ihc Tribal System-Superstition and Religion. The Australian aborijrinal will soon be a scientific curiosity. For some years he may eke out a miserable existence in that mysterious Far North Country out of which come thrilling stories of raiding and cattle-spcar- ing and attacks on solitary stations. In Queensland, too. he may still be a menace to the mining prospector and stock drover. But his doom is certain. Driven deeper and deeper into the bumin- heart of the continent, he must disappear. The " black fellows ' we saw in towns like Albany and Brisbane and Sydney are not likely to awaken regrets. There is nothing of the noble savage about them. The women are bundles of bones held together with dirty kangaroo skins and filthy blankets, beneath which crawl legs no thicker than broom-sticks.' The men are more human— tall, deep-chested, with un- developed calves and thighs, broad, massive heads covered with wavy, black hair, flat nosed, thick lipped, dark and brilliant of eye, they form a distinct ethnic group— a race apart frohi the rest of mankind. They were at their best in the " corrobborees " at Brisbane and Sydney, to which the Prince and Princess were in- vited. No one seems decided as to the meaning of a " corrobboree." Some say it is a war dance, others a 112 WITH THE OPHIR Ti I if s pagan rite. From what I could learn in talk with the natives, the " corrobboree " at Brisbane was a dance to celebrate recovery from the eating of poisonous fish. The women were squatted on the ground in a row, sing- ing a plaintive chant, to the cadence of which they beat time with their fists on opossum skins rolled tightly together, and held like a drum between the knees. The men lay on the ground as if dead. About their loins were girdles of skin, and their bodies were painted in fanciful designs. Two white lines stretched from shoulder to waist ; two or three white stripes were drawn round the upper arm ; each eye was circled with white ; a broad band of white ran along the side of the nose ; on forehead and cheeks were white dots. Some of the young men wore tufts of emu feathers in their hair, the glossy blackness of which was hidden under daubs of red, and from their knees hung green boughs. As the women sang and beat upon the " planggi," they rolled their eyes and showed white, gleaming teeth. Suddenly the men sprang to their feet and, moving in rhythmic measure, swelled the chorus. Each carried two waddies, or clubs, which he struck together. At first the music was slow and grave, but as the dance went on it grew wilder and wilder, until measure and cadence were lost, and the men flung themselves into an excited mob, brandishing weapons and shouting a deep-toned " ugh," that sounded hke an echo of the Maori war-cry. I tried in vain to get a copy or a translation of the song. It would seem that the natives themselves do not understand what they sing. At any rate, they find it difficult to explain the meaning. The Australian s o a c o u ROUND THE EMPIRE sotetjni^' "° "T'^' """^" ''^ P-^°-'- -less some significance can be attached to the "red hands" unp^essed on the roofs of rock shelters such as thoL at Port Ilacking. of which Mr. Walter R. Harper has given ^ interesting account before the Linnean Society of New South Wales^ . .part fro. a few primitive weapon and ornaments, which give no indication of originality or of progressive ingenuity, the race have left nothing by which they will be remembered. The faculty of in vention appears to have been wanting, and their physical habits and requirements seem to have been ' L higher than those of the animals they hunted on the gras.. plains Their dwellings never got beyond a few boughs rudely thrown together as a protection against wind and rain. They never domesticated any animal, unless the dingo or wild dog may be included in th; . category. The soil they never cultivated, being con- tent to live on roots of iern and the flesh of wallaby and kangaroo, and on shell-fish, or. failing these, on the flesh of their fellows. All attempts to bring them within the pale of civilisation have failed. Many thousands of pounds and the lives and energies of many missionaries have been spent in the effort, but no permanent results have been attained. As a race they have proved irreclaimable, snd if they are less savage than their forefathers, it is only because the presence of white people has set hmits to the opportunities of barbarism. The degraded and primitive state in which the aborigines have remained is the more remarkable because their language and tribal system give evidence of growth and organisation. Their 114 WITH THE OPHIR' <.f\ [^ I ' » <■ :»!■ ^1 language, as Mr. George Taplin has shown, is singular for the complexity of its structure, for the number of its inflections, and the precision with which it can be used. " We find," says Mr. 1 aplin, " the dual number through- out. We also have six cases in each declension of nouns and pronouns, and a double set of personal pronouns for the sake of euphony and expression. Verbs are regularly formed from roots consisting either of one vowel and two consonants or of two vowels and three consonants. The names of human relationship are far more copious than in Englisj. In many respects we have niceties of expression that we do not find in our own language." The absence of abstract and generic phrases is marked, and there are no traces of figurative or poetic speech common among the Maoris and other races who have just emerged out of barbarism. If the development of language and the complexities of grammar are a mark of civili' ' Hon, it may be inferred that the Australian black fe ;^ng originally from a people who had made some advance toward civihsa- tion. This reasoning receives not a little support from many customs the purpose and meaning of which have long been forgotten. Before the arrival of the white man each tribe exercised territorial rights over districts whose bound- aries were known and respected. At the head of every clan was an elective chief, who led them in war, and administered justice with the aid of a council of elders. Degrees of kinship were eckoned very much after the manner among North American Indians and the Tamils and Telugus of Southern India. Relation- POUND THE EMPIRE. ship was dependent on sex. and not on consangunnty. Thus uncles on the father's side are called " father " while the sisters of the father are one degree removed, and are "aunts." or " barno." The mother's sisters are namkowa." or " mothers." and the mother's brothers are " wanowe." or " uncles." The children of the fathers brothers are called " brothers " and " sisters." while ihe children of the mother's sisters and of the father's sisters are " cousins." This principle of consanguinity is carried through all the degrees of affinity. Children are named after the place in which they are born, but names are changed at will, and without apparent reason The totem system is observed, and none may marry his own totem, the tribal symbol of which is a bird, a beast a reptile, a fish, or an insect. Marriage is made by barter of females, the woman having no choice. The wife is the slave, carrying all the burdens, collecting all food save that which is hunted, doing all the laborious work, and being treated with the greatest indignity, and even cruelty. Infanticide is a recognised custom, though the natives show great fondness for those children who are chosen to live. The rites of initiation into manhood have some resemblance to those of West African tribes, and are conducted with great secrecy. They cannot be described in detail, and are intended to put to the severest test the strength and endurance of the youn^ men. ^ ^ Like all barbarians, the Australian aborigines are slaves to superstition, and have imphcit faith in witch- craft. They have their medicine-men. who are supposed to charm away any complaint or illness, for with them ii6 WITH THE OPHIR' disease and death arc not natural agents, but the effect of sorcery and the machinations of an enemy. When a man dies his body is placed upon a bier, and measures are taken to ascertain who caused the death. Several methods are recorded. The most common is to carry the body about until one of the branches of the bier touches some person, or points in the direction of some hut or camp. This is accepted as an indication that the man has been slain by sorcery, and a fight, not often fatal, immediately takes place between the relatives and the suspected individual or tribe. Another custom dic- tates that the nearest of kin should sleep with his head on the body of the dead until he has drearr J of the slayer. Corpses are dried over slow fires, those of chil- dren being carried from camp to camp, while some tribes are accused of the loathsome practice of eating the dead. Authorities are at variance as to whether the abori- gines have any idea of religion, or of a spirit, or state distinct from the body. I had several interesting talks with natives on this subject, and with men who have devoted much time and learning to these problems. The only conclusion at which I could arrive was that their ideas are very vague and contradictory, and may be traced to association with white men. Nature seems to have determined that she has no further use for the " black fellow," and is killing him offhand. The en- croachments of civilisation have no doubt hastened the process, but there is not wanting testimony from the natives themselves that the work of destruction began long before the advent of the colonist. Their tribal wars, their habits of life, and the degraded barbarism into i I BOaUD THE EUPIRB "7 which they have fallen, are in themselves a sufficient use to which the white man has been able to put them V° '";\'"'";'-8ers and fugitives from justice l" th.s work they have skill almost as wonderfu as that of fnirr 'T' ^:\""'''-- °"' -«-'• -^ - only can we have at the rapid disappearance of the abor.g,„e. With him go beyond rec Jm many vatab and neglected opportunities of studying primitive mal for the Austtahan black fellow is too f emote L"dt"o' unromanhc a figure to have attracted the attembn he deserved from anthropologists and ethnologists Ii8 WITB THE OPHIR' ; W' b \ f m ■« i CHAPTER XVII. THE ATTRACTIONS OF SYDNEY. "Our Harbour" — Mrs. Macquarie's Chair — Hyde Park — A Paradise for the Unemployed — The Rival Capitals of Australia — Sydney's Suburbs. Nature has Ijeen very good to Sydney. She has given her a harbour to be a source of wealth and a joy for ever. Her narrow, crowded streets lead everywhere to gardens and parks, to wide moorlands, and sunny coves and golden sands, lapped by the blue waters of the Pacific. One is often disappointed in the presence of scenes that have been the theme of extravagant eulogy, but " our harbour " is worthy of the homage it has received, and of the almost personal affection of its proud possessors. On Monday morning, when we put out from the shore to meet the Ophir, "our harbour" looked like a sulky beauty. Clouds hung over the green headlands and frowned on the enchanting little bays and islands from Parramatta to the sea. Our excellent friend, Mr. McArthur, to whose care we had been committed, was oppressed with the thought that the harbour would persist in this naughty humour, and would not be seen at her best. We steamed slowly seaward, and the frown became a pout, and the pout faded into a smile as the ships came out of the sunlit haze and passed the bluff headlands through which the Pacific enters this beautiful lake. The Ophir led the way, like a stately white swan gliding over the blue waters, and in her unruffled wake moved a graceful procession of Juno and St. George and Royal Arthur, with all the ships BOUND THE EMPIRE. 119 of the Australian squadron. A glorious panorama lay before us. On each side rose the bold cliffs that guard the entrance— brown headlands against which the ocean beats with incessant roar. In the distance, across a blue expanse of laughing water, the white city basked in the sunshine of green hills and gardens. And between them lay a fairyland of wood and water— gentle uplands, from which towered dark pine trees, promontories clothed with emerald, green islands, and wooded nooks and coves, into which Nature has breathed the spirit of beauty to rejoice the eye and gladden the heart of the jaded city. On the shores of this lovely lake are many fine build- ings, some half hidden among Norfolk Island pines, others rising out of a sea of dark shrub, and others, like the Roman Catholic cathedral, the convent, and the Cardinal's palace, standing boldly against the sky, as if to challmge instant attention. It is worthy of note that though the Roman Catholics are only one-fourth of the people of Australia, they everywhere have the finest churches and the best sites. As the ships picked their way among the channels, now in a straight line, now bent like a bow. we passed the yellow flag that marks the quarantine station. One ship was moored to the island, having on board a suspected case of small-pox and several persons suspected of a more dangerous malady— Anarchist opinions. Be- yond Manly Island, from which the little bluejackets of the industrial training ship sent a hearty cheer, lay the anchorage of the Royal yacht and her escort, almost in the shadow of Fort Denison. a small stone fort with a V.ax- tello tower, built on a low-lying reef opposite Go' "mment House, in which the Prince and Princess took up thnr Ill 3 '* WITH THE OPHIS' abode. South of the anchorage, and ahnost within a stone's cast, rote the woody point that bears the curious name of Mrs. Macquarie's Chair. Here their Royal Highnesses first set foot, in ^he presence of a large crowd of people. The drive gave the Prince and Princess a passing glimpse of some of those natural attractions for which the capital of New South Wales is famous. They passed along the broad, undulating avenue, which Mrs. Mac- quarie. wife of a former Governor, seated on her " chair," directed to be made on a terrace overlooking the harbour. The Palace Gardens on the right form a crescent that slopes down to the water's edge, with smooth lawns and plants of semi-tropical growth. On the other side is Hyde Park, with shaded walks and fifty acres of grass, in which the wastrels and vagabonds of the State sleep through the hot days. Sunday especially recalled the Hyde Park of London. Groups of men and bo/s gathered round some loud-voiced charlatan who had reme 'ies that will cure earthquakes and every social evil. He' .) the open a weedy, unwholesome youth proclaimed wi a the fervour of a prophet against the corrupt state of political life. Under a stunted reformers' tree without traditions a bloated and besodden creature posed as the saviour of the labourer and the victim of the capitalist. The prayers and hymns of corybantic Christians mingled with the jargon of the phrenologist and the multiplication table of the " lightning calculator." Sydney has many temptations for the working man. Food and pleasure are cheap. He has parks and gardens, picture galleries and libraries, and seaside rtsorts at his ROUND THE EMPISB. 131 door. The hidwrn ,te™ tmms that drffe the streets and are a danger to those who go on foot, carry h m S a few pence to the woody suburbs or to the P^fic coa" The railways are run for ,,is convenience, and L, for P^fi., and politicians of every shade tumbl over on a" and the gr.gar,o„s instinct of n,a„ did not suffice to m he c. y a, the expense of the country, a new and .Usi« ^le attraction has been invented by ParHa^ent M OSulhvan, the Commissioner of Works, in a weak moment accepted the principle of a minimum wage and h« pu, .. mto practice with results that already ^^ the Z7TT T '"' "'"^'""^ A labour burfau w e tabhshed, and the minimum wage fixed at seven shu! lu^s a day^ Every labourer, skilled or unskilled, how- ever ,dle or dissolute, was entitled to the same wage. The m,n«Hiu.te consequence was to draw from the country .tayl^CHeeTlT "1' "" ""," '^^-'^-'^^ " / =>™"ings a week and regular employment, and to their workpeople. Sydney, in fact, has become the para- dise of the unemployed. Of the entire population of the State of New South Wales, one-third is crowded into th.n7' !1! ^^.P'^"P"'■^^ t° ^"^"'■e any privation rather than face the sohtary and laborious life of those rich tracts of country that await only industry and a little capital to make their settlers free and independent. Even the modification of Mr. O'Sullivan's minimum wage, under which workmen are classed in three divisions, has not changed the situation. The mischief is deep-seated, and the tendency of legislation and of benevolent enterprise 133 WITH THE OPBIR is to increase nther than diminish it. One of the most prominent statesmen in New South Wales — an ardent democrat, responsible in no small degree for the condition of the Vvorking classes in the capital — admitted to me that he saw only one remedy for this pressing danger, and that is to make life less easy for the unem^ yed in the city. So far frcn attempting Draconian measures, the executive and the municipality, as well as private philan- thropy, are conspiring to make even more comfortable the lot of those who will neither toil nor spin. I have been tempted into this digression by the sights I witnessed in the parks and the streets of the capital. In Melbourne and Brisbane there are, no doubt, many who will not work, or for whom employment cannot be found, but m neither of these cities is the evil so obvious. Here it changes the aspect of the streets t ; d affects the man- ners of the people. The presence of so many idlers is a sharp contrast to the activity and prosperity that one looks for in a new country with great and undeveloped re- sources. The standard of comfort among the industrious citizens is high, but they have no greater thrift than their fellow-workmen in England. Between Melbourne and Sydney there is a great rivalry. Each claims to be the fine flower of a fiscal system best adapted to the needs of humanity. Mel- bourne is the crown of Protection ; Sydney is the jewel of Free Trade. Each is the chief city of Australia, and as the citizens of each have not the least doubt on that point it would be unbecoming in a stranger to offer any assurance. Sydney has many attractions besides her harl ^ur and her public buildings. Her narrow old-world ROUND THE EMPIRE. • IT streets have the familiar aspect of home, and are crowtled with well-dressed people, who gave the Prince and Prin- cess a welcome as ' ardial and as demonstrative as they had in any part of the Empire. In the city and suburbs are magnificent parks and squares and public gar«lens. covering an area of 3. 131 acres, includmg 530 acres that form the Centennial Park, where a great review was held. Wi h.n sixteen miles is the National Park of 35.3( .) acros, and in the valley of the Hawkesbiiry are 35.31x3 acres re- served for public recreation. An hour's drive brings you to a very picturesque coast, along which are scattered secluded coves and bays. No stranger will be permitted to leave Sydney without a visit to these s lurbs. Mr. McArthur insisted, and we were ready to oUy. On a bright, sunny morning, tempered by a cool breeze, we found ourselves looking down upon the placid blue watt rs of the Pacific from the sandstone cliffs of South Ilcaii. Across the narrow strait rose the North Head, a sheer rock, descending three hundred feet into the deep sea. We passed the lighthouse and the forts, and came to the Cap, against whose treacherous rocks the Dunbar was dashed to p-eces and four hundred lives were lost in the wreck of 1557. A military road, winding over broad cliffs clothed witli shrub, past trim houses and plantations, brought us to Coogee Bay— a delightful stretch of sand shut m by brown cliffs. Wide stretches of moorland and scrub carried us to Botany Bay, with its great expanse of water, lying between low banks, covered wilii vegetation. BeycnH the fort that guards the entrance we saw the obelisk marking the site on w hich, in 1770, Captain Coo' first unfurled the British flag. 124 WITH TEE 'OPHIR' CHAPTER XVIII. THE LAND OF THE GOLDEN FLEECE. Pastoral Australia— Drovers and Squatters— The Romantic Story of a Great Cattle Drive. The romance of Australia is the story of the Golden Fleece and of the men who, treading in the steps of Cap- tain Macarthur, led their flocks and herds over thirsty deserts to green pastures beyond the Blue Mountains. When Wentworth, king of squatters, was bom in Sydney there were in all the continent six thousand sheep, a thou- sand cattle, and two hundred horses. In i8;2— tlie year of his death— the sheep numbered forty-five millions, the cattle four millions, and the horses half a million. To- day, more than two hundred million sheep graze on the downs and in the bush, and the value of pastoral property, exclusive of land, is estimated at two hundred and forty millions sterling. The return from pastoral pursuits in 1899 was ;^40,79;,ooo, exported wool alone being valued at ;^22,685,ooo. A great part of the country is still in the pastoral stage, and the occupation of the people is that of the flock-master and the shepherd. In another chapter I have described the life on a sheep station, with its hun- dreds of thousands of acres of pasture, its immense herds and flocks, its army of boundary riders, and all its modern appliances and machinery for extracting the utmost farth- ing out of the wealth of the soil. There is another and an even more romantic phase of this pastoral life, and for ! S| 31 ROUND THE EMPIRE "5 this history of it I am indebted to Mr. L. Alexander who one evenmg m Melbourne told .ne how he drove eleven thTst: h H°' T' '''"^ ''' ^^"^- °^ QueenslI d the outhern boundary of New South Wales, over a track of eleven hundred miles. When the creeks have run dry and the water-holes are c kes of hard mud. when the sun has burned up the la bl de of yeHow grass, and the bush no longer y.elds food to flT"^ ''"P- ''^" '^ '''' ^'"^^ f- the shepherd land ofTl "r '^ f J^^°' ^"' *"^" ^- ^-k - the dtv and^h "Y'^ ''^^' '^'°" *^^ "^-^hant in the it on tl . ""T ''' ^^''-"^'^'^ ^"^ ^" ^he riches that vhithe h f 7^ r " °' ''^ ^^^^^' ^^^ ^-^ f-^ to -am whithe he hsted. He m,ght feed h.s flocks on any pasture. and water them at any creek. But with knowledge have corne hnntatjons and regulations. Nowadays the drover of cattle unless prevented by flood or rain, must travel eight miles m one and the same direction every twenty- four hours. When approaching any station he must g.ve t^.^lve hours' notice to the squatter, who immediately takes n^easures to keep his own stock away from the road, and. It may be, sends a " pilot " or " tiger " to " bluff " any novice at droving, and hunt him off the run. The stock roads are well defined, ard on all leasehold lands the drover may claim half a mile on each side of the road to thro r T \ ""'^ °""" °^ "^^S- °f the station th ough which he passes is bound to provide the drover with a way bill describing the stock and the brands, as well as the horses and their destination. This is a pr- caution against cattle lifting, for any magistrate, police- man, or squatter may demand to see this passport He 136 WITH THE OPHIS' must report, also, to the officer in charge of every pohce district through which he journeys. Droving is usually done by contract. A lump sum is agreed upon, or so much per head for every hundred miles. The drover then finds everything necessary for the camp, pays the wages of his assistants, and is allowed one or two per cent, for losses. On a long trip, such as Mr. Alexander described to me, one man is taken for every hundred head of cattle. Ra- tions are bought at the stations or towns, but it is an un- written law that the drover must carry a tank, or barrel, with fifty gallons of water. " Accompanied by a youth of seventeen years, I took ship from Brisbane and came in due time to Rock- hampton, where I purchased two saddle-horses, a pack- horse, and a large tent. I also engaged three drovers, knowing that others awaited me at the station. The train carried us some miles toward our destination. Leav- ing the railway, we entered a country where grass and water were exceedingly scarce. On the second day, after a trek of twenty miles before dinner, we met a traveller who told us that a little water might be found fourteen miles further on. We came to the place indicated, but there was no water. The heat was intense— 1 1 s'' in the shade of the tent. All night I had to be on watch to pre- vent my young friend from emptying the water-bottle, and the horses from straying in search of water. We struck camp at dawn, and travelled all day till we came to a creek — also dry— where I was to leave the road and to follow a blazed tree line that would bring me to the sta- tion. As there were two blazed tree lines, I was in ?. bit of a quandary, and decided to camp and look for water. SOUND THE EMPIRE. ,,7 While unsaddling, we heard the welcome crack of stock- whips, and the familiar hoof-beat of cattle, and presently saw fifty fat bullocks, followed by a white boy and a 'gin,' or black woman, riding astride and making her whip speak. They showed us a hole, out of which we got about half a bucketful for each hor^, just enough to make them frantic for more, and to ' give us a picnic ' all night keeping them from what remained in the water- hole. My young friend was a little delirious from thirst, and became troublesome. At daybreak we started, fol- lowing the track pointed out by the ' gin.' It was very hot, and there was not a drop of water in the bottle. I sucked a pebble all day. My young friend began to rave, and talked wildly about his mother and what she would do to me. The horses were nearly knocked up, but we pushed on, and, travelling all night, reached the station at eight o'clock next morning. I had to tie my young friend to a post in order to prevent him from drinking himself to death. He came round gradually, and had a good blow-out of wholesome tucker." Having mustered his cattle, Mr. Alexander set out on his trek to the southern boundary of New South Wales. He had now eleven hundr bullocks, thirty-six horses for use, nine men, and a cook The cook, it seems, claimed to be the brother of a well-known earl, and. with many oaths of allegiance, protested his skill in the making of " damper " and other simple luxuries of the bush. In the end, he proved to be as bad as his " damper." "As the cattle were very fresh." continued Mr. Alexander, " I took from the station two white men and three blac k boys to help me for the first week. We divided I'l I "* WITE THE 'OPEIR' the night into two watches of seven men each. It is well to light two or three fires round the cattle at night. They are a guide to the men on watch. The more noise a rider makes the better, for it keeps the attention of the cattle from other things in the ghostly bush at night, and often prevents a stampede. A concertina, or even a mouth organ, is invaluable in the night watch. Being anxious to reach the coast road, I hired a black tracker to pilot us through seventy miles of scrub or bush. On the wa> to Sutton River I picked up another scion of nobility— Colonial, this time— and a policeman appeared with a census paper, which I had to fill in. At dawn, the cattle are on the move and travel until eleven o'clock, when we camp. At three o'clock we resume the journey, and allow the cattle to feed slowly on to the camp at sunset. As a drover must always know what is ahead, and will never trust to report for grass and water, he is often some miles in front. Near Sutton River a squatter tried to ' bluff ' me on to another road, and my ' noble cook,' in crossing a rocky gully, succeeded in smashing up my cart. The owner of the station had me ' under the whip ' now, and • pushed ' me hard. At last I asked if he had a cart to sell. He had, ' at a price.' 'Name it!' 'Twenty-one pounds ! ' ' It is mine,' I replied. I took everything out of the broken cart and balanced accounts by getting a day's good grass on the station. Leaving Lake Elphin- stone, we passed on to the township of Nebo. Intending to camp a mile from the town, I went ahead and found a race meeting of the usual bush sort—' rip and tare '—end- ing by ' painting the town a bright red.' My noble cook got drunk and had to be hunted back to camp, where he t1' BOUND THE EMPIJIE. 129 talked about his rich friends and reeled off his f„II tM for mv edificntlnr, xi . . ^ *"" *'^'" dr „' , T? ^"^ "'^'' "°"""S - -- in sorry p,fl =^i „ "-'r, "* '° ''"P ""■ ^' ">= bark is water-proof and oar blankets were still , vet Tb, r„l ■ 1 u , .entle birth took a h.nd at TilvIX' ^ wLrt wasTadltf ^"/'^ rf ■"""■'«- '° *- "« "-i "ly arnval, tellmg h,m to follow the telegraph line Of course he n,„st take the b.,gest devil 'of a hor^e n ca„,p, and equally of eourse he „,„st leave fte telegraph line. The consequence ^ Xt al ve'ti h"."'-""' "^ " "'='*- •" =■ "" X dvl r^ut a T' " "'" ^°^'- O" '--cond VJ xu P"'"^^™"" »"d ^ Mack tracker on the rlr ,^''.^'"*" f""--" '- trail for forty „,ile The Colontal managed to reach another station.^vhence he was d ,,, ,„ Nindy, where the ■tracker' rejoined us a few hours later-a really great feat foot' If''y''" "?'''» ^''"'^ '° ""' '''*™"'='' =■"! at th n b ''°""°r, '<^"g^ I l-ad to part with the cart The blue-blooded cook was .0 take it round by the road, and ,0 n,ee. us at the other side of the hills Knowrng hat there was an hotel on this road 1 held much -nous talk w,th the sdon of nobility, .vho svoreTat he would not touch a drop, and would be at the junction I f 130 WITH THE OPHIR' of two roads, with the camp fixed and plenty of tucker ready by the time we arrived. At the appointed place, no cook ! It was nearly dark, and the small supply of food carried on the pack-horse was already exhausted. I rode back, and three miles away came upon the noble cook lying in the bottom of the cart with a bottle of brandy in his close embrace. I smashed the bottle against the nearest tree, and getting the cart into Ccimp, put one of the drovers to cook for the hungry crowd." The end of the noble cook was rather strange. Mr. Alexander ordered him to follow on horseback to a neigh- bouring township. The cook seized the occasion to visit Waterloo Station, where he represented himself as the brother of the owner of the cattle, and was royally enter- tained. Borrowing a pair of spurs he departed, having offered the spurs to the black boy if he would bring two of Mr. Alexander's horses to him in the night " The rain continued for a fortnight. The river was swollen, and we had to travel fifty miles to a bridge, which wc could not cross for four days. I had to commandeer some dairy cows to lead my cattle over the bridge. The stock was looking miserable, and I feared an outbreak of pleuro-pneumonia. I fought a German who wanted to hunt me off a reserve, and he balanced accounts by paying attention to a lame bullock that I was compelled to leave behind. Pleuro-pneumonia broke out at last, and I rode sixty miles to a telegraph office to wire for virus and needles *- loculate the animals. I had to wait four days for the m. aan who brought them, and got the loan of a yard for the operation. After three days' rest we started zigain, moving very steadily at first. It rained for fifty- ROUND THE EMPIRE. ,3, three days before the weather broke. Anyone who wants more than fifty-three days' wet in the bush is a glutton. On Christmas Day a new dilemma faced us. Christmas without plum-puddinfj is not to be thought of wherever two or three Enghshmen are gathered together. We had the ingredients, but no pudding-cloth. But the ' bushwhacker ' is not easily daunted. One offered a shirt, which was promptly rejected. Another came for- ward with a pair of new trousers. Out knife, and at one cut the legs were severed below the knees, and in them we boiled our pudding. All who ate of it are still alive and well. The cattle improved, and I made a dash for home, covering the eleven hundred miles in twenty-three weeks, and losing only twelve out of the eleven hundred head of cattle with which I started." This plain narrative of a cattle drive may serve to illustrate the life of many men in Australia. Its wild free- dom, its hard training, the demands it makes on the nerve and endurance, the habits of self-reliance, prompt action, and readiness of resource that it develops have produced a race of bushmen who rival the Red Indian in woodcraft and the centaur in horsemanship. '3a WITH THE 'OPfflE CHAPTER XIX. BUSH LIFE AND SPORT. The Landed Aristocracy of Australia -The Squatter's Home- stead — An Historic Family— Bush Impressions. The hills of Thuri were flecked with white, and the faded yellow earth sparkled with hoar frost as we stepped out of the train into the heart of the bush. Mr. J. E. Vincent, Mr. Le Sage, and myself had journeyed three hundred miles from Sydney to see what, after all, is the true life of the Australian, and the real source of his wealth. The great-grandson of Captain Philip King, Governor of New South Wales at the beginning of last century, was our host. Like the patriarchs of old, he counts his riches in flocks and herds, for, with his father, the Hon. Phihp G. King, he controls an estate of over three hundred thousand acres. Mr. George King was accompanied by his two charming daughters, and a dis- tant connection, Mr. Arthur Macarthur, a descendant of the famous Lieutenant John Macarthur, who introduced merino sheep into Australia, and was one of the leaders in the mutiny that overthrew the oppressive Govern- ment of Captain Bligh. With that eager hospitality which is the charm of the Colonies, they had undertaken a long railway journey, and foregone the gaieties of the capital. As we stood on the deserted platform the scene recalled a fine winter morning in the north of England. The air was keen, and a wan light hung over the gaunt trees of the forest Through the silent bush came the { ROUND THE EMPIRE. ,33 beating of hoofs on the frost-bound track, and under a cloud of steam appeared the drag that was to carry us to the homestead. A drive of eight miles through the chill woods sharpened our appetites, and we welcomed the barking of dogs that proclaimed the end of our journey. Mrs. King received us with a frank friendliness that made us feel at home on the instant, and until we took reluctant leave of Goonoo-Goonoo the members of her family devoted themselves to our comfort and enter- tainment. The squatters are the landed aristocracy of Australia, and preserve many of the customs and traditions of rural England, in which their fathers were born and bred. While merchants and artisans on the coast were laying on their shoulders the burden of cities like Sydney and Melbourne, love of adventure and of wide freedom drew the squatter into the unknown regions of the interior. Here, on the open downs and grass-fringed plains, he fed his flocks and herds, wandering from pasture like the shepherds of primeval days. After a time, his wealth attracted notice, and he was looked upon as a trespasser. The authority of the Crown was invoked to check his encroachments on the rich lands, and to set limits to his freedom and enterprise. But the squatters were a bold and high-spirited race, and, happily for the wel- fare of the country, were not to be suppressed. To-day they are the wealthiest, and might be the most influential people in Australia, for, as at Goonoo-Goonoo, the re- sources of their estates often require the capital of a company to develop them. The homestead in the bush carries the marks of early 134 WITH THE OPHIR' WA' migratory days. It has not the substance of an Rnfrlish country house, which seems as though Nature had created and intended it to remain for all time. More like a bungalow than a famialead. the one-storeyed house, with its scattered win;r •. looks out upon a gaiden where roses bloom in mid-wtntcr. At the back of the house, in a ring fence, are the statian buildings— .Uables, workshops, stores for home-grown wines and brandies, cowsheds, dove-cotes, servants' quarter , and all the familiar complements of a small, self-contained rural community. Goonoo-Goonoo is on the Liverpool Plans— a magnificent tract of pastoral country, lightly timbered, and covered during the greater part of the year with an abundance of nutritious grass. Last year no fewer than 167,683 sheep and 44,396 lambs were shorn on the Peel River Estate, of which this is the central station, and the clip realised seventy thousand pounds sterling The wool- sheds and sheep-pens interested us greatly. We in- spected with curiosity the paddock? in which the sheep are mustered, and from which they are driven to the wash-tubs, whence they emerge with fleeces white as snow. From the " catching pens " they come under the shearer's hands, and the machine knife strips them clean before they are set free in the " counting pens." The shearer can handle from one hundred to one hundred and fifty, and even one hundred and ninety sheep a day, and receives from fifteen shiUings to twenty shillings per hundred, as well as liis food or " tucker." The shorn fleeces are carried to grated tables, where men remove the "skirt," or dirty parts, and roughly sort the fleeces. ROUND THE EMPIRE. '35 ( They are then classed in bins and pressed iutt bales for the London or Liverpool market. Mr. Kinj,''H son w.is at work hard by srlectuig the sheep that wore to bf sh.jrn and sold in September from those that are to stay two more years on the station. The process looks simple. A flock of sheep is driven into a large pen, at the exit from which sits the selector, his feet protected from trampling hoofs in wooden shoes that i.i an emergency might serve as boats. Opposite him sits a man who receives the sheep from stalwart station hands wrestling in the pen, and holds them firmly while Mr. King parts the tieecc, .md examines the quality of the wool. At the word " Go," the sheep that gives promise of im- provement is released, and bounds into a pen, the gate of \vhich is opened and shut by a third man. " Mark." sayi, Mr. King, and the sheep for shearing and sale has a dab of the tar brush in the r-iddic of the forefiead, and staggers and leaps into a s-par.v'. .m,:i. The work is done quirkly, and requires -H ,■. ■■ ,. «;perience. We were then taken to see th- -m': •?,.:f Soldiers and of Socialists— .Mr. of Wealthy Seddon. New Zealand offers the strongest contrasts and the most varied interests. In an area several times smaller than that of any of the Australian States you have every change of climate and every kind of scenery. The islands run north and south over a thousand miles, so that you may breathe the keen, invigorating air of .Scotland or bask in the warmth of Italy. A chain of mountains divides the east from the west, and the winds breaking against them descend in abundant rains, that clothe the western slope with tropical luxuriance, and leave the east comparatively bare and dry. Its mountains and rivers are famous for rugged grandeur and romantic beauty. It has glaciers like the Tasman, eighteen miles long and two miles wide, volcanoes like Ruapehu, that tower nearly eight thousand feet, and lakes five times the size of Loch Lomond. Deserts of pumice alternate with lands as fertile as Surrey or Kent. Vast forests stretch to the boundaries of weird regions like Wairakei and Rotorua. whose mineral springs and strange phenomena draw people from all parts of the world. Some of these physical features I have en- deavoured to describe in an account of a journey through the north island. The cities of New Zealand have no marked oj specially charactcrist ic attraction. Wellington, the capital. looks as though it had been thrown against a 1 : 142 WITH THE OPHin lit?' t hillside and had manafjed to stick, despite the roaring winds that make one think sometimes it would be well to put out to sea for safety. Its citizens are beginning to renew tiieir faith in the stability of the earth, and are putting up more substantial buildings than the wooden houses that were a defence against earthquakes. Auck- land was formerly the capital, and is the prettiest town, whether you look upon it from the island-studded harbour or from Mount Eden, over hill and dale, or from its quiet streets. Christchurch is an English county town, and rejoices in the comparison, while Dunedin is a piece of Aberdeen granite, set among scenes imported from the Highlands. These towns have inlierited cliaracter and traditions. Christchurch was originally an Anglican settlement, and its streets were named after Anglican bishoprics by pioneers who gave a dance on the night they left England. Dunedin was founded by Scotch Presby- terians, who bade farewell to their native land with the words, " O God of i^ethel, by Whose hand Thy people still are led." The population of New Zealand is mainly ajijricultural. Whereas in Australia the people crowd into the towns and create problems for the politician and the philanthropist, here they fmd their pleasure and profit in the country. Two-tliirds of them live in the country or in towns of fewer than five thousand inhabitants, yet not one is more than a day's journey from the sea. The land is fertile, and its resources are many. There is gold in Otago and Coro- mandcl — the Colony holds the second place in Australasia with an output of fifty-five millions sterling in forty years. Coal is abundant, and of good quality. One of the arche.^; r/i,,(„ 6-,. .).... K., ■.., /)„,,..„, IRtt CUTTING, NLkV ZEALAND nOUND THE EMPIRE. ,43 at Wellington was made of eoal, and hore the lepenH : " The coal thit saved the Ca/Zhfip," when shr put out to sea to escape the catastrophe that befel half a dozen foreign ships of war. Millions of acres of primjrval forest give work to four thousand men and three hundred saw- mills, while from among the roots seven thousand near Auckland alone dig the bright yellow gum known as kauri, which is used for the making of varnish, and sells at fifty pounds the ton. New Zealand mutton is a house- hold word. Twenty-one factories are busy freezing it for ovens at home, yet there are always twenty million sheep, whose fleeces mean wealth and work. With all these ad- vantages, with a soil that will grow anything except fruit, and a climate that gives New Zealanders a longer term of life than the people of any other country, one is not aston- ished to find the Colony ambitious and perhaps a trifle extravagant — on borrowed money. The wealth of the colonists per head of population is the highest in the world, and I believe their debts may almost claim tlic same distinction. But there are debts that arc remunera- tive, and of these, I am told, are the New Zealand debts. The money has been spent in developing and settling the land, and will rri urn again a thousand-fold. In New Zealand we had opportunities of seeing the people under ordinary conditions, for. uiuike Melbourne, they let business occasionally walk hand in hand witli loyal demonstrations. That they are a licalthy, energetic. and enterprising people none can gainsay. They preser- e the physical beauty and, above all, the complexion of the Anglo-Saxon race. They are intensely British in appear- ance, habits, and manners, and their love of the old hoiriC, ''*'* ^ITH THE OPIIIR as they fondly call it-even the children whose eyes have not seen the land of their fathers-is a precious possession that we who live in the old home ought to treasure above all that we have. New Zealand has shown her affcrtio., m a very practical manner, for of the Australasian f olo- nics she has put in the field the highest percentage of soldiers. Here, as in New South Wales and Victoria. I was struck with the martial spirit of the people. Not to wear the Kin-'s uniform is to forfeit the smiles of the fair Where there is gold there is dross, and no doubt if time had been given some of the dross might have cropped to the surface during our stay. Of poverty I saw no sign. If It exists at all. it is not squa-id. and is inexcusable, for to the old and the indigent the Colony is kind. Drunken- ness IS extremely rare; they are among the most temperate people in the world, and carry this temperance mto their legislation, for they are prohibitionists only in districts where there are none to drink save unfortunate tourists who venture into the King Country unconscious of the privations that awc..t them. The general intelli- gence of the Colonists is certainly higher than that of men and women in the same position in England. They read more, and do not limit their reading to newspapers and magazines, though of these they have several excellent native products. Their manners are freer, and there is no caste or social distinction. The Premier, who touches the Prince of Wales on the shoulder, steps from the side of his Royal Highness to shake hands with the photographer whose camera shuts out the sights and ought to make him an object of universal hate. This feeling and practice of equality is very admirable, but has serious drawbacks ROUND THE EMPIRS. «45 especially in public life and among a people who are apt to mistake heartiness of manner for strength of character, and a fluent tongue for the highest qualification of a statesman. It has been said that in Colonial politics everyone strikes at his opponent's heart. I know nothing of the amenities of politics in New Zealand, though it has been my good fortune to meet and talk with many of the most prominent men in the Administration and in the Opposi- tion. Mr. Scddon is, of course, the most conspicuous figure in public life. Like so many Colonial leaders, he is a man of gigantic build, with a voice that might be heard above the winds of Wellington. He has all those charac- teristics that commend public men to the jjeople of new countries— untiring energy, a hearty manner, unlimited words, and confidence that never fails or falters King Dick, as he is familiarly known, began life as a miner, and would have won his way into politics even at Westminster. Like nearly all democrats, he is a bit of an autocrat, and perhaps that is not altogether a bad thing in the leader of a young and ambitious State. Mr. .Seddon's right hand is Sir Joseph Ward, whose manner is the antithesis of that of his chief, and who has shown himself a very capable ad- ministrator. Under the rule of Mr. Seddon, the Colony has begun social and political experiments that will be watched with the keenest interest by every student of human affairs. It has enfranchised women, and dis- covered that they have no politics apart from those of their men folk ; it has a progressive land tax and a progressive income tax, and not a dozen men with ten thousand pounds a year ; it has pensions for old age. and no Poor MICROCOPY RESOLUTION TEST CHART (ANSI ond ISO TEST CHART No. 2) la 150 1^ 112 140 11 2.0 1.8 ^ >IPPLIED IM/. I :i M 158 WITH THE 'OPHIR' kingdom of Po, in the far north island where Taupiko and Tawhaitiri keep guard at the gate. No mourners cut face and breast and arms with sharp flint and shell while Patarangukai sat down to feast with the gods and heroes of the Maori in the Valley of the Lake. Three members of his hapu, or family, were admitted to the tent, and from them I heard the story of his deeds. They had not met for some time and greeted each other with ceremony. Taking one another by the right hand, they slowly and carefully brought the tips of their noses together, and stepping back a pace, uttered the saluta- tion : " Tenara ko koutou." Squatting on the ground, with knees against their breasts, they lighted short clay pipes, and between puffs sang the praises of the dead. Patarangukai was nincly-four years old, and lived in the stone age, for half a century ago the Maoris were still in the stone age. As a tohunga, or priest, he presided over religious ceremonies, professed to heal sickness, to ward off witchcraft, and to foretell events through familiar spirits who entered his body in a state of convulsive en- chantment. The dark blue curves and spirals graven in the flesh gave the face an aspect of mingled cunning and ferocity. It was the face of a devil priest in whose ears had rung the cry of human sacrifice, for Pataran- gukai had eaten of the flesh of man and declared it sweet. I was more at ease when they spoke of the warrior who fought against the famous chief, Te Waharoa, who after twenty years of siavery exacted a terrible vengeance for the slaying of his father by the tribe from the hot lakes of Rotorua. Truly, he was a " toa," a hero, for many were the dauntless deeds he wrought in combat with the enemies of the .A^rawas. ROUND THE EMPIRE. ISO When the revels were over, and the Prince and Princess had departed from Rotorua, funeral honours were paid to the chief. With wreaths of green leaves on their brows the mourners sat round the coffin chanting his praise and wailing a lament with the long-drawn cry : " Aue, Aue." The coffin was adorned with flowers, and mantles of kiwi feathers were spread over it. I am told that Patarangukai desired to be buried with ancient rites. He had been a distinguished " bone-scraper " by virtue of his priestly office. His duty had been to scrape clean the bones of mouldering corpses before they were laid in some cavern or combe known only to a sacred few. I know not whether his body received that last honour. It may be that his bones were carried secretly and in the dead of night to some dark abyss in the mountains, and that the grim, tatooed head will be preserved as a sacred rehc, for after all there is a strong leaven of super- stition and of reverence for ancient custom in this strange race that but yesterday emerged from cannibalism. Before the wake ended and the funeral meats were baked I ?et out on my journey across the North Island. The camp did not break up for several days, for the Maoris, many of whom had come from great distances to welcome the King's son, were guests of the Govern- ment, and were not loth to tarry. I Sad therefore more than one opportunity of visiting them and of observing their habits. The young Maoris have abandoned most of the customs and superstitions of their fathers, and have adopted the dress and the opinions of the pakeha, or Englishman. Only the women retain the tattoo, though it is no longer the exclusive privilege of the it i6o WITH TEE OPHIk' II ! married. The lips are stained a dark blue, and the chin is engraved like a copper plate, with deep cut curves and spirals. Young men rarely disfigure themselves in this fashion, yet you may see men of middle age tattooed from knees to waist, and with heads that are a marvel of design. Time was when such heads would have sold at a high price to hunters after gruesome curiosities, and when the " moko," or tattoo mark, was accepted as the sign manual of a chief even in courts of law. Two customs still linger, and are an occasional cause of strife among the natives. Muru, or the custom of robbing a man whom calamity has overtaken, or who has com- mitted some offence, is not extinct. It is the Maori method of exacting damages. A few days ago a youth ran away with the wife of one of his neighbours. The family of the bereaved husband immediately gave notice to the family of the abductor that on a certain day and hour they would attend to enforce the muru. At the precise moment the relatives of the aggrieved party entered the house of the youth's parents, and proceeded to despoil it. No resistance was offered. To have raised even an objection would be to deprive them of the right of levying similar damages at any future time. Usually the stolen goods are redeemed at a price agreed upon, and after a feast the raiders and the despoiled part the best of friends. Another inconvenient remnant of ancient superstition is the tapu, a form of proscription of which the word taboo gives but a faint indication. There can be little doubt that the original object of the tapu was the preservation of private property. It has, however, been extended to almost everything, and any ROUND THE EMPIRE. i6i breach of the right, v/hether conscious or unconscious, is attended with punishment the severest of which is imaginary, though not on that account the less severe. Proofs are not wanting that the Maoris were once numerous. The houses in their pas, or stockades, and the area of land formerly under cultivation, show that their numbers have greatly diminished. Several reasons are given for this decline. It is maintained that as long as they lived in the sublime ideas of their old religion —and judging from their mythology it was not wanting m sublimity— the Maoris grew in strength and multitude. When they degenerated into heathens, and became eaters of human flesh and victims of man-devouring ghosts, the period of decay began. Certain it is that long before the arrival of the white man with his attendant evils of drink and immorahty, the natives had succeeded in decimating their ranks by inter-tribal wars. Disease has wrought havoc among them. War, once their sole occupation and pastime, being no longer possible in the presence of the white settler, they quitted their homes in the hills to live in the swamps and unwholesome valleys. Sloth and animal indulgence followed, and for a time it looked as though the fate of the Maori was sealed, and that in the course of a generation or two he would cease to be remembered except as an extinct animal. The recent census seems to give hope of his surv ' Whether the increase is real, or is merely the recti. .- tjon of error in the previous census, is a point in dispute. One thing only is certain — that a considerable number of young Maoris are alive to the danger in which their race stands, and are exerting themselves by example ! I: Ml i 162 WITH THE OPHJB' and precept to rouse the people from the torpor of sloth and superstition and animal indtilj^ence. Their efforts are supported by the Government of New Zealand and by their white fellow subjects, who have no wish to see the extinction of the race. ROUND THE EMPIRE. «63 ^1 CHAPTER XXIII. A TRIP TO GEYSERLAND. Whakarewarewa and its Legends— A Famous Guide— The Visit to the Geysers— A Maori Idol— Tikitere. Whakarewarewa is a step toward inferno, but Tikitere is a suburb of hell itself. We took the step from Rotorua through rivers of mud to Puarenga Creek, a hot streamlet two or three miles away. The Prince and Princess walked across the bridge between rows of dusky maidens in bright colours, who waved feathery branches and chanted a plaintive song to the swaying of willowy waists — sweet- eyed Persephones welcoming us to the realms of Pluto. They are not very terrible, after all, these phenomena. At Whakarewarewa they have non^ of the violence and grandeur that popular imagination associates with vol- canic action. But Mother Earth is so staid and sober that any eccentricity excites wonder, and here she is ever in an unnatural mood. Her streams scald, and her fount- ains are driven by steam that comes roarinfj out of black throats. The geysers are uncertain. Wairoa wa at work when we arrived, and threw up a steac" white pillar, but Pohotu wanted an emetic. A bar of l ap was cast into the pit, and we watched from the grey hillocks of silica. The process of soft-soaping had effect. Bubbles rising to the surface relieved the pressure, and in a few minutes the water gave a convulsive heave, and then, foaming and hissing, rushed skyward with a roar. The Princess had for guide the famous Sophia. She has Il 164 WITH THE OPHIR' grown old, but her voice is still soft, and she tells her stor)' as one who believes and has seen. You might think she had helped at the feast of Tukutuku, so realistic wjis the tale she poured into the astonished ear of the Princess as they leaned over the circular basin of silica known as " the cooking pot." Tradition, through the mouth of Sophia, says : — " A long time ago there lived on the shores of the Lake Rotorua a mighty chief named Tukutuku, who, being worsted in battle by a ferocious invader, took re- fuge in a cave near Whakarcwarewa. His relentless enemy sought for him, and found him after two years, Tukutuku was dragged out of his hiding-place and slain. His brains were thrown into the geyser to cook, and swelled and swelled until they closed up the vent and the water ceased to flow." There is another and, I believe, a truer version, which shows Tukutuku in a less favourable light It represents him as having eloped with the wife of Manawa, another mighty chief, but the Maoris are so civilised that already they have beg^n to per\'ert history, and to present abductors of women as brave defenders of their country, while injured husbands are " ferocious in- vaders." Maggie, a younger guide, had charge of the Prince. She is a half-caste, who, though well educated, prefers the life of a native, and has been made custodian of the modem carved house where squat wooden gods, with eyes of shell, protruding tongues, and three-fingered hands crossed over grotesque stomachs, leer wickedly on figiires that would blush if they could. Short-kilted, with huia feathers in her flowing dark hair, Maggie moved about in the steaming, sulphurous atmosphere, pointing I i ROUND THE EMPIRE. 165 out the wonders of this rocky mass of silica, out of which have been washed sulphates and chlorides and carbon- ates. Climbing down to the rugged bed of the hot stream, where the manuka or ti-tree grows green and tall, his Royal Highness saw the torpedo pool, out of which great bubbles of sulphuretted hydrogen burst with a loud explosive sound. He saw also the pipes of boiling black mud— devil's porridge pots that never cool. The natives occasionally eat this mud, and pronounce it " knpai," or good. One cannot help marvelling how people live in such an atmosphere and amid such surround- ings. The Maoris are a superstitious race, and nothing is more calculated to inspire superstitious terror than signs of volcanic activity. Yet they build their huts on the steaming crust of a volcano, cook their food in vol- canic vents, and pass most of their day in pools and streams fed by volcanoes. I saw Whakarewarewa igain, and the marvel seemed greater. It was midnight when I stood on the bridge, looking down into the silent valley that shuts the burning rock out from the world. Dark- ness and solitude brooded over the pools, from which rose hot vapours that poisoned the breath of night. A crescent moon came out of the clouds, and cast ghostly shadows from pillars of smoke that flowed from the white, hollow, carious earth. Yellow mists went up to the pale sky, en- compassing a wild and desolate scene such as Milton saw when, peering into the deep tract of hell, he beheld the " fiery deluge fed with ever-burning sulphur uncon- sumed." We stopped at Whakarewarewa to see the children dive from the bridge after coppers thrown into the hot i66 WITH THE OPHIR' f^" v^ W pools. Someone threw silver, and the game had to cease for fear the whole village — male and female — might be tempted to join the sport. Next day the Prince and Prin- cess went to Tikitere. We steamed across the quiet lake of Rotorua toward the low volcanic hills ten miles to the south-west. Our " skipper," an intelligent Scot, versed in the traditions of the district, told us the story of the islet Mokoia, renowned in native legend. When the Arawa tribe came from the unknown land of Hawaiki, their tohungas, or priests, chose this rocky mound in the middle of the lake as their temple. Here still is a stone idol — Matu-a-tonga — which the Maoris are Sciid to have brougb*^ with them to New Zealand, though it is, perhaps, an en- larged copy of the original idol now in the Auckland Museum. It was on this sacred isle that the Arawas sought refuge from the savage hordes of Hongi, " the friend of missionaries," who devastated the country with rifles paid for by the gifts of George IV. When the raider swept down from the Bay of Plenty to the shore of Lake Rotorua, the Arawas felt secure in their island fastness, for the war canoes of Hongi were drawn up on the sea beach twenty-five miles away. Day after day the Arawas paddled within hail of the invader, and insulted his host with cries and gestures, shout .ng, in derision: " Ma wai koe e kawe mai ki Rangitiki ? "— " Who, then, shall bring you, or how shall you arrive at Rangitiki ? " But the " Eater of Men " — ^that was the cognomen of Hongi — was not to be beaten. He ordered his people to drag the great totara canoes from the coast, and storming the island overthrew the Arawas with great slaughter. Mokoia has another and a daintier legend. A long ROUND THE EMPIRE. •67 time ago there dwelt on this green island a youth named Tutanekai, who was in love with the beautiful Princess Hinemoa, daughter of a chief whose whare was on the shore of the lake. The chief would not give his assent to their mam ^_, and at night Tutanekai would sit on a rock and pour out his grief in the music of pipes. Hinemoa heard the pleading song of her lover as it floated across the water. " Come, Hinemoa, come," it whispered, until her gentle heart " shook like an earthquake," and she made up her mind to go to her lover. The canoes were not on the beach, so Hinemoa fastened some gourds rount. her slender waist and glided silently into the lake. Swim- ming three miles, she came at last to the island, cold and weary. The warm waters of a spring revived her. Re- membering that she was naked, the prmcess hid behind a rock when she heard someone approaching. It was a servant coming to the spring for water. Hinemoa took the calabash out of his hand and dashed it to pieces, whereupon the slave ran off to his master and told him how his calabash had been broken by a big, ugly man in the bath. Tutanekai was very angry, and seizing his club rushed to the spring, but could find no one, for the bashful maiden had again hidden herself. After long search, Tutanekai spied a delicate little hand, and cried, " Come out and let me see you if you are the scoundrel who broke my calabash." " I assure you it was an accident," whis- pered the beautiful princess, as she stood forth, clothed in blushes. Hinemoa and Tutanekai were married, and lived happily ever after. If you doubt the story, there is the spring, in which you may bathe and be refreshed. Small boats carried us to the shore, and coaches took a I« WITH THE OPHIR' I us to Tikitere. The road lay through a wilderness of hills, covered with fern and ti-tree scrub. At the foot of the hills ran tiny rills of steaming water, and from their crests and sides came puffs of steam. Not a sound nor a sign of life was to be heard or seen in this terrible waste. We came at last to a scene of hideous ruin and combustion, all involved with stench and smoke. It was a place for unblest feet. The hollow earth yielded and crumbled beneath our tread as we climbed hillocks white as the dust of dead men's bones, and skirted pools of boiling mud, out of which rose, with a sickly plop-plop, the eyes of some monstrous shape vomited from bottomless perdition. Slimy rottenness boiled and bubbled in black throats and caverns, and a white shroud hung over the Utile valley, where Nature has spent herself in horrors of which Dante never dreamed and Milton never sang. Night was falling fast when we fled from Tikitere, at least two of our number thinking seriously of their souls, for a careless step had plunged them knee-deep into this inferno. ! i I i i: HOUND THE EMPIRE. ifio CHAPTER XXIV. MAORI DANCES AND CUSTOMS. A Race of Fighting Men—The Maoris and the Boer War— A Maori War Dance. " Haere ma: ! haere mai ! hoe mai ! hoc mai ! haer- mai ! " The Maori tongue sounds hke a caress, and the cry of welcome as the Prince and Princess stood before the tribes at Kotorua had a rich and nirlancholy cadence that went straight to the heart. Tliey are a strange people, the Maoris. Two generations ago they were the most war- like and ferocious race in the world. War was their occupation and pastime, and they ate its victims. Rather than forego a fight they would give an exhausted enemy food and ammunition. The Earl of Pembroke, who lived in what he called " the good old times of conquest and colonisation," and fought at the head of desperate Maori young blood, " rigged out i'i lothing but a cartridge box and belt, and a young woman to carry zmimunition," tells this story of a chief \,ho fought against us at Waikato. This savage warrior, who doubtless swallowed the eyes of h'- vanquished foes, and, having satisfied his cannibal appetite, " potted the remainder of the corpses in tins and sent them to his friends in the country," was asked why, v/hen m command of a certain road, he did not attack the provision and ammunition trains. " Why, you fool," answered the astonished chief, " if we had stolen their powder and food, how could they have fought ? " These chivalrous barbarians whom ,. - subdued only after I70 WITH THE OPHIR' I I a ten-years' struggle, in which they often had the best of it, are now our trusty friends. They have every privilege of a British subject, including the right to send members to the House of Representatives, and to earn seven shil- lings a day for eight hours' work. And they are eager to help the white man to carry his burden. North of Pretoria I saw two copper-coloured troopers in the ranks of the New Zealand Mounted Infantry, and wondered how they got there. At Rotorua I learned that they were the sons of chiefs, and smuggled themselves into the contin- gents under the names of MacGregor and Macdonald. With names hke these, who could deny their right to face the enemies of the Empire ? Even " King Dick " Seddon could not. The Maoris were very angry at their exclusion from the South African war, and were pacified only by the assurance that they were required to defend the colony. One of their dances expressed their contempt for the Boer, who " fights like a rat by running away." " Kiki ta Poa " (" Kick the Boer ") was the refrain of their wildest dance. The Maoris are the only coloured race out of India with whom the Briton will associate on terms of seeming equality. The men are pleasant, sturdy fellows, moun- tains of bone and muscle, and the women, if noi^ beautiful, have charms. Their smiling faces, and larg^, lustrous, dark eyes can cast quick glances that make one in love with olive skin and black hair. The " pakeha," or white man, readily mates with the dusky " whaine." They are a cheerful, intelligent people, with the minds of children and the passions of men. For the most part they have adopted the dress and habits of Britons, and the men, at ROUND THE EMPIRE. 171 any rate, have done so without loss of dignity. Here we have seen them as they appeared two generations ago, when Hongi, the Maori Napoleon, devastated the land with rifles paid for by the presents of King George IV., and slew thousands of his enemies, the Arawas, Waikatos, and Taurangas. Yet, in this seeming horde of savage men and women, barbarously clad, roaring and capering like maniacs, twisting their faces, showing the whites of their eyes, and lolling out their tongues were people with whom you might find yourself at dinner, and not notice any peculiarity save the dark skin. It was a strange, wild scene, acted on the yellow plain, with bare hills for background, and the quiet lake be- tween. The sulphurous air and steaming pits were in keeping with so weird a spectacle. The Prince and Princess took their seats in the pavilion and looked down upon the solid squares of Maori warriors and wahines, whose custom in olden days it was to excite the men to frenzy. Their Royal Highnesses wore the emblems of chieftainship. The Prince's bowler hat was decorated with the white tipped " huia " feathers of the " rangatira," or chief. Three feathers adorned the fair hair of the Princess, and from her shoulders hung a beautiful " kiwi " mat, or mantle. The compliment was hailed with delight and shouts of welcome — " Haere mai ! hoe mai ! haere mai ! " Mr. James Carroll, member of the House of Representatives and Minister of Native Affairs, was master of ceremonies, and wore a dog-skin mat over his grey suit. A wave of the greenstone mere, or tomahawk, in his hand and the play began. A wild rush of brown giants, naked to the waist, with kilts of dressed flax, that 172 WITH TEE 'OPHIR n Hi surged and rattled, a waving of spears and battle axes, and Arawas and Ngahapas stood before the Prince— a rigid line of brown and red. The leaders, or " teko tekos," strode in front — stalwart savages — and with a shout that might well strike terror the warriors flung themselves into the dance. They sang of the Great White Queen, their mother, and of their joy at seeing the strangers from afar ! They are a musical people, I am told, but the note was wild and barbaric. And as they sang, their brown bodies moved in unison, now leaping, now crouching, now re* ir- ing, now advancing. The song ended in a long-drawn gasping sigh—" aue, aue, aue." The IS vas lay on the ground, silent. It was the turn of tht vVanganuis. A savage of herculean build dashed to the front, battle axe in hand. The whites only of his eyes are visible, giving to his tattooed face a demoniac expression ; his tongue hangs out, and his appearance is that of a fury. He shouts the first words of the war-song, and his tribe spring from the ground. With furious, yet measured, gesticula- tion, with horrid grimaces and wild cries from tattooed lips, the warriors danced, and their kirtles of flax made a rustling music to the swaying of their bodies. They ended with a long, sobbing " sowah sowah," like the moaning of wind in a dark forest. The Arawas again took up the burden, chanting a " powhiri," or song of welcome. In front of the tribe was the flag presented to them by the late Duke of Saxe- Coburg, who, after the attempt on his life at Sydney, lived for a month with the Arawas, who guarded him so well that no white man might come within two miles of him. Around the flagstaff sat a picturesque group — a ROUND THE EMPIRE. »73 white-haired warrior in a tweed cap, almost hidden under skin mantles which his wife was ever replacing. Across the knees of the old chieftain lay a drawn sword — a sword of honour given by Queen Victoria. This veteran of eighty-one years is Te Pokiha Taranui — or Major Fox, as his British friends call him — famous in the Maori War for an act of dauntless bravery. It was in 1 864, when our soldiers and friendly natives were assailing the strong- holds of the Hau Haus in the Bay of Plenty. Major Colville had ordered McDonnell and nine men to clear the enemy out of a rifle pit. vv^hen they reached the pit they found themselves under a raking fire at five hundred yards. Colville ordered the bugle to sound the recall, and the Hau Haus, knowing the signal, reserved their fire until the little band should come into the open. Suddenly, Te Pokiha dashed forward, alone, over five hundred yards of bullet-swept ground. He leapt into the pit, having drawn the enemy's fire. " Why did you come ? " asked McDonnell. " To save you," replied the chief. " Do not obey the people on the cliff, bnt wait until the sun goes down. If you leave now yoj A-ill lose half your men. Your brave fellows have been fighting all day the whole of the Bay of Plenty men. Let them bugle away. We will stay here, and I will take you out af .er dusk." They stayed, and the darkness saved them. In the morning of Friday, the Princess asked the feeble old warrior why ho. had ventured out. " My joy at the hope of seemg you was so great that I could not lie down," was the reply of the courtier. The war dance of his tribe roused the " tino tangata," or tried fighting man. Throwing off his mantles he stepped to the front, and, flourishing his sword of 174 WITH THE OPHIR' honour, moved his shrunk shanks to the music of their voices. Fatigue soon drove him to his seat, whereupon his faithful spouse took the sword from his reluctant hand and, holding it aloft, led the tribe in the dance. They sang of a people united in peace and goodwill under one flag^ 1 he warriors now gave place to a troop of dusky, dark-eyed maidens, whose black tresses hung like night over their plump shoulders. They were of the Arawa tribe, and wore blouses of kiwi feathers, with a blue sash. In each hand was a bal' of flax, tied with string, looped round the finger. The ball is the " poi," -^nd the dance is famous throughout the Pacific as the Poi dance. As they drew near, a hand of each girl rested lightly on the should' jf her companion. Standing before the Royal p" .lon they faced about and began the dance. It was the very poetry of motion. In dreamy undulations their bodies swayed now to right, now to left, now backward, now forward, swinging the pois to the music of their song. The music was slow and sweet, running through all the song-birds' range, and the story was of a prince who came from afar with his fa'r lady, their chieftainess. " We welcome you to this place," was the burden of their song. " In you we see the face of our mother, the dead Queen — lofty and beautiful as the skies. Great is our love for her. Oh, Princess, you have come to add lustre to the Maori people." How can such grace and poetry be found amid so much ferocity ? Once more the furies were let loose, and the contrast was startling. With a hissing sound, like the steam from one of their geysers, the braves of the Bay of Plenty sprang forward. Their ROUND THE EMPIRE. «75 wild dance was to the accompaniment of a song that told of the exploits of Maui, the great hero and enchanter of Maori mythology. He came from the unknown land of Hawaiki. He it was who snared the sun and beat him into sloth, that men might have more time to be happy ; and he it was who, when all the fire on earth was ex- tinguished, descended into the dread abode of his ancestress Mahu-ika, and drew fire from her nails. The men of the Bay of Plenty, as we learned in the Maori War, are born fighters, and it was natural that they should turn their thoughts, as well as their actions, to the enemies of the " pakeha." " Kiki ta Poa " was the cry, and it is certain that had the unfortunate Boer been in the neigh- bourhood he would have had a bad time. " Ka Whawhai tonu ! Ake ! ake ! ake I " they shouted. " We will fight for ever and ever." " Ka Whawhai tonu ! Ake ! ake ! ake!" Tribe succeeded tribe. After the Bay of Plenty there entered the Ngatitawharetoa, who live in the shadow of volcanoes on the shores of Taupo Moana They are men of hei-ulean mould— giants all, and splendid savages in ^heir rustling flax kilts. They were led by Te Heu-heu, grandson of the famous cannibal chief of that name, who, half a century ago, defied the powers of earth and water, and, standing in front of his whaie, was buried alive in the great landslip that filled the ravine of Waihi. Bare- legged, with a feather mat round his loins, the young chieftain stood facing his tribesmen, a slender spear of light tawa wood poised in his uplifted hand. The spear whistled through the clear air, and fell at their feet as Te Heu-heu turned and ran with the speed of the wind. On 176 WITH THE OPHIR his flying heels rushed the braves with a mighty shout. The earth trembled and thundered under their tread. Halting as suddenly and as uniformly as though brought up by a stone wall, they danced a real war dance, grimacing wildly, rolling their eyeballs, lolling out their tongues, until they looked more like demons than men. A little later, when Te Ileu-heu, clothed and in his right mind, went to receive tiie commemoration medal at the hands of the Prince, it was hard to discover in the courtly gentleman, frock-coated and silk-hatted, any trace of the brave who had led this demoniacal dance. Another notable transformation was that of Ngata, M.A, LL.B., barrister-at-law — a wildly conspicuous figure in the dance of his tribe. Their song of welcome was mingled with jibes at the absent " King " Mahuta, who sulked in his wigwam, at the Waikatos, and at the priest, or prophet, Ti-Whiti, of Parihaka. " They have tried to pull us in another path, but we will not go," was their chant. " Come near, oh ! our treasures from afar." Alone of the tribes the Ngatiporou discarded the savage dress of their ancestors. They were clad in snowy white singlets, with a purple sash from shoulder to waist, and a kilt of black cloth. This uniform had the effect of giving an appear- ance of wonderful precision to the movements of the men. But apart from this aid, the performance was a marvel of concerted voice and action. They moved and shouted as one man, and the cheers that drowned their last gasping cry as they fell prone on the ground were a tribute well earned. From scenes of turbulent war we passed at a bound to peace. The wahines, or maidens of the Otaki district, gave a double poi dance. Clad in garments, ROUND THE EMPIRE alternately scarlet and white, they swung their pois of raupo or flax. " Let me for t you, too, in dreams, Your lang'ious waist and musical Soft ways, like cadences of streams Unlooked for, strange and sweetly rhythmical." As the maidens ghded past the pavihon they laid the pois at the feet of the delighted Princess, who stooped down to take the hand of one little dusky, smiling toddler Meanwhile, gifts had been presented. Mrs. Donnelly chieftamess of the Hav.kcs liay tnbc. handed to Mrs' Carroll a greenstone tiki-a priceless heirloom of the Maori race-and it was laid upon the shoulders of the Princess. Mantles of flax and feathers were laid at the feet of their Royal Highnesses. Some were mar%'ellous pieces of handicraft, made from the rare kiwi feathers ■ others were of flax, stained and cunningly wrought— de- serving of the name "falling water." To these were added meres of jade, clubs, or taiahas, carved out of v. hale- bone, and an historic flag of flax. Many of these gifts are no mere curiosities. For the Maoris, and, therefore, for the people of New Zealand, they have an historic value, on which no price can be set. The old chief, Te Pokiha. gave to the Prince a model of a war canoe filled with' trophies, which the braves carried on their shoulders and laid at his feet. On the pile was placed a richly-framed address, which one of the leaders had carried from tribe to tribe, amid resounding shouts and cheers. Finally, came a dance of all the natives. I am told thnt while it was in progress there was an earthquake. But at Rotorua, earthquakes are as common as fogs in a 1U ° 178 WITH THE 'OPHIR $ London winter, for the town stands on a volcanic crust only a few yards thick. It may h?' en inexperience, or the thunderous tramp of fou sand savages, that made me oblivious of the tremulou earth. All I am con- scious of is a brown mass of twisting and writhing human flesh — a volcano of action, out of which rose strange and terrible cries that ended in a shout of welcome. The Maori demonstration is a memory that will live. We shall not look upon its like again, for the Maoris who escape death from civilisation are every day becoming more pakeha, and will soon put aside every vestige of a bar- barism that has become fascinating because it has ceased to be dangerous and loathsome. The Prince and Princess were delighted with the spec- tacle. Through Mr. Carroll, the Native Minister, he con- veyed to the Maoris this word of thanks : " I beg you to convey to your Maoris the highest appreciation of the Duchess and myself of their dances. We have come miles and miles to see you, and will go home believing it to be the greatest novelty we have ever seen. I am very pleased with the dances, and thank the Maoris for their great kindness to us. On my return home I shall not fail to convey to the King how very loyal his Maori children are. I wish you all prosperity, and may the good God protect you all for ever." ROUND THE EMPIRE. 179 CHAPTER XXV. A JOURNEY THROUGH NORTH ISLAND. The Way to Wanganui- Convicts on Parole- Waiotapu-The Geyser Valley-Lake Taupo-A Beautiful Forest R^vcr The Royal party having left Rotorua to take ship for Welhngton, Mr. Le Sage and myself decided to cross the island to Wanganui, on the south-west coast. Many difficulties were foretold. The roads, we were assured, were impassable because of heavy rains, and we would never reach the capita' Accompanied by Mr. D Innes Barron, of the Survey Department, we set out on this "penlous expedition," which we accomplished in four days without even a discomfort. The journey amply repaid us for the anxiety of our friends, for it carried us into the most interesting parts of the island, past the scene of a famous volcanic eruption, into the King Country, where semi-barbarism still lingers, through the wonderful Valley of Geysers, across the great central lake with Its snow mountain and active volcano, through miles of dense primaeval forest, and down a beautiful and romantic river to the sea. On Saturday afternoon we turned our backs on Lake Rotorua and the Maori camps, and climbing the belt of volcanic hills, rode through : waste as desolate and lonely as the Wilderness of Judea. Bare hills, blackened i Si i8o WITH THB OPHIR' gorges, and grey valleys spoke a fiery birth. Before sunset we caught a glimpse of Tarawera, a rugged peak of gold towering above a dark green ridge. Between us and the mountain stretched fields of ashes and scorJBc, murky chasms and conical hills, all seamed and torn. Nature is doing her utmost to cover under ferns and grasses these evidences of her violence in 1886, when in one raging nifjht she rent the great mountain Tara- wera in twain, blew the bottom out of a lake that covered 188 acres, destroyed the famous deposits of silicatn known as the Pink and White Terraces, buried villages and miles of country under seas of mud and storms of ashes and burning stones, and changed the aspect of the land. The valley of Waiotapu is a sombre grey wilderness haunted by an oppressive sohtude. No bird sang in the hillsides, and no patch of sweet potatoes marked the passage of the Maori. The road wound along the pumice slopes covered with ti-tree scrub, through narrow defiles, and across shallow creeks. Be- hind us rattled the mail coach with passengers who had been to see the Prince and Princess at Rotorua, and were returning to their homes on the shrre of Lake Tapu. A solitary figure stopped us to ask after the coach. He was warder of the convict prison. Some miles further we were hailed out of the darkness by several men who stood in a line by the roadside. " Who are they .? " I asked. " Convicts," replied Mr. Barron, in a tone that betrayed no surprise. The sight of convicts roaming about the country at night without a warder struck us as unusual ; but our companion looked upon it as a very ordinary spectacle. " They are waiting for the supply RCrrnD THE EMPIRE. lol of bread brought by the mail coach." he added. " They could not get away if they tried, for their dress with the broad arrow would brtray them. Besides. I doubt whether any of them v.ould care to quit their present quarters. They have httle to do. are well fed and housed, and may smoke. Of course. on«y the wel' be haved are allowed such liberty, and I can o Tecail a' the mei^ h.re have committed grave offences and are serving long sentences." trusMn „'°"'^^^"^^,^" humanity is matched by a strange r^t m nature. Wuhout faith in the tendency of fll thmgs toward perfection how could r ional beings live m a regjon where Nature has shown he. elf so crra^.c Z unrehable. and so violent .> Long before we came o Wa,otapu-our first halt, twenty-one miles from Rotorua - we had seen s.gns of her pe^sionate and destructive outbursts-dark pools overhung with yellow vapour, cl.ff! torn m fantastic shapes and coloured with strange hues green hzlls out of v^h.ch rose pillars of steam, and a night crept along the valley the chill wind wafted from these ghostly forms the vile odour of sulphuretted Hydrogen. We reached the hotel too late to see the wonders that their Royal Highnesses were to have visited had the rains held off. Our sense of smell, how- ever, will not dispute their existence. As we passed under the arch of welcome at the gate of the inn our hopes were high, for the air was shrewd, the way was ong, our appetites were healthy, and we thought of the feast that must have been prepared for us on the previous day when the Prince and Princess were to h.ve made this 1 82 WITU THE OPHIR )i pilgrimage. It was a shock, after two hours' patient wait- ing, to be placed in front of a few cold scraps and a bottle of ale. We had still thirty miles to travel before we halted for the night. The mail coach and its passengers stayed at Waiotapu until morning, while we plunged into the frost-bitten darkness. Over mountain and dale we went, past native hamlets and hot springs, until near mid- night the barking of dogs and the gleam of lights told us that we had come to the end of our first day's journey. The door of the inn was thrown open, and in a few moments we were thawing ourselves in the rcsy warmth of a great pine fire. Before the hoar-frost had vanished next morning we had plunged in the ho: stream of alum water that flows through a little wood near the hotel, and were ready to face the Geyser Valley. Of the wonders of Wairakei and the Geyser Valley a volume might be written. They surpass in interest and variety anything that Ca^ be seen outside the Yellow- stone Park, and they have this advantage, that they are found among beautiful woods and almost tropical vege- tation. At first sight wonders of the volcanic kind are a little disappointing. The school books that taught us a volcano was " a burning mountain, from the summit of which issues smoke and flame," are to blame for many a bitter disenchantment. As everybody knows who has peeped into the crater of Vesuvius or Stromboh, the smoke is condensed apour, and the flames are the glow of molten material reflected from that vapour. At Wairakei there is no flame, real or reflected, yet the forms of volcanic activity are many and strange. The Geyser Valley is a vast fissure extending many miles, JtOUXD THE EMPIRE. 103 in which geysers, mud volcanoes, thermal springs, boil- •iir: pools, and hot streams betray the existence of heated material at no great depth from the surface Whether they denote the beginning or the end of a cycle of Igneous activity is a point for disputation. It may be that these vt-nts from which escape the imprisoned gases and vapours are the herr.lds of some approaching paroxysm of nature, or it may be that they indicate a derhne m force and temperature. To reach the valley we had to pass our morning bath, and learned from the guide that it is known as Kiri-o- lune-kai. or " Food for the skin of a young maiden." A short walk along a narrow track through a thick ti-tree bush brought us to the edge of the valley. The day was showery, and a heavy, cold mist clung to the hill-sides makmg the deep gorge look like a boiling caldron.' Clouds of steam sprang out of the sombre depths massive, whitp columns shot into the sky to break and vanish in a myriad shining atoms. As we followed the green pathway in its steep descent the song of Wairakei. or " Sparkling Water." fell upon the ear— now a moun- tain torrent, now a roaring cataract, now a glittering waterfall, and now a hot pool. Tracing its rocky and winding course through a tangle of green scrub, feathery manuka, vivid mosses and luxuriant ferns, we came to the geyser known as Nga Mahanga. or the Twins, a large, pear-shaped basin with a brown border of sinter or deposited silica. The basin is divided by a spongy mass, over which the water bubbled and boiled furiously, and then, with a mighty heave, flung itself into the air. The Prince of Wales's Feathers had to be coerced by 1 84 WITH TEE 'OPHIR' withholding his supply of water until the eruptive point was reached, and the triple flood justified his name. Many of these geysers are charged with silica or carbon- ale of lime, which deposits so rapidly that pctrefaction is easy. Hence the eagles' nest formed of branches laid over the mouth of a spring. I cannot attempt to describe all the wonders of this valley— the Lightning Pool, out of whose blue depths dart great bubbles that leave behind a trail of light, the Steam Hammer that beats until the earth trembles, the Great Wairakei who floods the heavens from a black cliffy, the Champagne Pool whose sparkling surface breaks into a myriad silvery bubbles as the carbonic acid gas escapes, the Dragon's Mouth which looks like a leering saurian vomiting smoke. The mud craters are of several colours according to the nature of the loose argillaceous material amid which they are formed. Some have the colour and consistency of porridge, others arc tinged as with blood. All boil and bubble with a sickly plop-plop as some monstrous bhnd eye bobs to the surface and vanishes with a wicked leer. Terraces white and pink may be seen in process of formation. As the springs overflow they leave a deposit of silica or carbonate on the slope of the hill. This deposit gradually chokes up the vent, and the water, unable to break through the hard rock, has to find a new outlet higher up. Thus, st. i by step, the terraces are built. Most beautiful of all is the Opal Pool, an oval of azure set in frosted silver. Even under the dull wintry sky it shone with the light that never was on land or sea, the glory of the moon and of the stars flashing from clear depths of azure. ROUND THE EMPIRE. i8s Though the phenomena of the valley are not of the kir ^ to excite terror, and though they are seen amid bt-;...titui siii-r-'DvHngs that rob them of much of their ui can.-iiness, thi y are full of interest, scientific as well as p.f trresiue. When the earth steams at every scratch, when the rocks give forth vapour, when the soil boils, and the streams scald, one may wonder at the strange world that trembles and throbs under our feet. There are many other marvels in the neighbourhood of Waira- kei, but our time was short, and we had to be content with the Geyser Valley. After breakfast we resumed our journey to Lake Taupo, turning aside to see the fuma- role in the hills, a narrow funnel at the foot of a grey rock out of whose black throat throbs a great volume of steam that will hurl branches and stones high in the air, and would supply motive power to a factory. To Taupo is six miles of road that follows the winding course of the Waikato river, a noble stream flowing between woody banks. Three miles from Wairakei the river rushes like a mill race between white cliffs, and leaps over a rocky ledge in a quivering flood of amethyst blue. Of the Huka Fall is told a story characteristic of the Maori race of chieftains. Tamatea Pokai Whenua was a great traveller, and with thirty of his braves paddled down the Waikato as far as the village Te Umuheke, where the natives dared him to go furtlier. " No danger cati i.top us," cried tlie chief, and his canoes swept into the rapids, to be swallowed up in the whirlpool below. Hav- ing lunched at the very hospitable inn on the shore of the lake we went on board the steam launch that carries the mail once a week. 1 86 WITH THE OPE IS' Lake Taupo is five times as large as Loch Lomond, and has historic as well as picturesque interest. On the north and east, behind pumice cliffs, stretch deserts of pumice; on the west rise dark rocks that spring sheer from the water a thousand feet, while away to the south tower the smoking summit of Auruhoe and the snow-capped peak of Ruapehu. Our skipper, Mr. Ryan, had been a great traveller, as his books of water-colour sketches show. He was also learned in native lore, and entertained us with many stories of the origin and myth- ology of the Maoris, whom he believed to have come from the Pacific slopes of North America, and to be of the same race as the Red Indian. On the lake and its associations he is an acknowledged authority, and there is hardly a cliff or an inlet that has not its legend or its tale of bloodshed. Motu Taiko, a black rock on the bosom of the lake, is the ancient burial place of the chiefs of tribes who once peopled these shores. It was the custom of the Maoris to collect the bones of their great dead, and to carry them secretly to some almost inaccessible spot, where not even the boldest would ven- ture lest he should incur the penalty of that myste: .ous principle of all-pervading vengeance known as tapu. To this day no native, however educated, cares to approach Motu Taiko. They believe, according to Mr. Ryan, that this sacred island is guarded by immense fish that have power to transform themselves into dragons or men, and to drag into the slimy depths all who come near the abode of the dead. On the cliffs to the west are many traces of " pas," or fortified villages, round which raged many a bloody fight in the days of Hongi, the Eater of Men, ROUND THE EMPIRE. »87 and where cannibal feasts have been held two genera- tions ago. A deserted mission station marks the soli- tude that war and disease have made in this once populous region. Rain and darkness were descending when we came to the south shore of the lake, and we were glad to have the shelter of the inn at Tokaanu, a small native settle- ment at the foot of a range of hills. An attempt to ex- plore the village by the light of a stable lamp plunged us up to the knees in a quagmire, and drove us early to bed. Before daybreak we mounted the box of the mail coach, and began our journey through the King Country, a waste of tussock grass over which roam wild horses, and where a few scattered remnants of once powerful tribes still linger. In a day's journey of forty-four miles we saw no sign of habitation save a few sheep, and a *^'.tive mounted, with a train of women and children rid- haggy ponies. Our halting place for the night was ' ...ouru, an accommodation house in a windy solitude as bleak and bare as the high veldt of the eastern Trans- vaal. We walked half a mile to the dining room, built in the slielter of a depression, and returned to higher and colder altitudes, to sit before a log fire and to sleep soundly. " Une of crimson divided the black sky from the black wilderness when we rose to continue our coach ride. Ruapehu glided out of the darkness until the mountain glistened like a huge iceberg through the clear blue light of dawn. Ruapehu is nearly 9,000 feet high, and has some resemblance to Mount Eiger, in the Bernese Alps. On the summit is a lake that varies in tempera- '** WITH THE OPHIR ture from freezing to boiling point, according to the season. Until the eruption of Tarawera this mountain was looked upon as an extinct volcano, but shortly be- fore the outbreak Ruapehu ejected steam and ashes. Six years ago it again showed signs of energy, the crater lake being converted into a great solfatara. or sulphur spnng. the last stage of volcanic force. Auruhoe is still active, but hid her head in the clouds so that we saw nothing of that great crater out of which issue columns of smoke, visible for many miles, and in which hydrogen and sulphuretted hydrogei' burst into blue flame the moment they come in contact with the air. Some miles from Waiouru we left the desert of rough grass and entered the forest or bush. Until sunset our path ran through woodland scenes of enchanting beauty. On the border of the forest lay many noble trees, scorched by the fires of settlers who find here rich pastoral and agricultural land. Log huts are springing up in the clear- ings, and sheep and cattle and horses feed on the abundant grass. But they have scratched only the edge of the bush, for in a moment or two we are in the silent heart of the primaeval forest. Gigantic kauri gum trees tower a hundred feet overhead, spreading branches and deep green leaves casting shadows on the smooth grey bark. The uikau, or Southern palm, graces the sheltered glades, and the fern tree raises its plumed head over a tropical labyrinth >{ tangled scrub and interwoven creepers. The feathery rata twines among the golden green of the drooping riinu and the darli t tara, while from the moist loam-beds spring grasses, and ferns, and hght-tinted shrubs, woven in an impenetrable wall of ROUND THE EMPIRE. green. Deep in the forest glade lies the Immlet of Raetihi, where we stopped for lunch, and tasted sonic of the dairy produce that will one day make it a prosperous town. Again we plunged into the bush, following the winding course of the stream, wjiose voice we heard out of the luxuriant depths of the woody go.ge. From this enchanted forest of evergreen trees \\e descended to Pipiriki, a delightful villacre on the bank of rhe Wanganui ri\'er. The Wanganui is one of the most famous and beau- tiful of forest rivers. As we glided over the rapids in the- httle steamer next day, Mr. Barron pointed out the scenes of battles and sieges and cannibal orgies, but we willingly forgot these incidents in admiration of the river itself. For miles the broad waters race between green banks, dotted with flax and the scent. d wattle or mii )sa. From' the height of blue clay cliffs nods the golden plume of loe-toe. a tall pampas grass, and among the giistenin^- karaka flies the crimson-headed parakeet, and the kaklj or native parrot. We stopped now and then in front of a group of women and dark-eyed children who had come from the village on the hill to watch the passage of the boat. Jerusalem and Corinth we passed— the former a Roman Catholic mission station, and both of them tempt- ing enough to induce the tourist to stay his flight. In some places the bank is so steep that the Maori descends to his canoe by a ladder. Twice we came upon nati-o canoes, in which th - naked islanders knelt and paddk.d with their faces to the prow. Seeing them, one can understand how they looked upon the first white sailors. who rowed with faces from the shore, as goblins with eyes I90 WITH THE 'OPIIIR' h in the back of their heads. Thus we came to Wanganui, where we took rail to WelHngton, not without regret at leaving a country so full of beauty and romance that man has not yet marred. LOUND THE EMPIBB. 191 CHAPTER XXVI. A LAND OF ORCHARDS. The La..t of New Zeala„d-Hobnrt-The Resources of Tasmania —The -Switzerland of the South. MOUNT Cook, a pillar of ice, caressed by rosy fingers of dawn, was our last vision of New Zealand. As it faded from red to white,from substance into shadow.we felt once more uxider our feet the broad shoulders of the Pacific. A wind came up from the snowy south, and moved over the face of waters that have half the world for playground. We looked upon a troubled sea, and tasted the sorrow of be.ing rocked in the cradle of the deep. It is a cherished article of faith among people who go to sea in books that the sailor is never so happy as when he is bounding over tlie salt waves. I have always taken a higher view of the commonsense of the sailor-man, and the experience of seven months has shown that I was right. He loves the shore better than the sea, and thereby proves his wisdom and the cunning of those who caught him young. Sailor and landsman rejoiced when the green banks of Tasmania rose out of the sea, and were glad at the sight of Storm Bay. Hobart is like a bashful maiden. She does not dis- play her charms to the first glance. They steal upon you as you pass in the shadow of a grand headland to an island of basaltic pillars that looks like the graceful ruin of some Eastern temple. Blue mountains and a blue bay ! That IS Port Arthur— a name to pale the cheek of men who 192 WITH THE OPBin' I! recall the horrors of convict settlements. Then you come to the woody island of Franklin, where they tried to breed English game, and on through narrowii g shores into the estuary of the Derwent. One bend of the broad river, and you see the city, her white feet bathed in green meadows, and her golden head nestling on the dark bosom of a snow-capped mountain. We are a comparative race, but the man who would compare the Derwent with Sydney harbour would compare " El Penseroso " with " Paradise Lost." There is one glory of tiie sun, and another glory of the moon. Sydney is magnificent in her emeral-' -rjrdle, set with many a sparkling inlet and bay. Hobai . . the grace of mountain and of meadow. We lay on the still blue water. To port were sloping fields of vivid green and golden brown, and dark hedgerows, among which gleamed the white points of some God's acre. To star- board the river wandered, now broadening, now shrink- ing, along the foot of woody hills. And in front, over wharf and shipping, the white town climbed, tier on tier and gable on gable, until house and church and tower were lost in black woods, over which the snows of Mount Wellington hung like a sunlit cloud. For a city of thirty-seven thousand people, Hobart covers a great area. Its streets are narrow and irregular, yet they have a bright and cheerful aspect that one asso- ciates with a thriving and active community. Some of the public buildings would do credit to cities with ten times the population. Government House, in which the Prince and Princess were lodged, is the finest viceregal residence in Australasia, and Macquarie Street is as pretty as any street in Sydney or Melbourne. Here, between the Post I' I 5' ■ - M Si Hi Photo : Bnitlii , Hob'i't KING RIVER. TASMANIA. ROVNT) THE EMPIRE Office and the Royal Society's Museum, is a pleasure ground, with walks an.l shrubberies an.l f.sh ponds a„d statuary. One bronze fi-ure you could not pa. without notice. It ,s Tasraan's tribute to one of her rroat governors. .Sir John Franklin, who gained renown as an explorer, and left his bones in Arctic regions. I>ankl,n founded the Royal Society, whose care for more than half a century has been the natural beauties and physical character of the island. The Society has made a park and garden of the Domain-a green promontory overlook- ing the Derwcnt. Fine banks and well-stocked shops speak of league-long strides in commerce since the day when the current coin was the " ring " dollar-the Spanish dollar with a hole in the middle-and when it might be said m truth, as Sydney Smith said in jest, that a juror excused himself for non-attendance on the Dund that he had sent a man fifty miles with a sack of flour to buy a pair of breeches, and the messenger had not returned. One of our first visits was to Parliament House, to call upon the Premier. Mr. Elliott Lewis, and the Treasurer, Mr. Stafford Bird, to whom we were indebted for many privileges. Mr. Lewis is an Oxford man and, like so many politicians in Australasia, a lawyer. His presence in the State Legislature is proof that the Federal Parliament has not exhausted the stock of enlightened and capable public men. No one, I think, even in Australasia, will deny that the Federal Parliament has absorbed very many of the best men, and that the State Legislatures must tend to become mere County Councils. The reduction made in the number of State members is a hint that the people are unwilling to bear the expense of two legislative and If i'i 194 WITH THE OPIIIR' administrative bodies, for here, as in the TTnitcd States of America, the representatives of each assembly — State and Federal — receive salaries. Four days gave no time for excursions into the inte- rior or for personal observation of the resources of the island. Tasmania has gold-fields that draw many active and enterprising men from town to country, and account for the apparent drop in the population of the capital from 47,000 to 35,000, according to the new census. She has rich pastures, too, and the masters of flocks no longer burn the wool as a waste product. And there are gardens and orchards, for Tasmania is the Apple Land of the South, and can supply the whole of Australia with fruit and jam. Now that the island is part of the Commonwealth, she will be free to develop this special industry without the crush- ing burden of prohibitive tariffs. Of the wealth and commercial activity of the country and smaller towns we had no opportunity of judging save by reports and Blue- books. The capital of th3 State cannot fail, however, to give some indication of the true condition of the people, and Hobart certainly impresses one favourably. To those accustomed to the strenuous competition of older communities in Europe, it might seem that life flows a little too easily for great achievement. But there are compensations. Breathing this pure, invigorating air, looking on this well-dressed and healthy people, seeing the comfort and cleanliness in which even the poorest live, one cannot but account them happy. Although the majority of the 170,000 Tasmanians are Colonial bom, their attachment to the Motherland is strong. The en- thusiasm with which they welcomed the Prince and ROUND THE EMPIRE '95 Princess is one of the most inspiring memories of the tour In South Africa they have pivcn substantial proof of their interest in all that concerns the welfare of the Empire Mr. R. M. Johnston, the Government statistician, who unites ,n one person the attainments of an academy of science, showe " me that if the United Kingdom, with ;.335.ooo men at soldier's age-that is. between twenty and forty-had contributed in the same proportion as Tasmania, she would have put into the field 132 (Xx) volunteers. One out of every hundred men at soldier's'age in the Australian Commonwealth and New Zealand has served in the war. The review, at which his Royal High- ness presented medals to men from the front, showed that there is still in the island the nucleus of a serviceable little force. Nature, in creating her beautiful, has set limits to the resources of Tasmania. She may never become a great commercial or industrial State. Yet she has made great stndes. In 181; Hobart had one thousand inhabitants who lived in huts. Close to the wharf at which their Royal Highnesses landed is a little tongue of low land sticking out into the Derwent. One hundred men were hanged there in a single year. To-day crimes of robbery- and violence are practically unknown. For nearly half a century Tasmania was a convict settlement, and the names Van Dieman's Land and Port Arthur b ing back memories of horror, when men did murder to escape from prison to the grave, and the land was infested with bush- rangers like Brady, who set convicts free to ravish and murder. And these were times when the settler had to face not merely the escaped convict and the bushranger, 196 WITTl TEE 'OPHIR' but the native, made desperate by the loss of his hunting- grounds and his children, who perished miserably from starvation. Tasmania is now the only place in Austral- asia that has no native problem. As we entered Storm Bay, we passed the peninsula into which the negroid aborigines were to have been driven in 1829 by a force of 3,000 exasperated men. One native and a boy were the capture, and when the Wesleyan enthusiast Robinson mustered the entire race in Flinders Island, there were only 203. The last representative of this primitive people died a quarter of a century ago, and in Sydney I saw her skull — the treasured possession of an ardent philosopher. Looking back on these terrible pages in her history, one must be filled with wonder at the progress of the island. Like the Middle or South island of New Zealand, Tasmania claims to be the Switzerland of the South. It is a land of mountain and forest, and you need not go many miles from Hobart to come under the spell. Mr. Robinson took us for a drive up Mount Wellington through the forest of pines and gum trees that flourish among the snows. We saw the ravages of fires that sweep over miles of country. The little log church, saved by British tars at the risk of their lives, stands in the cindered heart of a woody combe. We looked down upon the magnificent valley of the Derwent over mountain and river and dale, and saw that oiu: kinsmen at the uttermost ends of the earth have truly a noble and a beautiful heritage. ROUND THE EMPIRE. •97 CHAPTER XXVII. THE MODEL CITY OF ADELAIDE. Arrival at Adelaide-Its Charms and Beauties-The Royal Visit to he Un.versity-A Happy Inspiration-The wfnc n dustry of South Australia. WHEN the St. George dropped anchor in Largs Bay on Wednesday July the loth. the dull thud of guns floated across the broken water of the roadstead. The Prince and Princess had already landed at Port Adelaide, and the Ophtr was rolling in the bay, which some patriotic Ayrshireman named after " the glorious plain. Where still gigantic bones remain. Memorial of the Danish war" The escorting cruiser had been detained at Hobart to pick up a few sailors who had " broken leave." It was blowing hard, and the little tug that put out to the St. George tossed hke a cork in the gutter. From the lofty deck of the warship the shore looked a perilous distance, but in time, and with much buffeting, I set foot on land, and hurried through Croydon and Norwood and orange groves to the capital of South Australia. Kensington, Dulwich. Fulham,Mile End! Truly, the founders of Adelaide must have lived within sound of Bow Bells There are men who can recall the time when the British Colony of South Australia was a few tents on a barren beach-men who stood in the shadow of the historic gum tree at Glen- elg in 1836 to hear Captain John Hmdmarsh read the proclamation of King WiUiam IV. 198 WITH THE OPHin' A model city has sprung from these tents— a city of churches and colleges and museums and stately public buildings, and parks and gardens. Adelaide is certainly one of the most dainty towns in Australasia, and was worthily chosen to welcome the Prince and Princess on their return to the Continent. To the life and magni- ficence of the city she has added the grace and beauty of the country. You come upon these charms by degrees, for Adelaide is some miles from the sea, and you reach it through scattered suburbs that have the air of common- place prosperity. Port Adelaide a'one looked sulky and slovenly, probably because Com- lore Winsloe showed little faith in the capacity of a .arbour to receive his ship. The pilot was confide ough, and ships of much greater tonnage than the U^nir enter the port in all weathers. • ^ t Their Royal Highnesses met with the heartiest ot welcomes in the crowded and decorated streets. At the Town Hall they were presented with addresses, and m Victoria Square, near the bronze statue of Queen Victoria, they watched the flight of hundreds of carrier pigeons, bearing the news of their arrival to all parts of the State. Then they made a triumphal procession through the city. The streets of Adelaide are laid out as regularly as the streets of Washington or Philadelphia. They run due north and south and east and west, with squares and gardens skilfully interposed, to break the rectilineal stiff- ness North Terrace is especially fine. With its museum, its art gallery-the best in Australia-its library, and s-hool of mines and botanical gardens, it reminds one of Oxford or some academic city. The gardens cover a i I ROUND THE EMPIRE. ,99 hundred acres or more, and are an unending source of delight. Under wide-spreading trees — many of them ii' n the old home — are dazzling flower-beds and leafy walks. There are rosaries and palm-houses and museums of economic botany that would do credit to Kew itself. Adelaide is also a city of churches. T' are no fewer than one hundred and five places of worship, of which six- teen are Anglican, twenty-four Wesleyan, and eight Roman Catholic. Many, like the Anglican cathedral, consecrated on Sunday in the presence of the Prince and Prmcess, are of great architectural beauty. And four- square round the city is drawn a green band of park lands, half a mile wide — an urnbrageous frame to the white, shining city. These lands the Government have wisely vested in trustees, so that they may be preserved to the people for ever. The only objection, I believe, comes from a section of the Labour Party, who, with character- istic short-sightedness, complain of the was'e of valuable land on which mouths might be fed. Besides all this, there is the Oval— where the children danced and sang to the delight of the Princess — and the great National Park, with many beautiful forest dells. In short, you see everywhere in Adelaide proofs of the civic pride and public spirit of the people, whose boast is that they were the first to introduce municipal life into Australia. Adelaide gives her children a splendid education. Primary instruction is free and compulsory, and the average standard of culture is high, though the tendency — natural in a new and undeveloped country — is to make careers rather than scholars. Their Royal Highnesses attended the special congregation of the University, and f! 200 WITH THE 'OPHIR' were greatly impressed. This institution is not thirty years old, and owes its existence to the Hberality of the late Sir Watson Hughes and the late Sir Thomas Elder. The undergraduates number 238, of whom a considerable proportion are women, Adelaide having been first in Australia to grant tl:em degrees. The Prince was made a Doctor of Laws, and the Princess would have had a like honour, for the undergraduates sang: "The Duke will get an LL.D., An honour well deserved, and we. Had we our Way, would here, to-day, Another give to Princess May." The Adelaide students' wit was far above the average, and had a note of refinement and culture not always heard in the University demonstrations we had witnessed. One song gave especial pleasure, and was a happy inspiration, for it voiced the sentiment of every man, woman, and child who has watched the royal progress of the Princess. It was Herrick's simple and beautiful lay : *' There is a ladyc sweet and kind, Whose winsome face so pleas'd our mind, We did but see her passing by, Yet we shall love her till we die." To this charming- compliment tlic undergraduates added a verse of their own composing : " In other lands is loved her name. Fair are her features, fair her name. And tho' she be but passing by. Yet we shall love her till wc die." His Royal Highness laid the foundation stone of an ex- tension to the University buildings, and unveiled Wool- ner's statue of the late Lord Tennyson, a graceful com- j « 1 ROUND THE EMPI^Z. 20I pliment to the poet's son, the Governor of South Aus- tralia. He also reviewed the local forces, who gave one more demonstration of the military spirit and training of the people, and of the value of the rifle clubs established under the Defence Act. These associations are nume- rous and efficient, and date from iS;;, when war seemed imminent with Russia, As to the natural resources of South Australia, there is more than one opinion. Some people deny that it has any great potentialities of development, owing to the nature of the soil and the uncertainty of the rainfall. There is one industry, at any rate, that seems to flourish, and that is the wine industry. Eight distilleries and twenty-eight breweries give employment to large num- bers of people in various parts of the Colonies. In the year 1900 over a million and a half gallons of wine were made, and the revenue from beer and spirits was ;£"38,825. Through the kindness of the representatives of the Ade- laide newspapers I was able to visit Seppeltsfield, forty- five miles from the capital, at the foot of the Barossa Ranges. Here, in 1 85 1 , a German named Benno Seppelt planted a small vineyard and set up a business which, under the direction of his sons and grandsons, has become the largest of its kind in Australia. The journey carried us through rich agricultural country and three or four townships of established prosperity. The Colony owes these to German settlers, most of whom came to Australia without any capital save their industry and thrift. Mr. Seppelt gave me what he called a typical example of a German immigrant, who brought up a family of eleven on a grant of land of one hundred acres, and dying, left 202 WITH TUB OPHIR' £i,$(X). These men, at any rate, have shown that the resources of South Australia are capable of great and profitable exploitation, despite acknowledged drawbacks. That, too, is the view of people who are best qualified to judge, as I learned under the hospitable roof of Sir Samuel Way, Chief Justice of the State — a delightful host and a storehouse of information, as Mr. Froude found z g < < SOUND THE EMPIRE. 303 CHAPTER XXVIII. FAREWELL TO AUSTRALIA. Lough Weather— 'Tis an lU Wind, etc.— The Surprise Visit to Albany — Fremantle. A SULKY sea was breaking against the bows of the Royal Arthur on the morning of July the 1 5th when I went on board the flagship of the Australian Squadron in Largs Bay. The necessities of his Majesty's Navy had sent the St. George and Juno to coal at Albany, and the honour of escorting the Royal yacht fell to Admiral Beaumont With that ready hospitality which so well becomes a dis- tinguished sailor, the Admiral offered me passage. The Royal Arthur is a sister ship of the St. George, in which I sailed from Portsmouth, and resembles her save in one particular. She has a higher forecastle — a decided ad- vantage in heavy weather, though it deprives her of two 9.2 guns, for which six-inch guns have been substituted. High forecastle did not, however, give us release from the discomforts of crossing the Great Australian Bight in a heavy sea, with a strong north-west wind. No sooner had we lost sight of Kangaroo Island than we felt the roll of the ocean beneath us. The night of the 15th was black and troubled, and in the morning the heavens were draped in harmonies of silver-grey while around us tumbled a mountainous, foam-capped sea. That night and the next were wild and turbulent. The wind played strange music among ropes and spars, Mk **♦ WITH THE OPHIR' and across the darkness gleamed the lights of the Ophir now flashing on the crest of a wave, now plunged into blackness. Being by the mercy of Providence a bom sailor. I was able to keep a cheerful heart, even though my sea legs occasionally failed me. The ward-room, usually as well ordered as the library of a club, became the scene of smgular and fantastic exploits. The long dining-table accepted the " fiddles " as excuse for a dance across the floor. The chairs, without waiting to ask leave of occu- pants, followed in a wild caper, and a green sea. mistaking the skylight for a scupper, fell upon the astonished head of a cynic, who was striving to fathom the motives that inspired the volume " Hurrah for the Life of a Sailor! " Signor Martino, the painter, and formerly an officer in the Italian Navy, clung tenaciously to the edge of a table, while he declaimed in glowing periods on the stability and the solidity of a man-of-war ; a sedate doctor of medicine raced madly across the room, and fell heavily on an un- lucky correspondent, who. a couple of wild leaps, succeeded in reaching an r .^^ed table half a second in advance. On the morning of the 19th we were still labouring in troubled waters. The white hull of the Ophir was bound- ing like a cork, now on a foamy crest, now hidden in some green chasm, out of which her funnels shot clouds of black sr .oke. It was an inspiring sight to stand on the heaving deck of the great warship and look out upon the surface of the sea, broken into ridges of enormous swell, to watch the tossing waves lift themselves in dark, fantastic forms of towering hills, capped with snow, to peer into the deep ROUND THE EMPIRE. aos chasms of whirling water, to behold them rise in wild groups and advance like an avalanche upon the ship, and to hear " the deep-drawn breath of the storm." Yet, after all, it was not a storm in the language of seamen. We logged " 7," which means " a moderate gale." At eight o'clock the Ophir and her escort were thirty miles to the south-west of Cape Leeuwin. We had just begun the chase after our breakfast when Commodore Winsloe signalled his intention of putting back to Albany. The wind being in the west, and the glass still falling, he feared that he would be unable to enter the river at Fre- mantle. This decision caused some surprise, for their Royal Highnesses were due in Perth next morning. Ten minutes later we were retracing our steps, and at two o'clock on Saturday morwmg Ophir and Royal Arthur were anchored in smooth water at Albany. When the little town awoke it was astonished and delighted to find that for the third time the Prince had paid Albany an unexpected visit, for here the Ophir called on our arrival in Australia, and here, too, the Bacchante, in her famous cruise with the two Royal Princes, found refuge when disabled. The pleasant little town, sloping down to the sea be- tween hills covered with bush, was jubilant, for between her and Fremantle there has been no love since the mail- boats gave preference to the western port. The Mayor, the members of the Corporation, and most of the citizens had gone to Perth to welcome their Royal Highnesses, and had taken with them all the railway carriages fit for a fifteen hours' journey. The Prince and Princess accord- ingly spent a quiet day in the Ophir, and at nine o'clock 306 WITH TUB 'OPUIR' on Sunday morning set out for Perth, amid the hearty cheers of the people. The landscape of the Australian Continent has little variety, and the journey of thre«^ hundred and fifty miles introduced the Royal party to no lew or striking features. The train moved slowly across yellow plains, the bareness of which vas relieved by many nass trees, among which is the strar ge Kingia, with ilc""^ o[ , 3 surrounding the head like a crown, by the r>i! . Ike Macrozamia, the giant Karri, and the famous Ji. ah— Eucalyptus marginata — whose durability has m.'iu it a valuable commercial commodity. Despite the nakedness of the land, its capital is a rich and flourishing city, with a population of forty thousand, whose wealth is drawn mainly from the gold-fields. Perth covers a wide area on the north bank of the Swan River, which broadens out into a lake, the outlet from which is hidden by the natural formation of the southern bemk. The streets are broad, and contain many fine buildings, and the people have the bearing and the dress of men who live an energetic and prosperous life. When one recalls the fact that not many years ago Western Aus- traha was the Cinderella of the Colonies, with a poor and scattered population, the marvel is that so rich and beauti- ful a city should have sprung up quickly. The discovery of gold and other precious minerals has trcinsformed the sterile plains into gardens and hives of industry, cind given to the Colony potentialities of imtold wealth. The Prince and Princess had a magnificent reception. Sir John Forrest, of course, was there, and interested everybody in his great scheme for carrying water to Cool- gardie. These gold-fields a. ^ 370 miles from Perth, in ROUND THE EMPIRE. VI the rainless interior, where water costs from fourpcm e to sixpence a gallon. A vast reservoir has been built in the Greenmount Ranf^es, near the coast, and nearly four hundred miles of pifjes will carry the water to Mount Burgers, overlooking Coolgardie. It is a p^rcat enter- prise, worthy of a great pioneer like Sir John F(»rrest. The farewell at Freniantle on Friday, July the 2r)th, must have quickened the pul ,c a, id fired the imagination of all who beheld it, whether from the white deck of the warships or from the white beach. Among the many thousands who lined the slowly receding shore were few whose eyes were andimmed with emotion. The Prince and Princess were deeply moved. And well might they be, for they were looking on the closing scene of a pro- gress that will be memorable in their lives and itj the history of the Empire over which it is their destiny to rule. For nearly three months they had been the inspiration of a succession of glowing pageants, and had borne witness to the strong affection of this young and vigorous Com- monwealth for the land and for the race that gave it birth. They had been acclaimed in cities crowded with men and women with whom patriotism is still the supreme virtue — men and women proud of their race, and eager to defend its Empire. They had journeyed many thousands of miles, and had seen that every acre won from the wilder- ness is an acre added to British soil, and carries upon it men and women inferior in mental and physical qualities to no people in the world — men and women who thrive and multiply without ceasin^^ *^- be Brit'^ns, who have faith in their destiny, and will shrink from no sacrifice in the hour of peril. *°* WITH THE 'OPIJIR' And so we turned our faces to the West, not without a touch of melancholy, yet with sure and certain hope that should gloomy prophecy be fulfilled, and power and com- merce pass from the West to the East, we have firmly seated on the shores of the Pacific a strong and energetic people, who will carry through succeeding ages the tradi- tions and successes of the race. ^r^-- mVND THE EMPIRE. 209 Our CHAPTER XXIX. THE ISLAND OF MAURITIUS Longest Voyage— Fine Steaming— Port Louis— The Sugar Industry — Mauritian Mauritians— Curepipe— The Race Question. Day was drawing to a close when we dropped anchor in the narrow stream before Port Louis. Soft clouds, golden in the sunlight, hung over peaks that rose like gigantic needles out of lofty volcanic hills. The sharp cone of Pieter Botte, and the line of crags pointing monstrous fingers to the blue sky, drew long shadows across the green slopes of sugar cane that stretched lazily down to the sapphir- sea. The ambient yellow light, the warm breath of the wmd, the rich luxuriance of grass and tree, told us that we were once more in the tropics, and that here we would find a race of men differing in colour, in language, and in thought from those we had left behind. The voyage from Australia to Mauritius had been un- pleasant. No sooner did we quit the shelter of the coast than we felt the long roll of the Pacific. The Ophir was escorted by Admiral Beaumont, in the Royal Arthur, to a point two hundred miles from the Australian shore. Here .he was met by the Juno, and started on her voyage of three thousand miles at a speed of fifteen knots. The St. George had already proceeded at eleven knots to a rendezvous i,;;4 miles distant, and here the three ships came together again on the morning of Wednesday, July 3 1 St. Mauritius was sighted on Sunday, August the 4th. 2IO WITH THE 'OPHIR This was our longest sea passage — 3,170 miles — and the Prince marked his satisfaction by signalling his pleasure at the fine steaming of the ships. The greatest credit, he added, was due to the stokers and engineers. Mr. Black, of the 5/. George, Mr. White, of the Juno, and Mr. Grey, of the Ophir, and their staffs are certainly deserving of the highest compliment, for without their skill, fore- sight, and energy such a voyage would have been im- possible. The Jtino deserves especial praise, seeing that on this occasion she vindicated the capacity of the escort- ing cruisers, on which doubt had arisen in the popular mind by reason of certciin incidents — for which they were altogether irresponsible — in Australian waters. Captain Routh, Commander Lafone, and every officer in the Juno showed the utmost professional keenness, and were rewarded by creating a record for continuous steaming by a second-class cruiser. The sole regret was that the St. George wjis not permitted to share this triumph. At Port Louis the officer of health came on board, and reported that no case of plague had been reported for sixteen days. This was satisfactory, seeing that the plague has been prevalent in Mauritius since 1 898, when it is said to have been introduced from Madagascar. The sun had set as I put off from the ship. Glowing bars of crimson and green and gold stretched across the western sea, and fell upon the waves in ripples of brilliant and ever-changing hue, and from the solemn space of starlit sky hung a veil of fine gold, through which the dim light shone as from a shadowy world. With the doctor was an octoroon — a garrulous gentleman who led us to believe that in Port Louis we should find ail the luxuries and ROUND THE EMPIRE. 3rt '/ comforts for which the heart of man craves after days at sea. The hotel was uninviting and crowded to over- flowing, and after long search through the dark and dismal streets we found refuge in the fort, where the officers of the Garrison Artillery received us with that frank and warm hospitality which Englishmen— and especially soldiers— rarely fail to develop when duty sets them down in strange lands. Port Louis has few attractions as a place of residence. It lies on a fever-haunted plain by the sea. The streets are narrow, and the houses mean and untidy, after the manner of the East. Yet not in Colomb- nor in Singa- pore, did we see a stranger or a more bewildering sight than upon that blazing afternoon when the Prince and Princess landed. From the green pavilion on the beach along the broad avenue to Government House— hidden behind a canopy of feathery green— far into the narrow streets, lined with stores and houses, stretched a motley crowd. Their faces were of every shade of black and white— from the ebony of Central Africa, on through the varying darkness of mulatto, and quadroon, and octoroon to the light Creole; from the chocolate of Tamil and Chettie of Southern India, to the ycllov/ of the Chinamnn. And the dress was as diverse as the race. Coolies in dingy cotton robes mingled with their countrywomen from India— dark, bright-eyed women, with braided hair, in crimson and white mantles, their arms and ankles heavy with silver ornaments. Chinese in shiny nankine and cone-shaped hats of straw, rubbed shoulders with nmlat- toes, and quadroons, and octoroons whose mixed blood is reflected in their dress— European in foni, and barbaric in A 313 WITH THE OPHIS' I. « I> > i colour. The true Creole is French — for until early in the last century Mauritius was a French colony, known as the Isle de France — and preserves the characteristics of that race in dress and habits. As their Royal Highnesses drove through the streets between the lines of stalwart Madras infantry and the dark blue uniform of the British gunners, they looked once more on a microcosm of the Empire, and were acclaimed by a babel of tongues such as has never fallen on the ear of any but a prince of Great Britain. The ceremonies were quickly over. Sir Charles Bruce, the Governor, read an address of welcome, to which the Prince replied in words so gracious and tactful that they won the admiration of every section of this strange community. He spoke of the historic and literary tradi- tions of the island, in which both French and British have pride, and made sympathetic allusion to the difficulties of the great industry on which depends the prosperity of the people. His Royal Highness then laid the founda- tion stone of a monument which the loyalty of the Colony is raising to the memory of Queen Victoria. Having dis- charged these duties the party drove to Le Reduit, the country residence of the Governor, on the salubrious heights some miles from the town. Here their Royal Highnesses remained until the time came for embarking. By invitation of Sir Charles Bruce and the Colonial Secretary, Sir Graham Bower, my comrades and I spent the three days at Curepipe, the residential town of the island. The railway rises rapidly from the coast to the lofty tableland on which the scattered hamlet is built. The slop>es are covered with sugar cane, fringed with dark 1 1 ROUND THE EMPIRE green mango trees. Forests have fallen to make room for sugar cane, and with them has gone much of the pictur- I esque beauty so idyUically described by Bernadin St. Pierre in the romance of " Paul and Virginia." Yet there remain many beautiful ebony trees and cocoanut palms, and aloes with the long stem blossom Gardens and com- pounds are hedged with feathery bamboo or croton, with deep autumn tints, and over the roofs of the houses hang the flamboyant acacia— known as " The flame of the forest." Curepipe is seventeen or eighteen hundred feet above the sea— a pretty little hamlet, set among deep warm hedgerows and vivid green meadows. The inhabi- tants are for the most part coolies, though Europeans and Creoles make it their residence in the hot months. One drawback there is to Curepipe— it rains almost un- ceasingly. The annual rainfall is not less than 1 50 inches. Terrific tornadoes sweep across the island, doing great damage to the cane, and occasionally, as in 1892, levelling the houses to the ground. This was not the season for sugar. The tall chimneys rising above the corrugated iron roofs of the factories were smokeless ; the aerial wires that carry the nit cane were motionless ; he giant wheels and heavy rol s that grind and crush the cane silent. We were, therefore, unable to witness the wonderful process by which the sugar cane is reduced first to a brown juice, then clarified l-y sulphur, and crystalliserl in vacuo. .Sucjar is thr staiilr - - one might almost say the sole industry of the island. De- spite hurricanes, and drought, and beetroot, it manages to maintain i.s position, especially in India and at the Cape. In 1899, iG4,9i I tons were exported, together with nearly I> 't 214 WITH THE OPIIIR' one and a half million litres of rum and twelve and a half million kilos of molasses. I am told that the conditions under which cane is grown are rapidly changing. Great estates are being cut up into small holdings, which Indian coolies cultivate, selling the produce at remunerative prices to mill-owners, who crush the cane and deal directly with brokers. Every year these holdings increase in number, for the coolie is a thrifty and an industrious person, who will work hard and live on a handful of rice. One con- sequence must be the disappearance of the mulatto, the octoroon, and the quadroon. However intelligent, they have not the application and the capacity to live on a pit- tance possessed by their rivals the coolies and the Chinese. Already the Indians number 261,739, or over two-thirds of the total population of the island. Of these, 199,352 were born in Mauritius. The Chinese are not very niunerous. There are about four thousand of them, and the number cannot be increased without the consent of a committee or trade union of Chinamen, which also regulates the price of every article sold by their com- patriots. Nearly all the retail trade is in the hands of Chinese, who here, as in Singapore, are the wealthiest class in the coloured community. The rest of the people are seven hundred British officials, soldiers, and residents, 8,000 persons of French extraction — to whom alone the name crcole may be properly applied — and 106,040 men, women, and children of negro or mixed blood. The difficulty of governing this community must be great. Despite the fact that Mauritius has been an English Colony since 1810, the language is still French. It is true that I he half-castes, who, apart from Asiatics, BOUND THE EMPIRE. 2,5 form the greater part of the people, are taught English in the schools ; but at home, in the streets, and in the ordi- nary business of life they speak a French dialect The French Creoles and the British do not readily coalesce. Not merely their language but their habits, even their food and the hours of their meals — a most important factor in all social intercourse— differ. Here, as in Europe, the sympathies of the French are rarely with us. A very re- markable illustration of this might be found in the copy books " recommended for use in the schools." The backs of these copy books are illustrated with coloured pictures of the war in South Africa, and have explanations in French. More shameless travesties of history it would be impossible to find, and only a weak administration could have permitted their sale in the island. Like all half-breeds, the Mauritians are indolent, vain, and sensi- tive—characteristics that go far to destroy those qualities of good temper, intelligence, and grace which many of them undoubtedly possess. The introduction of the elective principle into the government of the Colony has added to the burden of the administration, and the friction that occasionally arises between the military and civil authorities is a further cause of weakness. Yet, in spite of these difficulties and drawbacks, it is an indisputable fact that not one per cent, of the French population would exchange the Union Jack for the tricolor of the Republic. The hearty welcome given to the Prince and Princess was evidence of the loyalty of the people, and if further proof were sought it inight be found in a few moments' talk with reprcscnlalivc men, v,'hose names and languaivc leavf: no doubt as to their race and origin. ai6 WITH THE opnin' CHAPTER XXX. IN THE SHADOW OF WAR. Arrival at Durban— Maritzburg en Fete— 0\d Friends— Heroes of the War— The Distribution of V.C.'s and D.S.O.'s— The Zulus Pay Homage. In Natal there was an air of realism that gave to the visit of the Prince and Princess a new interest and a new savour. We were in the very shadow of war. The little band of heroes who came to Maritzburg on August the 14th to receive the badge of courage at the hands of the Prince brought with them the atmosphere of the veldt. Their sun-blackened faces and lean, sinewy figures needed not khaki tunic and putties to proclaim many of them straight from the field. Lord Kitchener, too, was a stern reminder of the actualities of the moment. Over his stern, strong face flitted the shadov^ of a smile like a gleam of the sun on some dark mountain tarn, and straightway men began to prophesy the end of the war. My own thoughts ran on the contrasts of two continents- Australia, with its homogeneous population of British origin, firm and single-minded in devotion to the Empirr, South Africa, with its conflictin: elements of race, and its discordant ambitions and idei- refining and purifyinj::^ in the crucible of war. The landing at Durban was effected without diffi- culty. Under normal conditions you are swimg from •IP' ' ROUND THE EMPIRE. 2,7 your ship in a basket and set down on the deck of a tug that tosses you across the bar. No basket was needed for their Royal Highnesses. They stepped from the Ophir on to the tug, and steamed into the harbour in the wake of the gunboat Thrush, which was the Prince's first command at sea. On the wharf they were welcomed by the Governor, Sir H. McCallum, members of the Ministry, the Mayor, and Consular representa- 'ives. The streets were decorated, and the people cheered as the long procession of carriages and mounted men made its way to the Town Hall, where addresses were presented and speeches made. In the Albert Park were no fewer than eleven thousand children, whose sweet voices were raised in welcome. To appreciate the beauty of Durban you must look down upon the bay from the wooded heights of the Berea, a suburb of gar- dens and mansions on slopes that rise behind the town. The view from this point recalls some of the most favoured spots on the Riviera. Unhappily, this pleasure was denied to their Royal Highnesses, for the day was wet and dismal, and a drive to the Berea would have given httle pleasure. After lunch the Royal party took train to Maritz- burg, the capital of the Colony. It is nearly two years since I first made this journey under conditions so strangely dififerent that I may be forgiven for dwelling upon them. Sir George White was then hurrying north- ward to meet the onrush of the Boers through the passes of the Biggarsberg and the Drakensberg. What a con- trast was there to this well-ordered pageantry — men springing to arms for the defence of their homes, women i 3l8 WITH TUB 'OPHIR' and children in whose eyes burned the sacred fire of patriotism, and whose voices, as they sang the war songs of our race, rang clear and strong like the note of the bugle sounding the charge. The memory of that supreme moment came upon me with a blinding rush. I saw once more the eager multitude on whom the fierce spirit of their fathers had descended ; saw the defender of Ladysmith grasp hands with Penn-Symons, whose bones were to whiten three weeks later in the shadow of Talana; saw, too, the fresh, keen faces of many soldier friends whose graves are dotted over the hills of Ladysmith and along the banks of the Tugela. In the carriage with me now was General Dartnell, who led the column from Dundee into the town around which the enemy were drawing a band of steel, guiding them through many weary milt-s of danger, outwitting the pur- suit of the Boers by his intimate knowledge of the country, gained by many years* experience as head of the Natal Mounted PoHce, and encouraging them by voice and example in that sleepless and terrible march of three days and nights. Since I saw him last in the depressing days of the siege the general has done yeoman service at the front, and has lost none of that vigour and hearti- ness which inspire confidence and make him extremely popular with every class of the community. Darkness and rain met us at Maritzburg. Their Royal Highnesses drove direct to Government House, a stone-throw from the railway station. Next morning was brilliant. The sun shone on flag and arch, on children in white, and on men and women, white, brown, and black, who were waiting to greet the son and I I Zulu women Durban. i noVND TffE EUfPtRE. 319 (laughter of their king. The capital of Natal is smnll Its people number only twenty-five thousand, and only half are white. Yet even in Europe it would be called a fine town, for the streets are broad and regular, many of the buildings are large and have artistic distinction, and there is about if an air of activity which speaks of enterprise and prosperity. ThTc was no sign of the atrophv and depression tfiat hung over the place when I passed throiif^h a few days after the relief of Lady smith. Two of the rrromonies nr" worthy of notice The opening of tho Tow 1 Mall seeir.cd to rne to strike a new note in this lino of nr.t.-,intry which has almost circled the world. It may .hnve been due to a state of mind rather than to a chantrc of circumstances, but I could not help feeling that there was something strangely real about every incident of the day. The lofty white hall was thronged from floor to galleries with men and wo.acn who have looked upon war and tasted of its bitterne , To me many of them were familiar faces. On the ■ e ..;: in front of me sat Mr. Farquhar, Mayor of LadysM t'. now and during the siege, and with him the Town Civile Mr. Lyons. We were neighbours during four memorablt months. Mr. Farquhar confessed that it was only after much persistent effort that Ladysmith was granted per- mission to approach the Prince with an address of wel- come. Maritzburg and Durban wanted to have the honour to themselves. The Mayor must have felt a thrill of pride as he listened to his Royal Highness's eulogy of the little village which has won an undying fame. A few places to the right sat Dr. Hyslop, of the .1 230 ! WITH THE OPHIR' Natal Carbineers, who had not thrown off the conse- quences of those long and devoted labours in the fever- stricken and starvinff {rarrison, the memory of which called forth a warm cheer as he stepped forward with the address of the Medical Council, and again later in the day when the Prince pinned on his breast the ribbon of the Distinguished Service Order. Mr. Bainbridge. a member of the Legislative Assembly, looked hardly less energetic than in the days when he planned, for others, the means of escape on the flood of the Klip River. Near this httle group stood Major Clarke, of the Natal Mounted Police, who was the first to discover the Boers on Caesar's Camp, on January 6th, and whose little com- pany fought under cover of the trees until not a leaf was left. The gum tree round which they rallied, he told me, has since died of wounds inflicted on the day of the great assault. But I could fill chapters with these per- sonal reminiscences, for everywhere in the hall were men and women whom I have seen facing danger and endur- ing privation with heroic courage. What wonder if their presence, and the knowledge of the long agony of Natal gave a new and a fervent note to the National Anthem and to that Old Hundredth which men have sung alike in triumph and in despair. The addresses were not numerous, though they were representative. That of Ladysmith was beautifully illustrated with paintings of Bulwan, Caesar's Camp, Waggon Hill, and other scenes of stubborn conflict. In his reply the Prince spoke warmly of the gallant defence of the town. and of the devotion of the people of Natal, and her Royal Highness afterwards unveiled a mural tablet in A HICKSmA;v 80r, DURBAN (i; HOUND THE EMPIRE. 221 memory of colonists who have fallen in the war. The record is long and honourable. The review in the afternoon differed from any we have seen in this eventful tour. In Australia and New Zealand we caught but the eclioes of war. Here were its stern realities. On the sun-baked brown square, with its dark gr«en border of gum trees, were men still in the field. The Scots Guards drawn up on the left had come from Harrismith. The Camerons who took up a position on the right had escorted their chief from the front. Between them were Natal Carbineers, Mounted Rifles, and native scouts, all of them havmg the unmistakable signs of recent service on the veldt. Lord Kitchener's arrival was a secret known to few, for it was not yet safe, even in Natal, to send heralds in advance. His appearance on the parade ground was signalled by loud cheers. He looked well, and seemed to have cause for special satisfaction. General Hildyard (who held the Boers in check south of the Tugela before the arrival of General Buller), General Dartnell, Captain Leggatt, Major Pore, and many other distinguished officers stood near the pavilion from which the Prince walked to inspect the troops, and to which he retiu-ned to present Victoria Crosses and Orders for Distinguished Service in the field. This was a most impressive cere- mony. One by one the little band of heroes stepped before the Prince and Princess, and saluting, stood at attention while the Commandant read aloud the record of tlieir heroic deeds that sent the blood in hot flood through one's veins. In these records, so precise, so cold and formal, is matter for epic and romance. Every 222 WITH THE OPniR rank was there from colonel to private, and Canada and Australia as well as Britain and South Africa had their share. Until their Royal Highnesses went to Maritzburg, no member of the Royal Family had received a deputation of Zulus and natives of Natal. There was, accordingly, special interest in the double line of chiefs and braves drawn up behind the native scouts on the far side of the square. At a signal, the front was cleared, and their Royal Highnesses saw a Zulu impi in full war paint. There were nearly two score chiefs, each with a small following of sturdy warriors. Very fierce they looked in their wolf-skins and nodding plumes as they advanced with the slow, silent step of a wild beast about to dart upon its prey. One man sprang to the front, flourishing his assegai and throwing himself into attitudes. Then the impi pressed onward with measured tread and chanting a war song. Now their voices rose like the majestic swell of an organ : now they rolled in distant thunder, to drop into a shrill whistle, like the piping of the wind in a winter forest. The effect was a strange, weird melancholy. The impi halted, and the Pnnce went forward with his staff to meet the Governor, who is also Paramount Chief, and was deputed to present an address on behalf of the Zulus and natives of Natal. The address was trans- lated sentence by sentence, and the Zulus raised the right hand in assent. It spoke of the /.eath of the Great White Queen — " the sun seemed to have set, and darkness lay upon the land " ; of their love for the King, their "father," and took leave in poetic phrase — " though our eyes sec you no more, the I STREFT SCENF. DURB»N EvES RiOMT' ROUND THE UMPIRE 223 love of our hearts ppcs with you to the distant Innd ' The Prince replied with the tact and grace which dis- tinguish all his addresses, and wo were free to wander back to town. The rohds were crowded with Kaffirs and Zulus — some in native dress, fresh from the kraal, women with sleek, shiny black shoulders, their woolly hair done up into a monstrous chignon coloured with red earth. One could see at a glance how greatly the natives out- number the white people, and could understand the anxiety at the beginning of the war lest they should break away from control. 224 WITU THE OPUlIt CHAPTER XXXI. CAPE TOWN. Cape Town Revisited-" Then and Now '-The Boer Prisoner, and the Pr.ncess-Basuto Chiefs in Cape Town-The Royal V.s.t to Mr. Rhodes's House- Sir W. Hely-Hutchinson. The journey from Maritzburg to the coast was very pleasant. The sun shone on rugged brown hills, whose fertile slopes are dotted with Kaffir kraals. The wooded uplands were flooded with light. Kaffir bloom, with vivid scarlet blossoms, glowed like carbuncles from leaf- less branches ; narches— tiny oranges of the Mandarin species—gleamed like golden lamps in dark green bowers And as we dropped into the plain, we saw fields of pineapple, banana, sugar cane, mealies, and Kaffir corn. Natal, surely, is a pleasant and fruitful land waiting cnly on peace and an increase of people to be a great and powerful State in the South African Commonwealth. H.M.S. Thrush, commanded by Lieutenant Warren D'Oyly, carried me across the bar at Durban, where por- poises were at play and a big whale was spouting on the starboard quarter of the Ophir. The St. George and Juno had already sailed, and Admiral Moore, Coraman- der-in-Chief of the Cape of Good Hope and West Coast of Africa station, offered me the hospitality of his flagship the Gibraltar, another sister of the St. George. To the Admiral and Comroandc- Clinton-Baker I was indebted for a pleasant passage, and in the Astronomer Royal at ROUND THE EMPIRE. the Cape. Sir David Gill, w "$ ■ had a delightful companior. Head winds and heavy seas prevented us from reaching Simon's Bay until Sunday morning. Here the St. George and futto were flying the yellow flag, and were in strict quarantine. They sailed for St. Helena within an hour after our arrival. Ten months before I passed through Cape Town on my way from the front. Even iti that short time there have been notable changes. The city looked cleaner and brighter, and was free from bands of discharged sol- diers and doubtful refugees. I confess that until the moment of our entry there was some misgiving as to the welcome that awaited their Royal Highnesses. The heart of the city, we knew, was loyal, and the Dutch, though sullen, are not a discourteous race. The uncertain element was the foreign mercenary— that many-headed and treacherous spawn of war— and aberration of senti- ment in the pro- Boer might drive its victim to some act ol folly. Even in official circles there was talk of plots and hostile manifestations. But these gloomy fore- bodings were without foundation. There was no plot- not even a discordant note— only chetri and flags and arches and banquets— a welcome as stirring and whole- hearted as any that the Prince and Princess had in any part of the Empire. The Dutch took no part in the official reception, yet no fewer than ninety-five addresses were presented, and many of them were from districts m which the Dutch are in the ascendant. Mr. Theroii. President of the Afrikander Bond, brought an address from his district, and attended the levee and the dinner given by the Mayor to delcg.itcs from the country. The * i! - ' WITH THE OPHIR organ of the Bond went no farther than an elaborate silence in a leader devoted to the beauties of Table Mountaiti— a journalistic device that had not the merit of novelty As for the Boer prie uers, they, too, were anxious to offer an address, and sent to the Princess a bracelet of Transvaal crown pieces, inset with a Kruger sovereigfi uid a brooch, on which was engraved the legend : " A nglo-Boer War, 1 899-1901. I Tnity." Several of the prisoners of war were permitted to witness the landing at Simon's Bay. It cannot be denied that the visit of the Prince and Princess brought a truce, in which racial and political hostilities were, at any rate, suspended, and that it has tended to abate suspicion, to weaken jealousy, soothe irritation, and bring into closer and more friend^,, relations those social and political forces on which depends the wel- fare of South Africa. The people looked upon the visit not as a triumph over a beaten enemy, but as an expression of sympathy and friendship from the Mothfi Country. They accepted it frankly in that spirit, and, rejecting the sarkdoth and ashes proffered by a few dejected social philosophers, bent their thoughts and energies to a public rejoicing, in which there was not an incident that could wound the most delicate sensibility. They hung flags and mottoes on house and shop, built arches, decked the city with all the trappings of welcome, and made the broad central avenue of Adderley Street scintillate with colour by day and blaze like a meteor by night From Simon's Town to Cape Town every railway station was bright with flowers and shining branches of the beautiful silver trrr. At Cape Town, where their '^ ARRIVAL AT SIMONS BA> SALUTING VAN-OF --.VA^ MICROCOPY RESOLUTION TEST CHART (ANSI and ISO TEST CHART No. 2) '653 EosI Main Street (716) 288-5989 - Fa« i: ,1 ROUND THE EMPIRE. 227 Royal Highnesses arrived on Monday, a great multitude watched and acclaimed their progress to Govemn.ent House. I am not going to describe the ceremonies — the addresses, the crowded levees, the installation of the Prince as Chancellor of the ITniversity, the laying of the foundation stone of the Nurses' Home in memory of Queen Victoria, and the laying of the buttress stone of the new cathedral, which is to be a fitting memorial of the soldiers who have fallen in the war. They differed only in place from the ceremonies we had witnessed many times. Bloemfontein sent an address, and received a reply worthy of the historic occasion, for this was the first time a member of the Royal family had been approached by the capital of the Orange River Colony. The De Beers Company gave the Princess many precious stones, the ladies of Kimberley sent a model of a diamond mine, others presented an ox waggon made from shot and shell, while the children came forward with three beauti- ful Basuto ponies for the children of the Prince and Princess. These animals, whose endurance and sure- footedness I have often tested, have a strong likeness to Shetland ponies. The story is that in 1840 a butcher of Graham's Town imported some Shetland ponies. They were lost, and wandered into Basutoland, whence they returned a new breed of stout cobs known as Basuto ponies. The Basuto chiefs who attended the durbar on Tues- day were greatly impressed. Several of them I had met in Pretoria when Lord Roberts reviewed the troops shortly after our occupation of the capital. Now, as then, they wore European clothes, in which they seem to find 228 WITH THE OPHIR i I i 1 ; ! I little comfort, and are certainly less picturesque and digni fied than in native dress. The most conspicuous figure was Lerothodi, who may be remembered as the principa chief of the Mafeteng district during the Basuto war. Hf was the most active and daring of the leaders who op- posed the disarmament of his people, and tiigaged us ir a two years' struggle, out of which we came without credit or gain. Lerothodi is now an old man, and his professior of loyalty may be taken with less reserve than it would have been twenty years ago, when he declaiad his anxiety to obey the " Great White Mother," and made prepara- tions for war all the time. The Basutos have been under British rule since 1884, and are content. They rejoice over the downfall of the Boers, whom they hate for the loss of the fertile tract on the eastern border of the Orange River Colony, known as the Conquered Territory. It was only by the tact and firmness of Sir Geoffrey Lagden that the Basutos were kept from taking part in the war. That brilliant little episode — the siege of Wepener — set them on the razor edge of conflict. Armed and eager, they watrhed on the border hills, praying for a Boer invasion. The Prince, in his address to the chiefs, spoke of their restraint and of their proved loyalty. The Basutos are not so warlike a race as the Zulus, but under British authority and discipline they ought to make fine soldiers. It is, however, the part of wisdom to discourage their martial instincts, for the native population in South Africa exceeds the white, and must long be a menace. Had their offers of service against the Boers been ac- cepted, they would have concluded that without them we could not keep our position in the country, and might 1-^ 4 ROUND THE EMPIRE. 22^ have been tempted to tr>' Mr. Kruger's policy of driving us into the sea. What the chiefs saw in Cape Town— and they were taken e'•ery^vhere-must have convinced them that the power of the Great White King is un- shaken. Their Royal Highnesses drove through the suburbs on Tuesday, and lunched at Groote Schuur, the famous country house of Mr. Cecil Rhodes. The country is very beautiful, and many of the villages, planted among gum trees, are models of order and cleanliness. At Wood- stock, at the Observatory, and at Mowbray their Royal Highnesses met with a hearty and spontaneous welcome, m which the children had their part. Rondebosch has some of the finest residences in Africa, and the most pic- turesque of them is Groote Schuur, a Dutch mansion, in which are preserved the best features of the best period of Dutch architecture, for the building was restored to its original form after the fire in 1896. The house is em- bowered in groves of tender green, over which towers the stately crag of Devil's Peak, and th-ough which glance the blue waters of False Bay. Mr. Rhodes was in England, and therefore could not have the satisfaction of showing to so keen a sportsman as the Prince the interest- ing collection of African fauna he has made in the en- Hosure on the slope of Table Mountain. The library was .»bject of attention. It contains a very valuable col- lection of Napoleonic literature, with many manuscript translations. Gibbon is evidently another favourite study. There are typewritten translations of almost every work to which reference is made in the " Decline and Fall or the Roman Empire." Not the references 230 WITH THE 'OPfflR- I i 1 i ! only, but ihe whole work containing the reference is translated. Sir Walter and Lady Hely-Hutchinson did the honours of Government House. When I last saw Sir Walter it was ^ his official residence at Maritzburg. He was then trying to convert Sir George White to the opinion of his military adviser, General Penn-Symons, that it would be well to occupy Dundee instead of con- centrating at Ladysmith. At Cape Town he has an even Ui-ire difficult and responsible task than he had at Maritz- burg in those anxious days. He has to preside over a community of seemingly irreconcilable elements. He has to reconcile two races, one of which, having suffered and conquered, is not wholly without the weakness of ex- ultant humanity, while the other, seeing the end of long- nourished ambitions and hopes, is sensitive and stubborn. This is a very hard task, and it will not be accomplished by one man or in a single generation. The signs are hopeful. Cape Town every year becomes more British in aspect and speech. Dutch is still the language of the Kaffir — a remnant of the slave days — and, to a diminish- ing degree, of the half-caste Cape boy and girl. To those who have lived in the Transvaal this is somewhat strange, for the Boer will no*^ allow his Kaffir to speak Dutch in his presence. It is looked upon as a dire atfront, to be punished with the schambok. Many years must pass before the effects of the wa' are effaced, but the chief obstacle to a final settlement has been removed. Dutch as well as British are now con- vinced that we have no intention of abandoning South Africa — that wc look upon it as an important and essential ROUND THE FAIFIRE -3' part of the Emphe, on v/hich not India alone, but Aus- tralia and New Zealand, may be dependent in a moment of sudden danger. They recognise that we are deter- mined at all costs to maintain our ascendency. This is a distinct gain, for any suggestion of even partial inde- pendence would revive among the Cape Dutch the perilous hope of a separate nationality. We sailed from Simon's Bay on Friday, August 23rd, his Royal Highness having graciously granted me a passage in the Ophir until I could rejoin the St. George at St. Vincent WITH THE OPHin CHAPTER XXXII. THE VOYAGE TO CANADA. Afloat Again— The Royal Suite- -St. Vincen;— Good-bye to the St. George and /«mo— The iViW^- Cape Breton. The mist that lay on the sea was divided by a beam of light from the setting sun, and we saw the land. Cape Breton, massive and black, stood out like an isolated mountain wreathed in clouds, with a silvery channel at her feet. The cold, clinging vapours gathered them- selves into a grey network, and, silently enfolding the promontory, dragged it inch by inch into the dark depths of the sea. Cape Breton vanished, and the syrens of three ships shrieked and wailed into the startled ear of a fog-laden eclipse. That was our first glimpse of the land to which our thoughts and our steps had been tending ever since we sailed under the Southern Cross. For. after all, in this amazing progress among the British dominions there have been two lode stars — Australia and Canada. All the rest — Aden, Colombo, Singapore — were but links in the golden chain that drew us east and now west. Even the memories of the cities of Australia and New Zealand, pulsating with a new and vigorous life, could not dim the vision of the West. Beyond the sad, grey bush of Australia we saw the maple forests of Canada sweeping in autumnal waves of fire and molten gold along the banks of the St. Lawrence. Australia has no stirring romance of history or association. Canada, we know, nOUNJ) THE EMPIRE 23, teems with romance from Abraham's l^Iain to the frozen Yukon— romance of war and dauntless adventure. After Cape Town we felt that it was well the Prince and Princess should first set foot on shore at Quebec, the ancient capital of Canada, where two races, differing in language, religion, and habits, laid on themselves the bonds of Imperial brotherhood within sight of the plains on which a century before they fought for supremacy. Here, at least, we would meet a people united by ties of common interest in an Imperial patriotism, and held in bonds of affection to the Motherland by a reasoned conviction. We left the Cape in a more cheerful and hopeful mood than I had thought possible. The Prince and Princess were surprised and delighted with their reception. Of the voyage to St. Vincent there is little to record. The Juno and St. George had gone to St. Helena to coal, and were to meet us at a rendezvous one hundred and fifty mil' r.r.-th-east of the island. Their place, meanwhile, 1^ iken by the Xaiad and Terpsichore, second- t i- Ts, of 3,400 tons, whose steaming capacity has b. oved. Amid the thunder of cannon and the cheers of Admiral Moore's flagship, the Royal Arthur, we sailed out of the bay, and long before the sun had sunk into the smooth, grey sea the mountains of the Cape of Good Hope had faded out of sight. Life on board ship is so even and uneventful, that after many days it becomes almost a burden. Yet, in the Ophir were many consolations. Their Royal Highnesses are very gracious, and their tact and thought for the comfort oi everybody won genuine admiration and affection. The Princess has 234 WITH THE OrillR been the triumph of this historic progress. He sunny smile won many hearts, and the undergraduates at Adelaide gave \(.iro to liie universal feeling when they sang in her presence that simple and beautiful lay of Herrick : — ' There is a ladye sweet and kind, Whose winsome face so pleased our mind. We did but see her pnssinjj by, Yet we shall love her till we dii . ' This knowledge must have helped her in what everyone . ho followed this endless round of ceremony will acknow- ledge to be axi arduous task, involving much endurance, exertion, and discomfort, as well as many personal sacrifices. The Prince has gained grea; influence and popularity by the judgment he brought to bear on the pohtical pai- of his mission, by the eloquence of his replies to the addresses, and by the kindly spirit in which he discharged many social and ceremonial duties. In the Royal suite were several men whose wide ex- perience and varied accomplishments made them iii - esting companions on a voyage. Sir Arthur Bigge, the Prince's private secretary, served the Queen in the same capacity for six years. Unfailing courtesy, sound judg- ment, and discretion, not less than high attainments and capacity for work, distinguished him as a soldier, and are inseparable from the responsible position to which he I.as been called. Sir John Anderson is not so well known to the public, though among officials his name is familiar as that of a trustworthy and valuable civil servant, whose keen observation, independent judgment and intimate acquaintance with Colonial affairs command respect. ROUND THE EMPIRE 235 Prince Alexander of 'lock, the Princess's brother, the Duke of Roxburgh, and Viscount Crichton served in }h<- war. With Lord ("richto" I was able once more to ex- change reminiscences of tne jiege of Ladysinith and tlie capture of Lydenburg. Sir Donald Wallace has had many experiences, and is always ready to help with his influence and counsel members of the calling in which he has earned distinction. Dr. Manby ic the most skilful and genial of physicians ; Chevalier Martino the most en- thusiastic and learned of marine painters, and -Mr. Sydney Hall the most expert of black and white artists. With him I lived again some of tliose glowing scenes we wit- nessed together during the pilgrimage of the CJerman Emperor throucjh Syria and Palestine. Sunday brought a little change in the uniform life of the ship. In the morning, after the Prince had done the round of inspection, the church bell rang and officers and men met for worship in the beaul'fui saloon. Led by the famous band of the Royal Marines they sang hymns familiar to Britons in every part of the globe. They listened to the x- "ng of the lessons by Canon Dalton. and to the Rev. agh S. Wood's very practical and eloquent sermon on the v?lue of a sound public opinion. Three more days passed without incident. At half-past three on Wednesday morning a wireless message to the Naiad informed us that the Juno and .S^ George were near, and at five o'clock, just as dawn began to touch the sea with rosy fingers, ihe «.ruisers steamed into station. The Naiad and Terpsichore nmeciately altered course and stood for St. Helena, having performed their part without a hitch. My shipmates in the St. George had had 236 WITH THE OPHlJi a pleasant time at St. Helena. They had visited the Roer camp, and. ns usual, found the prisoners living' m greater luxury than their soldier custodians. Early on the morning of Saturday. August 31st. wc crossed the line, and on Tuesday we sighted Santiago, one of the Cape Verde islands, its sharp, volcanic peaks tower- ing above a white town and vivii green patches of sugar cane. Wc had hoprd to reach St. Vincent on that day, but it was a quarter to eight o'clock wiien we dropped anchor in the little harbour. The cruisers Niobe and Diadem had arrived from England to take over the duties of escort. They were brilliantly illuminated, and the lights of the town twinkled like stars across the silent grey water. St. Vincent has no attractions. Like Aden it is a sterile cinder heap, with lava hills scorched by a pitiless sun. It rains only twice a year, and. of course, we managed to hit upon the rainy season. Save for a few Portuguese officials, the people are half-castes— a stu-dy race of de- generate blacks dcp ndent on the English coal merchants, who make the wealth of the island. St. Vincent is a coal- ing station for transports and ships trading with South Aiuerica. This was our reason for calling. The Prince would have preferred Bermuda, for then it might have been said that in this unprecedented voyage he had seen only British posse -srons. The Portuguese were anxious that he shouL .pen a new hospital, and had made elaborate preparations. The streets were gay with flags brought from Lisbon. But their Royal Highnesses could not be expected !! O >: ROUND THE EMPIRE. 243 vinces by the triple line of race, religion, and lanjjuage he IS under no political or social disabilities. The Premier, as everyone knows, is a French-Canadian. The French language is officially recognised, and is spoken occasionally in the Federal Parliament, always in the Provincial Parliament of Quebec. A very devout Roman Cathohc. he has the fullest liberty in worship and educa- tion. The clergy are not slow to acknowledge that the.se advantages would not be so secure under another flag, and have en more than one critical occasion ranged themselves openly on the side of British authority. Their loyalty found expression in the address of the Laval University when the Prince received a diploma. Laval was the first Canadian bishop, and a generous patron of those famous seminaries that now form part of the university bearing his name. Here the French-Canadian youth receive- religious and secular instruction. The address of the rector. Abb6 Mathieu. was a frank avowal of the advan- tage of the present rule. "The language they (the students) speak, the religion they practise, the instruction they receive in our house, do not weaken their loyalty They are firmly attached to the presen' conditions of their national life. They are proud to live under the flag of a nation that stretches over one-fifth of the habitable globe, ihat counts four hundred million subjects, that does one-third of the commerce of the world, that marches at the head of all the peoples on earth as a colonial, indus- trial, and commercial power. They appreciate the ad- vantages of the liberty they enjoy." For a measure of French-Canadian sentiment nothing could be more exact than the allocution of the Cure of 244 WITH THE OPHIR HI Quebec to the officers and men of the gunboat sent by the French Republic to do honour to the Prince and Princess. The war-ships of Germany, Russia, America, Italy, Portugal, and Japan, have taken a notable part ir the Imperial progress. This was the first time the tri- colour saluted their Royal Highnesses. Only twice since 1759, when Quebec fell before the heroic Wolfe has the crew of a French man-of-war knelt at the fool of the altar in the ancient cathedral which, in the words of Abbe Faguy, is " the witness of a glorious past tha we lefuse to forget." So rare an event might excus< extravagance of language. The address is a gracefu tribute to ties of blood and memories of the past and ; frank recognition of the present. I have translated a fev passages which I think may be read with interest an( instruction. " Your presence within our walls," said the Abbe " gladdens our hearts because it is a sign of the peac that reigns between two nations that have an equal clair to our affection. It is also, unless I am mistaken, courteous homage to the heir to the crown of Englan who deigns to visit us. During these festivities you wi be truly one of ourselves. You will walk through 01 streets and see our public places. There you will beho! in its many forms the flag of England. That is now 01 flag. You will see in many comers the tricolour < France. It is your flag, yet we never forget it. Y01 glance may fall on another flag, modest, almost ui known, the flag of our province. It floats over tl Houses of ParHament, over the Episcopal Palace, and the door of this cathedral, where it has a place of honoi PHIR sent by ice and iHierica, part in the tri- ' twice, Wolfe, the foot e words ast that : excuse graceful it and a sd a few rest and ; Abbe, le peace lal claim | taken, a England you will )Ugh our 11 behoIJ now our ;olour of it. Your ■nost un- over the :e, and at S f honour. ROUND THE EMPIRE 24 5 That flag is white, sewn with fleurs de lys, an emblem of the past, and with maple, the emblem of the present Above is the Imperial crown, and in the centre, on a red ground, the watchful leopard. Below you may read this short yet expressive device—'/^ ».e souviens' (' I remember '). These three words will tell you more than a long discourse. They will tell you plainly what we a-e and what we would be. To-morrow, when the repre- sentative of the power to whom we owe allegiance has scaled the heights of our city, we go to present to him the homage of our vows, of our fidelity, and of our loyalty. That homage will be the sincere and frank expression of our true sentiments. Our acclamations ought to be heard with joy. for they speak of our con- tentment. We have faith in Providence, and are satis- fied with the modest part it assigns to us at present Under the flag of England we live in peace and enjoy the fullest liberty. Therefore will our royal guests be truly welcome. Our hearts are too cathoHc to be wanting in fidehty, too French to be wanting in loyalty. And yet our device is ever the same—' Je me souviens.' Yes. we remember that old Catholic France placed us on the banks of the St. Lawrence, impelled by an apostolic fervour so common in those days of living faith, and by the desire to spread the kingdom of Christ. Wo remem- ber and are Catholics. Few. indeed, are they among us who forget this spiritual origin, and deny in public the religion of their fathers. We remember that we are the children of ' sweet and beloved France.' and you might count with ease those who, having lost the memory of the past, do not know the nobility of their origin. We I I.>6 WITH THE OPHIS ti If remember that the language of our fathers, that good old language of France, has been in evil days the surest rampart of our national individuality, and in our days of liberty the joy and jewel of our hearths. We do not flatter ourselves that we speak it with that purity and sweetness which in your home makes it so full of charm, but we love it and strive to make it loved and known by those who are around us. We remember the past and its struggles, the past and its lessons, the past and its sorrows, the past and its glories. Our aspirations, it is possible, are not yours, but you ought to love us. The voice of blood cries so loud that we know you hear and under- stand. You love us as we love you, for we have cherished carefully and unfailingly the worship of memory, /e me souviens. Merci et adieu." I have dwelt upon this subject of French-Canadian loyalty because it is one on which very strong and con- ' i-adictory opinions are held even in Canada. It would be unnatural if their hearts did not incline to the land of their fathers ; but their reason shows them that their interests and their future, their prosperity and their individuahty, lie with Great Britain. The overwhelming and enthusiastic majority, I believe, are strong supporters of the British connection. The Prince, replyin^ to the address of the Laval University, declared that abundant proof of the success of the Catholic Church in fostering a spirit of patriotism and loyalty " has been afforded by the readiness with which the French-Canadians have sprung to arms, and shed their blood, not only in times long gone by, but also in the present day, on behalf of their King and Empire." I remember meeting some BOUND THE EMPIRE. ^j French-Canadians near Kroonstadt. They had been taken prisontrs by the Boers and had escaped. Their amusement at the surprise of the enemy when they found Frenchmen wearing Dri*' '- uniform and fighting on our side was great. " They asked us how wc could b- guilty of such treachery to the Republic. When we told them that Britain was our country, and that we fought for the Empire which gave us the freedom that the Boer Republic denied to its people, they shook their heads in despair." At Quebec we had another illustra- tion of this strange comradeship in arms. The Frince review d four thousand troops on the Plains of Abraham, and among them were two companies of French- Canadians. As a spectacle it was hardly a success, because of the rain, yet it was instructive by reason of the composition of the force, and on account of the ground. Not a century and a half ago the two races met on these plains to decide who should be master of North America. It is impossible to tread these heights without feeling some of the splendour and pathos of their story. Across this rugged grass, where the Voltigeurs de Quebec marched side by side with the Royal Rifles, flashed the red hne of British bayonets that drove back the impetuous rush of Montcalm and won its way to the walls of the city. There the brave Montcalm breathed his last words — " So much the better. I shall not Hve to see the surrender of Quebec." In that green hollow "died Wolfe victorious," a soldier whose gentleness and daring must be to Englishmen an undying memory. I walked to the cove at the foot of the steep cliff, and in fanry saw the boats drop silently down the river; saw the i 248 WITH THE Ol'HIR I 'I frail figure of Wolfe as he whispered the words — " The paths of glory lead but to the grave " ; saw the redcoats glide noiselessly up the rork, and heard once more the crash of rifles and the trumpet sounding the charge. The grass has grown over the spot where friend and foe lie in eternal sleep. Nature has left no trace of man's ravages, and lime has abated all rivalries. The stately column that looks down from the cliff upon the mighty river bears this inscription to Wolfe and Montcalm — " Mortem virtus communem, Fainam historia, Mouumeti- tum posteritas, Dcdit " (" Valour gave a common death, history a common fame, and posterity a common monu- ment "). In this spirit, and with this glorious exnaiple for their guide, must live the two races who are to make Canada a great and a happy country. Kl :i..-..^:4J ll I ii* ROUND TUK EMPIRS. U9 CHAPTER XXXIV. THE CITY OF \fONTREAL. A Modern City- Addresses of Welcome -The McGill University -The Laval University- The Ville Marie Convent. Montreal is as beautiful as it is historic, yet it has not the savour of olden time or of another faith and people that gives to Quebec her imperishable charm. I'or two delightful days we had lived in the seventeenth century, amid churches and convents and black-robed priests and p-.le-faced nuns. We had wandered through narrow streets, overshadowed by dormer windows and balconies ; we had looked upon battlefields made sacred to two nations by the blood of martyrs and heroes ; we had mingled with men and w, nen who, during more than a century of change and progress, have held fast tc the ideals, the manners, and the tongue of theii Latin fc •-- fathers. And now we had come to a city of our own tune —a city in whose veins throbs the strenuous life of the twentietli century, whose crowded waterway, solid blocks of business houses, and substantial mansions are signs of Anglo-Saxon thrift and encigy. Life seemed to have become commonplace, for romance belongs to the strange and to the past, and it is because of this that we cherish them, letting the heart dethrone the reason, and bending the knee before symbols and ideals against which we would fight with the last ballot-box. Happily, the change was not so sudden as to be a shock, nor so complete as to banish all thought of the past. The train 250 WITH THE OPHIR' i! i:^i from Quebec carried us through wide meadows of a pas- toral country, where brown-faced peasants live tranquil lives, by tiny hamlets of barn-like shanties, through the open doors of which we caught glimpses of clean, neat homes, past long reaches of the St. Lawrence, hurrying seaward between low, green banks. Here the river has not the bold picturesqueness of the Hudson or the sylvan beauty of the upper Thames ; yet it has a story not less romantic for those who can see the doughty Breton sailor, Jacques Cartier, sailing into the unknown amid mantling forests, and can hear the shouts of plumed savages as they swept down the rapids with reeking toma- hawks. The quaintness of house and people vanished as we drew near to the island, formed by two streams of the Ottawa river where it divides and flows into the St. Law- rence. Here is Montreal, the first city of the Dominion, the centre of trade and political influence, a city of four hundred thousand people, of whom half are Frencli, and the rest Irish, English, and Scotch. The first impression is one of contrast with Quebec. Its streets are essentially modern, with solid buildings of fine grey limestone. There is nothing mean or squalid about them. The solid blocks are broken by picturesque squares, and rigid lines merge in tower and spire. The effect in the autumn sunshine is altogether bright and pleasing. In the west and in the business part of the city the French element is not very conspicuous, yet in the east there is a quarter as French as Quebec itself, where you may fancy yourself in Lyons or some town .a the Midi. The people have lost some of the softer graces that make one in love with these gay ROUND THE EMPIRE. 25, and dauntless people of the South. There is a more formal stiffness of costume ; the dress of man and woman alike has greater rigour of cut and less freedom of style and colour. The soft felt gives place to the hard bowler and even— though rarely_to the tall silk of European civilisation. The men of British origin, at least, have not lost altogether the healthful bloom of the Old World, and the women, though American rather than English in style and dress, have none of the fragility of their cousins across the border. Their language, too. is American in Its hard, nasal tones and absence of modulation. Where do they get this unlovely accent .? Has climate anything to do with it. or is it part of the price of commercial rela- tions with the United States, for climate as well as geo- graphical situation must bend the trade of Canada to the South ? Yet. despite accent and dress, the people are British to the core. The great social heart of the city clings to the Motherland. Their shops and wares are British, though the clerk who hands your change in cents and dollars may speak with the accent of France. The hotels have all the discomfort and labour-wasting, patience-exhausting appliances of huge American cara- vansaries, but the fare is English. The city, in short, is English, with a veneer of France and the United States that gives to it a piquancy, and occasionally a quaintness, not always displeasing, even to insular taste. No reception could have been more stirring and en- thusiastic than that accorded to the Prince and Princess from the moment of their arrival to the hour of departure. 1 he streets were gay with flags and triumphal arches, and at night the city was a blaze of light from myriads of 252 WITH THE OPHIR' I' glowing lamps and coloured lanterns. Private houses vied with public buildings and business warehouses, and the suburbs were palaces of light, amid gardens hung with lanterns and green lawns gemmed with electric lamps. The first greeting came from thousands of lusty throats, and then the Mayor, clad in familiar official robes, stepped forward with the address of more formal welcome. The Mayor, Mr. Prefontaine, is of French origin, and his words may on that account carry special significance. One sliort passage I will quote :— " Here, in the commercial metropolis of Canada, two great races mingle to form one happy, harmonious community, united in sympathy of pur- pose and common interests with Great Britain, and proud of our heritage in the past of two great nations. We joyously accept the obligations imposed upon us by our partnership in the fortunes of the Empire, and, as before on Canada's battlefields, so lately the blood of Canadian soldiers, French-speaking and English-speaking, has been shed r- the thirsty veldts of South Africa." Evi- dence of this was given almost immediately, for the Prince was called upon to present medals to men who had served in the war, and among them were names undeni- ably French. An address was also presented by the Federation of Daughters of the British Empire, an associ- ation for the purpose of fostering patriotism and forming a bond of union among the daughters of the British Empire in whatever part of the world they may reside. The procession to Lord Strathcona's house was one long triumph, in which English and French voices were raised in welcome. The cadets of Mont St. Louis sang a wel- come in French, the children of St. Alexis Orphan Asy- ROUND THE EMPIRE. 253 lum were shrill with enlhusiasiu, aiid from the ancient seminary of St. Sulpice — over the very gate through which Benjamin Frankhn and Archbishop Carroll were shown after their vain effort to induce the Superior of St. Sulpice to renounce his allegiance and encourage the French-Canadians to rebel— were hung historic flags that had been seen only twice since the fall of Sebastopo!. One shadow fell on the festivities— the shadow of death. Flags were at half-mast and all public ceremonies were abandoned on Thursday, September 19th The people mourned the untimely death of President McKin- ley as that of a great and good man of their own race. On that day, when the people of the United States stood at the grave in Canton, the Prince and Princess limited their visits to universities and convents. At the McGill University— a magnificent institution, with splendid buildings and spacious grounds, richly endowed— their Royal Highnesses were created Doctors of Laws. This was the first time a degree had been conferred upon the Princess, and, as Lord Strathcona remarked, it was 'ting that it should be conferred in the Royal Victoria College —a college devoted to the education of women, and asso- ciated with the memory of a beloved Queen. Their next duty was to formally open the new buildings of the Medical School. This school has been in existence for three-quarters of a century, and has done excellent work. Formerly students came only from the provinces of Quebec and Ontario. Now every province in the Domi- nion sends, together with Newfoundland, the West Indies. China, Japan, and even the United States. One-tenth of the students are from the Republic. At the Laval Uni- 254 WITH THE OPHIR I \ versity the Catholic collegians gave their Royal High- nesses a hearty and characteristic welcome. Archbishop Bruchesi expressed in a few admirable words the homage of his clergy and of those professors who, " faithful to their noble mission here, devote themselves to the train- ing of our youth in science and in arts, in loyalty to the Throne, as well as in love of religion and country." A call at the Diocesan College, where the sessions of the Provincial Synod were being held, gave the clergy of the National Church of England an opportunity of declaring, through the Bishop of Toronto, the Church of England in Canada to be " bound in heart to the Throne of England." Ten miles from the city is the Ville Marie (Convent — an ancient institution dire'*-ed by the Sisters of the Con- gregation of Notre r* ^e, who have charge of the educa- tion of 24,000 girls m i-he Dominion. Part of the convent is known as Monklands, the former residence of the Governors of Canada. Here the Prince and Princess had a most simple and beautiful welcome. The broad avenue leading to the quiet convent, and overlooking the St. Lawrence, was decorated with the cedar and the rose — emblems of strength and race. Two bundled girls — daughters of the Fiench and Canadian noblesse — clad in white, greeted the Prince and Princess with sweet treble : " Domine, salvum fac regem Eduardem." Addresses were presented in English and French, and were read by pupils with exquisite voice and manner. The Prince re- plied first in English and then in French, to the manifest delight of these good Sisters, whose faces lit up with pleasure at his allusion to that " beautiful French lan- guage, which you have so well preserved." ROUND THE EMPJBE 255 Breathing the pure air of this secluded garden of inno- cence and piety, one realised something of the spirit that founded the city of Montreal-the voices and revelations that led the priest Olier. the merchant Duvesiere the black-robed Jesuits, and the high-born ladies vowed to heaven, to brave Ihe savage wilderness in order to estab- lish m the shadow of Mount Royal a veritable kingdom of God. Montreal may have disappointed their hopes yet they have left an undying impress on the city in church and convent. Their pious effort and example have saved Montreal from being a mean city, given over to the lust of gam, and have added to its strength and wealth a grace and beauty of the Old rather than of the New World k 356 WITH THE OPHIR CHAPTER XXXV. A BRIGHT LITTLE CAPITAL. How Ottawa Became the Capital — A great Military Display — Th. Princess anc' Trooper Mulloy— The Timber Trade of Canada. Montreal — the centre of banking and railway business — with superb water front, imperial docks, teeming ware- houses, fine buildings, and energetic citizens, would seem to be the natural capital of Canada. It was, in fact, the capital until little more than a half-century ago, when the people, in protest against the Bill to compensate Lower Canada for losses in the rebellion of 1837, drove the Governor, Lord Elgin, out of the city, and set fire to the House of Assembly. Ottawa then became the seat of government, and has maintained her position with dignity and distinction. She is a bright little city, beautifully situated opposite the curtain-like falls of the Ottawa and Rideau rivers. Arbitrarily chosen, like the capital of the United States, Ottawa has striven to make herself worthy. Nothing common or mean is there in her out- ward aspect Her Government buildings are on a truly Imperial scale, and whether seen in the clear light of day ■ — a massive Gothic pile of creamy sandstone — or shining like a fairy palace under forty thousand electric lamps, m ROUND THE EMPIRE 257 they have a simpHcity and grace unsurpassed by any pubhc buildmg on the American continent. Thither the Prmce and Princess drove imn. c-iately. to recdve addresses not from the capkal alone, but fron, flour-shing towns and harnlets scattered over the rich agricultural ands watered by the Ottawa. Their progress through he gay and crowded streets was one of the most stirring triumphs of the tour. To sixty thousand cmzens was added the population of the whole country side-English and trench and half-breed. Seeing them, and hearing their hearty cheers, one felt with convincing force the truth of an eloquent passage in the Prince's reply • " Forty years ago Ottawa was but the capital of two provinces yoked together in an uneasy union. To-day it is the capital of a great and prosperous dominion, stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, the centre of the political life and administration of a contented and united people. The federation of Canada stands pre-eminent among the political events of the century just closed for Its fruitful and beneficent results on the life of the people concerned. As in ancient times by the union of the Norman and Saxon the English nation was produced, so by the federation of Canada the two great nations which form Its pope' 'ion have been welded into a harmonious people, and afforded free play and opportunity to con- tribute each Its best service to the public well-being" At the distribution of medals and the unveiling of the statue of Queen Victoria, the military display was im- posing Drawn up on the broad terrace of the Houses of Parliament, beyond a wide grassy square, })]ack with people, the soldiers of the capital made a bright and as8 WIiJ THE OPUIR SU\k t picturesque setting. The Governor-General's bod- guard and the Canadian Dragoons in scarlet tunic busbies might have been mistaken for the Gre .i. ..er Guards, so admirable were their physique and bearing. Princess Louise Dragoon Guards were a ghttering escort in shin'ng helmets. In an angle of the building was a company in khaki — soldiers returned from South Africa. They were there to receive medals, but for the moment were in disgrace. It appears that the Militia Department had issued orders that they were to parade either in civilian dress, or in the uniform of the corps of which they are members. They insisted on weeiring the custume of the African veldt, and were, I am told, supported by the Minister of Militia, as they undoubtedly were by the sympathy of the people, who cheered them lustily. After a little negotiation, this act of insubordination was con- doned, and the men were permitted to join the ranks of those about to receive medals. A more pleasing incident was witnessed toward the close of the ceremony. It may be remembered that when one of the Canadian contin- gents was leaving England for home, a trooper who had lost his sight in battle made, in the Liverpool Com Ex- change, a short and simple speech, the pathos and patriotism of which sent a thrill of pride and pity far beyond the range of his voice. Trooper MuUoy was among the medallists. Led by a stalwart dragoon, he approached the Prince, who made inquiry after his health and service. The Princess at the moment was talkinir with Lady Laurier, but observing some pause in the pro ceedings, looked toward the table on which lay the medal?. Seeing the blind soldier, she came forward with a bright B mVNn THE EMPIRE. 25^ smile and spoke with him for some minutes. Her Royal Highness had heard of Mulloy from her sister-in-law, the Duchess of Teck, who showed much interest in his welfare while in hospital at Wynberg. The Princess having shaken hands with him, Mulloy took the arm of the dragoon and was led to his place amid cheers. A visit to Hull— a suburb on the opposite bank of the Ottawa— gave the Royal party an opportu ty of seeing something of the extent of the timber trade, of which the capital is the centre. Twelve months before Hull was devastated by fire, which swept awn\' acres of wooden houses and hundreds of thousands of feet of logs. A new and more substantial town has sprung out of the ashes, and Hull has the prosperous and businesslike aspect of an old industrial tov.n Some idea of tf - importance of the lumber industry may be gathered from the fact that an annual average of 3,/85,ooo pine logs float down the Upper Ottawa and its tributaries, and that on the piling grounds around the Chaudiere Falls there is always kept a stock of timber estimated at 125,000,000 cubic feet. The lumber trade is not only a source of wealth, giving employment to many thousands of men in mills equipped with the finest machinery, but a source of romance. Scattered over this vast country, which extends beyond three and a half million square miles, are limitless forests of pine and maple and spruce. Through these trackless deserts of trees have wandered generations of French settlers. From the earliest days they have breathe-' he spirit of the woods, and have made their hom.e in the shadow of the pine by the laughing v.-aters. Men of gentle 26o WITH THF OPHIF M birth, soldiers and courtiers, like Saint-Castin, have fallen under the spell and lived the free, wild life of the Imntt-r and trapper. They made friends with the Red Indians, adopted their costume and pursuits, some taking to themselves wives among the heavy, brown-faced squaws, and even attaining the rank of chief. The growth of towns and railways has banished the courier de bois, and limited the scope of trapper and hunter, but the French-Canadian is still a forest lover and a woodman. The sound of his axe and the smoke of his shanty are to be heard and seen in the heart of many a pine forest on the banks of the Ottawa. Where timber is plentiful, camps of forty or fifty men are established, but where it is scattered, one or two build their shanty and ply the axe in unbroken solitude. These woodmen are a quiet, romantic race, who cling to the habits and traditions of the past, worshipping the saintn, and singing the songs of their fathers, who blazed paths through the forests, paddled their frail canoes of bircli- bark along mysterious rivers and over rock-strewn rapids, or followed adventurous freebooters, like Duluth, into the Great Lone 1-and. They have a poetry and a literature of their own, and none is more welcome to share the frugal meal of pork and beans than he who has stock of conies and fairy tales to tell. Their songs, as you hear them in the woods or on the river, are instinct with the gentle melancholy of the forest, and the stories they love have an Old World flavour of the miraculous and wonder- ful. On the lakes and rivers, at the head or foot of the rapids, these woodmen display much of the daring and strength and agility that gave the old courier de bois hit SOUND THE empir;;. 36l reputation as a dare-devil. It is truly an astonishing sight to see the skill with which they set free a writhing mass of logs that threatens to grind them to atomr and the strength and ease with which they guide the heavy rafts down roaring streams. 263 WlTIf THE OPIIin CHAPTER XXXVl. SHOOTING THE SLIDES. A New Experience— A Picturesque \ lotilhi— Voyigeurs and their Songs -" Log Rolling. " When the great pine trees of the primaeval forest have been felled and drawn from the loggers' camp to the river or to the outlet of the lake, they are swept along with tremendous force, tossing from one side of the stream to the other, tumbling over each other like angry monsters of the deep, until they drop into some quiet pool, where they lie exhausted, battered, and splintered, with torn strips of bark hanging from their wounded sides. Only when they have been carefully hewn and made ready for the markets of Europe are the logs trea^r^i t > the gentler conveyance of a slide. The slide, in short, is a smooth, irclined plane of wood, down which the water glides like a mill race. The logs are put together in rafts or cribs — a crib being a section of a raft, having usually twenty "sticks" or logs of various length, but uniform width. The crib is steered by a pilot or voyageur, as the Canadian boatman is called, with a mighty oar that serves for pro- peller and rudder. Under ordinary conditions the pas- senger takes his seat on the highest log, summons up his courage, holdr his breath, and plunges into the tide with the knowledge that the crib may break up and reach the smooth water below in solitary timbers. There was no danger of the cribs in which their Royal Highnesses had ROUND THE EMPIRE. 263 a new and exciting experience pfoincr to pieces on the voyage. They were firmly secured, and had the luxury of benches for seats. A short ride in electric tramcars brought the Royal party to the banks of the Ottawa river. On every side were stacks of sweet-smelling pine, with many evidences of a great and profitable industry. The river is broad and brown, flowing quietly and sedately between low banks that have taken upon themselves the sober aspect of com- merce. Six cribs of heavy, square logs were moored to the side, and manned with voyageurs in blue jean trousers, red blouses, black felt hats, and coloured sashes— the tra- ditional dress of the voyageur. The English corre- spondents, having been selected for experiment, took their places with the set faces of men who were about to mur- mur the words, " Morituri te salutant." Members of the suite seated themselves with resignation on the second crib, while the Prince and Princess, with Lord and Lady Minto and Sir Wilfrid and Lady Laurier, occupied the third. And now came the order to cast off our moorings and face the perils of the unknown. Before us stretched the broad, brown river, looking as smooth and as innocent as the Thames at Henley. Another moment, and we began to lose confidence in these appearances, for the current took us in hand and carried us along, gently at first, as though to restore our confidence, until the short was too far away for repentance. The canoe in front did not give strength to our faith. It looked too much like a life- saving apparatus. No sooner had we felt the current and come to the narrow waterway, black with people, who 264 WITH THE OPHIR seemed bent on a Roman holiday, than our pilot made preparations to tie up our wilful barque till the other cribs were in sight. But our crib would not be " snubbed "— that is the technical word for tying up. In vain our voyageurs tried gaff and rope. In vain they leapt upon the slippery side of the slide and wound cables round little iron pins. The raft, intent on its business, carried them away one by one, and held manfully on its course. We looked behind, to see the five cribs careering down upon us, and saw only a hand waving frantically. It may have been a warning, but, having no choice, we accepted it as a signal for the advance guard to proceed at all costs. Then — still having no say in the matter — we picked up our courage, cast fear and our uncertain moorings aside, and drifted into the tide. At first slowly, and then with ever-quickening speed, we were hurried along toward the brink of the dark chasm beyond the bridge, whose crowded spectators looked down upon us with smiles and cheer'-, as men and women were wont to look down upon the gladiators in the arena of the Coliseum at Rome. Onward flew th j raft, not pausmg on the brink of the fall, but plunging its broad nose into the swift, smooth water, and lifting its tail in the air with exasperating levity. Down and down we went between rows of smiling faces, and then we asked when we were coming to the falls or rapids. The voyageur looked somewhat distressed, but pointed ahead. There were perils still to face. But we had felt no thrills, and were beginning to resent the smiles. There was no time, however, for explanations or recriminations. We were in the mill race, and our craft was grinding its sides against the timbers of the slide. A BOUND THE KMPIHE. 26; loose log, floating in the stream, seemed to offer hope of adventure, but a voyv;"'-i£ disposed of it with his gaff, and we arrived without nsb.^p at the s-.-cond fall. Down we went, and the wate w ished our deck, but the pilot ap- peared unconcerned, tiiuugl; T :im sure his felt slippers were wet. Another reach of level water too full for sound, and we dropped suddenly eight or ten feet with a roar and a bound really exhilarating. The danger was past, and we could wait with com- posure the tribulation of our friends. In smooth water, and paddling toward the steep bank, we began to sum up our impressions. The experience was not so thrilling as we expected ; but, after all, it was an experience, and that is something in this commonplace world. The members of the suite arrived safely, and their Royal Highnesses floated into calm waters amid a babel of noises, every ship and ferry and factory shrieking a note of triumph. We had still adventures before us. After the cribs had lam in the shelter of the cliffs several canoes of birch bark, manned by Indians and lialf breeds, paddled along- side, and we embarked for a cruise down the river. Birch canoes, I am told, arc extremely rare, and I know that they are extremely unstable, for one of our passengers, being of nervous temperament, insisted on clutching at the side, until the captain of the voyageur resigned him- self to the prospect of a swim, and ceased both to expos- tulate and to appeal to the particular saint of his worship. When we were permitted to turn our heads, we admired the bold, woody cliffs, with their burden of spectators, and the towers and spires that look down on the tranquil river. A very picturesque flotilla it was that sailed be '^^ WITH THE 'OPHIR neath the Royal Alexandra bridge, which le.ps the river in one bold, lofty span. There were canoes with flashing paddles in the hands of Indians clad in red and blue, ferry boats that looked like errant houses taken to sea late in life, steamers laden to the water edge, and every sort of craft. I believe that the voyageurs have chansons fofu- laires, with which they beguile the hours of toil. Certain sounds did occasionally assail our ears with a melancholy groaning. I strove to attune them to the words of the famous " Malbrouck s'en va-t-en-guerre," sung by couriers de bois and voyageurs in the days of the Grand Monarque. to that most beautiful of ballads, " A la Claire de Fontaine," and to the familiar chorus : " Roule, roulant, ma boule roulant, : En roulant ma boule roulant, En roular t ma boule." But it needed the ear of the mind to pick out the threads of song. I had to content myself with imagination and assurance of tradition. In due time the canoes landed us at Rockcliffe, a pic- turesque suburb of Ottawa, with the river in front and a dark forest behind. Here was new entertainment- canoe racing and log rolling. Four war canoes started— mere specks on the brown flood. Skimming swiftly over the brown stream, like birds on the wing, we saw the silver flash of paddles— white wings beating in the sun. It was an exciting race, and the honour of the Canadian cham- pionship fell to the Grand Trunk crew of Montreal. We were a trifle sorry that the name was not poetic, and that the war canoe was not manned by plumed Indians in their ROUND THE EMPIRE. 267 war paint instead of by rosy, clean-limbed youths of our own vigorous tribe. But the log rolling made up for any disappointment. This, truly, was a novelty. Hitherto we had understood log rolling to be the gentle art of cultivating fame by helping a friend to keep a position in the world's estimation to which his merits and achieve- ments do not entitle him. The phrase, I believe, was in- vented in America, and must have been perverted, for the one purpose cind aim of our log rollers was to upset and drown each other. The log lay loose and free in the water, and two stalwart men sprang upon it. Their feet spun it round with incredible swiftness, now this way and now that. Suddenly they would stiffen and tighten their hold, and the log stopped dead, and sometimes one of the men disappeared, and dragged himself to the surface, dripping and ridiculous. The marvel was how they held their place so long on so insecure and revolving a plat- form. Perh; -, is the meaning of the metaphor also — the art of k. ^- an impossible position. When these pleasures were exhausted, a move was made into the heart of the forest, where stood a beautiful shanty — the traditional home of the lumberman. It was built solidly of heavy logs, and had a very substantial, barn-like appearance. The Prince and Princess went inside, and tasted ti-e mess of pork and beans cooked in the large pot that uung over the fire in the middle of the shanty. Two pine trees were then felled and hewn into logs ready for the river, so that their Royal Highnesses might see with what skill and speed the lumberman works. A shanty dance and speeches followed, his Royal Highness thanking the men for their display. Mr. '^^ WITH THE OPHIB' Whissel. a well-known character among shantymen, re- plied. He began in his native French, but succumbed to the cries for English. Here are two passages, delivered v.-ith obvious sincerity:—" 1 see Messyer Edouard "—his master—" make a heap of money, and I started business for my own wa>'. I thought I make money, but I make mistake instead. I lose my shanty, and I had nodding. Worse nor dat, I owed seventeen thousand dollars Messyer Edouard say to me, * William, come work for me again,' and I go work for him again. But how I pay seventeen thousand dollars ? My old modder say to mc, ' William, you be good man, and pay your debt' I went to God and say, ' God, how I pay seventeen thousand col- lars ? ' and there was no answer." ROUND THE EMPIBE. 2(iC) CHAPTER XXXVII. FROM ATLANTIC TO PACIFIC. After Two Score Years -The Royal Train— Lake Nipissing— '•Our Heart is French but our Head is British "—Lake Superior — Manitoba — Winnipeg. The King went to Canada forty one years ago, and stayed on the shores of Lake Huron. To reach the Pacific in those days you had to sail round Cape Horn, or journey through the Great Lone Land, over boundless prairies where the red man hunted the bison, across mountains crowned with snow and clothed with virgin forest, in which roamed panther and grizzly bear — most ferocious of his tribe — along rivers on whose banks was ihr spoor of moose and cariboo. The King's son went from Ottawa to the capital of British Columbia — a distance of 3,162 miles — in seven days, travelling at leisure, with many halts by the way, and with as much comfort as the best inn could give. In one week he passed through the four sea- sons — from summer to winter, from winter to spring. He was welcomed in cities, throbbing with a new and energetic life, where his father would have seen only barren plains, the haunt of wild caC and grey wolf. He passed granaries, bursting with the harvest of a myriad acres, which a quarter of a century ago were wild wastes, given over to the Indian, the buffalo, the fox, and the 270 WITH THE OPHIB' wolverine. It was a wonderful and delightful journey, full of strange contrasts of scene and people, and at tiie end of it we came, as we came at the eastern limit of the Empire, to a city more English in aspect, in speech, and people than any on the North American continent. The Prince and Princess left Ottawa on Tuesday, September 24th, and journeyed along the south bank of the river, whose broad stretches are crowded with evidences of a great industry and of a happy and prosper- ous people. Their train was a model of comfort and luxury, 730 feet long, with vestibuled cars for dining and sleeping, lighted by electricity, and having telephonic communication between the cars. Dr. Manby had a dis- pensary on board. There were three private coaches for the Prince and Princess, with appointments in the style of Louis XV., with draperies of dark blue velvet. The Princess' boudoir was a charming room, with pearly grey walls painted after the manner of Watteau and up- holstered in pale blue moire silk. Dining-car and night coaches, too, were models of taste in their appointments. So admirable, indeed, was the service of the Canadian and Pacific Railway that this long run of over three thousand miles was attended with none of the fatigue that every- body anticipated. Lady Minto, wife of the Governor General, the Premier, and Lady Laurier were in a separate and not less comfortable train that preceded their Royal Highnesses by half an hour, and acted as pilot. In this train were the correspondents of English, Canadian, and American newspapers, among whom were several French- Canadians. Gliding through the beautiful valley of the Ottawa, with the Laurentian Hills purple in the distance, ROUND THE EMPIRE. 271 we came at night to Mattawa, an old trading post, wlicrc Champlain, Hearnc Simpson, La Verendrye, and many an early explorer, halted on his way to the unknown West. A wild stretch of broken country brought us to North Bay, on the woody shores of Lake Nipissing. Here the party had a welcome typical of many. Church bells rang out through the darkness, and people hastened to the station — farmers, woodmen, hunters, with their wives and children. When the train drew up to the platform there came from a hundred sweet young voices the Canadian Anthem. The words, written by Alexander Muir, a Scotch schoolmaster of Toronto, are sung to the air " The Land of Cakes," and their popularity is so firmly estab- lished that they may be added to the anthology of national song : — •' In days of yore from Britain's shore, Wolfe, the dauntless hero, came And planted firm (Jid England's fla<,' On Canada's fair domain. Lonj; may it wave, the emblem dear Of tics tliat none may sever. The Thistle, Shamrock, Rose entwine The Maple leaf for ever." "The Maple leaf, our emblem dear, The Maple leaf for ever. Long may it wave, and Heaven bless The Maple leaf for e\er I " At daybreak Lake Nipissing was far behind, and we remembered it only as the home of a tribe of Indians whom the French named Sorcerers, because of their skill in the black art. We were now in the province of Ontario, and were beginning to realise that Canada is not one but several countries, separated by distance, race, religion, and even language, though held together by com- *72 WITH THE OPHIR miinity of interests and the bond of federation. France is written large over the whole province of Quebec. It might have been Normandy we saw through the windows as we sped past quaint cliurches and trim hamlets of dark-skinned peasants. Little acquaintance with French- Canadians is needed to convince one that they are more sensitive on racial than on religious questions. I know Ihat many people in Europe, as well as in America, put no faith in their professions of loyalty to the British Empire, and belie\e that they would seize the first opportunity of setting up a French Republic on the banks of the St. Lawrence, or of joining their destiny with that of the United States. If you want to move a French-Canadian to the eloquence of indignation, just hint at a possible union with the Republic across the border. He will recite to you with pride the exploits of his fathers, who, in the revolu- tion of 1774, and again in the war of 1812, fought for British supremacy, and will end by quoting the words of Dr. Tache : " The last shot that will be fired against union with the United States will be fired by a French-Cana- dian." They arc conscious that only under British rule can they hope to retain their language, laws, and religion. The State of Louisiana is an example of the fate that would speedily overtake their language and individuality if brought into contact with the people and the institu- tions of the United States. As for a French Republic on the banks of the St. Lawrence, it is a dream that no intel- ligent French-Canadian will discuss zs practicable. Though they form more than one-third of the population of the Dominion, and increase with greater rapidity than ROUND THE EMPIK... 273 the English settlers, the French-Canadians recognise that they must remain the minority, and must be slowly sub- merged as the resources of the country become better known and more developed. Union with France they never even contemplate. The bitterest denunciations of the French Republic couie from the Roman Catholic clergy, whose influence in the province of Quebec is greater than in any district outside Spain. "Our heart is French, but our head is British," ex- cl' ' --1 an influential French-Canadian with whom I have ortei, debated this subject. That sentence seems to me to sum up the situation. The tendency towards assimila- tion grows stronger every day. Nine years before I had visited Canada, and it appeared to me that even in that short time the social relations of the two races have be- come more intimate and the use of English is more general in the cities, where the majority of the inhabitants are of French origin. French-Canadians are intelligent and shrewd enough to see that their children cannot suc- ceed without an intimate knowledge of English. Even the cabmen in Frencii Quebec speak English. One great obstacle to this healthy tendency is the fanaticism of a small but noisy party who clamour for the suppression of the French language and of the Roman Catholic Church. This sort of clamour, however much it may be regretted by thoughtful men, naturally arouses racial feeling. When you tell a man that you intend to suppress him, you ought not to be surprised if he shows fight. Laissez faire is often a wise policy, and it is especially wise in questions of race and religion. In Ontario the Latin element grew weaker every mile, s 274 WITH THE OPHIh until at last we saw only the signs of vigorous Anglo Saxon life. Ontario is the richest and most populous of the provinces of Canada, yei its 220,ocx) square miles embrace thousands of miles of forest and wilderness un- tamed by the hand of the pioneer. All day we hurr^ .d thiough these wastes, over which are scattered a few wooden shanties in which men are content to pass strangely silent and isolated lives. We came to Heron Bay in the afternoon, and had our first glimpse of Gitchee Gumme, Little Brother of the Sea, as the Indians call the 31,000 square miles of inland water that we know as Lake Superior. A dull grey light fell on the placid sea, that lay like a sheet of lead between rocky banks, seamed and scarred with dei^p gorges, over which gaunt pine trees crept J '-e spirit of solitude brooded over the scne as we followed every bend and curve of the shore for nearly two hundred miles, daiting in and out of tunnels cut through the face of the cliff. At Port Arthur, on the west shore of Thunder Bay, an ariii of the lake, we put back our watches an hour, for there begins what is known as the " central standard of time," and men talk of thirteen and seventeen o'clock, instead of one and five o'clock. Houses and cultivated lands sprang up on every side, until at Fort William we found a busy little town, beautifully situated, with traditions of adventurous days long before the freebooter Duluth made his journey into the mystic West. The famous old fort is now an engine-house, and the romcuice and mystery that drew generations of Cana- dians to the Great Lone Land have departed. Once more the train plunged into a region of forest iind scrub, over which fire had swept, leaving long lines 01 ROUND THE EMPIRE. charred and blackened stumps. Fire, I am told, destroys more timber than the axe, enormous ajid contir.uous as i\wi destruction is. The names of the stations give somo hint of the o -in of the stUlemonts. Fininark and Lin- kooping are, ^f course, Scandinavian ; Atbara, withoui doubt, dates from the defeat of Mahmoud ; while Butler, Barclay, Dryden, and MacMiUan offer no puzzle. One cannot but regret that so few of the poetical and melo- dious Indian names have been preserved. Another stretch of wild and rorky country carried us to Rat Portage, an important mining centre at tlie outlet of the Lake of the Woods. On Thursday morning we were in a new land. Great plains stretched unbroken before us, with no landmark save the rising and setting sun. As the train toiled over this infinite green waste, under a sky of Italian blue and through air of crystal punty, we felt that this must be Manitoba, whose granaries and wheat fields have made the name and place familiar since childhood. Almost equal in size to Great Britain, the province has over a million and three-quarter acres under wheat, and yielded last year more than thirteen million bushels. Winnipeg, at which the Prince and Princess attended the usual cere- monies, is an example of the rapidity with which the re- sources of the country are being developed. In 1871— twelve months after the Lieutenant-Governor of the new province of Manitoba met in council the representatives of the Indian tribes and entered into treaties with them for the transfer of the prairie lands, where we now see immense tracts of wheat and oats and barley— Winnipeg had only 240 inhabitants, sheltered in log cabins. It is 276 WITH THE OPHIR now a city of over 50,000 people, with solid and sub- stantial business houses and shops, and at least one fine street. The extreme newness of the place gives an ini pression of artificiality — as if the town was scenic rather than real. But you have only to walk through the streets with their hardy cosmopolitan people to be convinced that the prosperity of Winnipeg is rooted firmly in the soil and will grow. It was nearly midnight when we took leave of this loyal and hospitable city of the plains, whose history is crowded with romance. In the middle of the eighteenth century is was a French fort ; at the opening of the nine- teenth it was a trading station of the North-West Com- pany ; in 1816-1; it was attacked by the Hudson's Bay Company ; five years later it became the headquarters of the united companies, and was known as Fort Garry, from which Viscount Wolseley made his famous march to the Red River against the rebel Riel. Looking on this spacious vacancy that surrounds the city, one cannot but reflect on the solitude of those who pass their lives on the prairie. Air and light and space there are, and a healthy and prosperous career for all who can meet the labour test which nature and climate impose on the tiller of the soil. But to me the hfe seemed ghastly in its very vacancy. Yet men endure it in perfect contentment. I had some talk with a farmer at Poplar Point, not far from Winnipeg. He is an example of what may be accom- plished with a little capital, some skill, and much industry. Eleven years ago he left England with a family nf eleven and a capital of three hundred pounds. He knew nothing of farming beyond what any man who hrd hved in the POl'Nn THE EMPIRE. ,^7 country may know. Ucg^inning with a holding of ninety- one acres, he is now owner of nearly six hundred acres, a fine homestead, six teams of horses, forty head of cattle, and would not sell his land for five or even six pounds an acre. His sons, trained on neighbouring farms, assist him on the estate, and seem as happj and contented as men ran be. 278 WITH THE OPHin CHAPTER XXXVIII. AN INDIAN POW-WOW. The Prairie Camp— White Pup and Bull's Head— The Povv- Wow— Poetry and Prose— The Indian Children. On the prairie near the foot of the Rocky Mountains the Indians awaited the great white sachem who had journeyed many moons over land and running water. They had come from many parts of the Great Lone Land, and had built their topees among those of their brothers, the Sarcees, who live on the fat plains of Shag- anappie, near the ranching township of Calgary. There were Blackfeet and Crees, who belong to the Algonquin race, the most numerous and widely-dispersed of the tribes of the Dominion. Bloods and Piegans smoked the calumet of peace with the head chiefs of the Stonies or Assinibonies, who are of the alien nation of the Sioux. As the Prince and Princess drew near to the camp of white buffalo tents an army of " bucks " dashed forward to greet them — splendid savages with nodding plumes woven in their long, black hair, and clad in all the colours of the rainbow. The naked bodies of Black- feet and Crees were stained yellow with ochre ; their faces were painted, and on their breasts were tattooed the totem of the tribes. They alone were in the war paint of their fathers. Sarcees and Bloods, and Piegans and Stonies were tricked out in glaring reds and blues t- x K O O Ul > at > HI o z h ROUND THE EMPIRE. 279 and yellows that have no history or traditions. With wild cries they swept over the plain, tossing their rifles in the air, and handling ♦ .eir lean ponies with untamed gprace. This fluttering rainbow halted near a pavilion, over which was the legend — " Kitaiksima Tsimopinan " — " We greet you." Round the pavilion was a great circle of squaws and children in bewildering colours and costume. Some were wrapped in dazzling blankets ; others wore modern dresses of brilliant scarlet or purple, while several of the children were clad in the ancient garb of the Indian sachem — mocassins, scarlet trousers with flying thrums, and loose tunic of bright colour. Within this prismatic ring stood several bands ->f boys and girls in neat attire of dark blue or striped blue and white, like the uniform of some generous orphan asylum. They were a clean, healthy, bright, and happy-looking company, a credit to the industrial schools from which they came, and an instructive contrast to the native chil- dren who pass their young days in the camps. In front of the pavilion sat the chiefs, on bright rugs. They were White Pup, Running Rabbit, and Iron Shield, of the Blackfoot tribe ; Crop Ear Wolf and Day Chief of the Bloods ; Running Wolf of the Piegans ; Bull's Head of the Sarcees ; Jacob Bear's Paw, John Cheneka, and Jonas Big Stony, of the Stonies ; Joseph, Samson, and Master Jim, of the Crees. A more remarkable group their Royal Highnesses have not looked upon — not even among the Maories, for these Indian chiefs have greater digrnity and picturesqueness than their distant relations beyond the Pacific. Though some are divided by radical differences of language, they have no distinctive racial or ill! i! !i i ! ^^ WITH THE OPHIR physical characteristics. The smooth, hairless face and long black locks parted in the middle and hanging over the shoulder in glossy plaits give them an effeminate ook which IS belied by the eagle eye and hawk-like features. Several of them wore the dress provided by the bounty of the State-a dark unifor^i with a red stripe down the sides of the trousers, and a broad felt hat with a red nbbon. But the majority scorned this degenerate garb and appeared in picturesque barbaric dress of their warhke fathers. White Pup. one of the head chiefs of the Blackfeet. was the most splendid. His tunic of scarlet was richly embroidered ; the sleeves were of cloth of gold, m which were worked strange devices in blue and white, and from his waist hung a scarlet blanket over which fell many white ermine tails, once the token of white scalps. His yellow trousers had flying thrums and buck-skm leggings, and his feet were covered with em- broidered mocassins. He has the face of an eagle, and as he stood before the Prince and Princess, with a silver- mounted wand like a crozier in his hand, he looked less r I Tu"^l '^'" '°'"" P^^^"*^ «f *h^ R°"^an or the Greek Church. The presentations were made by Mr. David Laird Indian Commissioner for Manitoba and the North-West Terntories. Each came forward in turn, shook hands with the Pnnce and Princess, and made a little speech which was interpreted so crudely that every characteristic expression was lost. One or two of them forgot to shake hands with the Princess, and seeing that others were so honoured, returned to complete the ceremony Bulls Head, head chief of the Sarcees. showed the AN INDIAN BRAVE. li' If i !i ! ROUND THE EMPIBE. 38l strongest individuality. He is a fine-looking savage, with the face of a hawk, and was arrayed in all the bar- baric splendour of tunic, and blanket, and ermine. Hurrying forward, with a muttered cry of " Himokoite " (" Pity me ; pity me "), he grunted a salutation, seized the Prince by the hand, and delivered an animated speech. The effect of the address, as interpreted, was disap- pointing. It amounted to a demand for " lots of grub," and something that sounded like a complaint that he never got enough to eat. Having displayed his medal and boasted a little of his achievements, Bull's Head re- turned to the line of st?nding chiefs, squatted, or rather lounged, on his mat, took his pipe out of his weasel skin bag, and having taken a puff, passed it to his right-hand neighbour, who presently returned it. Mister Jim, one of the chiefs of the Crees, was the most eloquent. He spoke in a subdued voice, declaring his gratitude to the Great Spirit, who had let him live to see this day. A gleam of light broke out of the dark clouds, and raising his hand he pointed to the sun — " Behold, the clouds break, and the sun of the heavens comes forth to gladden our hearts as you, the great white sachem, have glad- dened them." Mister Jim returned to his place amid cheers. One of the boys from the Industrial School then came forward and read an address in English with re- markable ease, and but little trace of foreign accent. T le address told how for generations their tribes hunted the bison on the plains, until the coming of the white man, who settled on their hunting grounds, and large game grew scarce owing to reckless slaughter. The ;82 WITH THE OPHlJi Treaty and surrender of lands followed, and the Indians pledged their allegiance and loyalty, and during the Rebellion of 1885 refused to bear arms against their gracious Sovereign. Under the fostering care of the Department of Indian Affairs they are " gradually adopt- ing the civilised mode of living, and are acquiring cattle and other means of obtaining ample subsistence and comfortable homes." The Prince's reply no doubt suffered from a double translation by natives, one of whom acted as orator, shouting the sentences in sten- torian voice. His Royal Highness adapted his speech to the metaphoric diction dear to this race of savage orators. He spoke of the Treaty that was to last as long " as the grass grows and the water runs," of those dire days when starvation threatened, and the Great White Mother stretched forth her hand to her children in the land of the setting sun. The chiefs hstened with calm, expressionless faces. Only once was their stolidity shaken, and a deep, guttural " Emuni " (" it is true ") came from their throats, when reminded how they had kept firm in their allegiance, hke true men, and had resisted the attempts to lead them into rebellion. Girls and boys sang the National Anthem almost as well as English school children, and then the " bucks," throwing aside their blankets, gave a war dance. It was rather a tame and small affair, having none of the mass, vigour, or precision of the Maori dance. Circling and strutting about to the harsh beating of a war drum, they pointed their rifles at imaginary foes until joined by the women, when a circle was formed for a dance of welcome. Holding each other by the hand— painted INDIAN BRAVE AND HIS LITTLE DAUGHTER. ■11 ROUND THE I^MPIRE. 283 braves, dancing girls with towers of feathers on their heads, and women in dress of glaring colours — they shuffled round and round, droning a melancljoly air, to the manifest delight of nearly three thousand natives. Not in the present generation has there been so large an assembly of Indians for purposes that may be looked upon as peaceful. The very composition of it evoked memories of many a grim conflict and many an act of savage treachery. How else could one account for the evident ascendancy of the Blackfoot and the Blood, sworn foes of Piegan and Sarcee and Stony? The widow of Crowfoot, leader of the Blackfoot nation, and suzerain chief of the vassals of that once powerful federation, was a forcible and picturesque remiiiHer of a troubled past, as she came forward to shake hands with the Prince and Princess. Crowfoot has had no suc- cessor among the Indians of the North-West Province — none with those splendid natural abilities of soldier and statesman brought to perfection by a long series of tribal feuds, and used for the welfare of his people in the Riel rebeUion of 1885. Twelve months after the half-breed swung on the gallows at Regiiia, Crowfoot, with Redcrow of the Bloods, and Three Bulls of the Piegans, received an ovation at Montreal for the part he had played in dissuading his braves from taking the war path. All three are dead, or you may be sure they would have been conspicuous in this ceremony. Crowfoot died five years ago, but his widow looked hale and hearty, despite five and sixty winters. She had looked forward eagerly to this day, when she would greet the great white sachem. On her ample breast 384 WITH THE OPHIR were the med ii> . f her renowned liusband. and one that her own services lad earned. To T.ady Minto she showed with There 'c of this ou' \ and Blood a at Suvokaw' Wood, and a '• liu,, under the Ir: ler-.h;,, bands numbti ■ alj- reduced to la. our < Ic \ portrait of Crowfoot. ■n b oux at the pow-wow. Indeed, few .« iMu' able tribe who harried Blackfoot '- 11 m the Dominion. One small L nd is h, w More Jaw, another at Moose i' ' K' near Fort Qu'Appelle, 'f tanding Buffalo. The three and many of them have been far-ns and at the wash tub. The former f uuting grou.id of the Sioux is now the State of Dakota, whence the majority migrated to C- -^da with the famous Sitting Bull, in 1862, after the massacre of the United States troops, in which General Custer was ambushed and killed. Though they have no claim of birth or hereditary rights on the Canadian Government, their wants are provided for like those of the tribes native to the soil. It is not easy to interpret tlie language of the Indian, and I am convinced that our interpreter failed altogether to do justice to the speeches. Unless the youth of England has been nourished on fictions with respect to the noble Red man, I will maintain at all costs that Bull's Head, chief of the Sarcecs, would be scalped rather than use so vulgar a phrase as " lots of grub." Only once did the interpreter lapse into a poetic expression, and he could not help himself, for the chief's hand was raised to the gleam of sunshine out of the dark sky as he uttered the words—" Behold, the sun comes to gladden our hearts as you have gladdened hem," SHAGANAPF-E POINT. NEAR CALO-'R. BLACK- I^OOT BRA. AND TOPPEES OF inui^.s viho WELCOMt!. THE ROVAL VISITORS. ROUND THE EMPIRE. 285 But deeds speak louder than words, and though the words were good, we have the better memory of deeds. In that hour of danger, when the whole of this region was over- run by rebellious half-breeds, these chiefs and their Inbes not merely resisted the strong temptation to go on the war path, but by influence and persuasion helped to check the rebellion. Night and day did Crowfoot strive to make peace, while not forgetting to prepare for any eventuality that might arise from his opposition to the rebels. More than one allusion was made in the speeches to those dark hours when hunger oppressed the tribes, and when the Great White Mother stretched out her hand to succour her children in the far west lands. This dis- tress, I am reminded, was ca' ed by the disappearance of the buffalo, which the Indians had hunted for count- less generations before the coming of the white man. With them vanished all means of subsistence, for to the Indian the buffalo was food, and dress, and shelter. The misery was acute in 1876, and threatened the tribes with extinction. Then it was that the Great White Mother came to the rescue and made the treaty, of which one of the chiefs handed the Prince a copy. Under this treaty the chiefs surrendered to the Crown the title to their lands, and received in exchange certain reservations and assist- ance in food, and clothing, and mone>-. One square mile of reserve was allotted to the head of a family, the family being counted as five persons. The reservations of the Bloods and the Stonies near the foot of the Rocky Mountains are five miles wide, and from fifteen to twenty miles long. 286 WITH THE OPHIR hi' I have spoken of the children from the Industrial Schools — the beys and girls in neat, clean dress and uni- form — and have contrasted their appearance with that of the untutored native. There were three or four hundred of them, and they sang " God Save the King " almost as well as English children could have done. At the schools they receive a good elementary English education, and are taught handicrafts. The school at Calgary is directed by the Church of England, and that near High River, or Dunbow, by the Roman Catholics. The children are taken at the age of eight, and remain until they are eight- een. They are usually apt pupils, and learn quickly. Their handwriting is often very beautiful — a curious fact, seeing that, unlike the Maoris, with whom they have some remote affinity, the Indian has never manifested any capacity for creative or imitative arts. With reading the children make little progress, and for books they have no taste. When they leave school they are encouraged to marry among themselves, with a view to raising the stand- ard of life among the natives, and offering an example of the advantages of civilisation. By the time his courtship is over, the Indian swain has made in the school workshop all the furniture necessary to set up housekeeping, and whatever is wanted for the comfort and luxury of the wedded pair is provided by their fellow-pupils. Many of the Indians, according to Sir John Boumiot, have shown an aptitude for agricultural pursuits which has surprised those who imagined they could never be induced to make much progress in the arts of civilised life. Little Axe, of the Blackfeet, is a shining example of this capacity for civilisation. He can neither read nor write, and, as he ■ I If ROUND THE EMPIRE. :87 says, is too old to learn, though he has made the attempt, and speaks a little English. Yet he is quite a prosperous farmer, who lives in a fine house, shut in by a palisade, and counts his wealth at twelve thousand dollars. He has two hundred horses, one hundred and thirty-five head of cattle, together with reapers and mowers and lumber wag- gons. The creation of this wealth has reacted not only on the character but on the face of this sturdy Indian, and has given him an air of alert intelligence that you seek in vain among the hawk-faced chieftains who are still savages at heart and barbarians by instinct and habit. The high standard of life attained by the Iroquois on the Grand River of Ontario gives hope for the tribes of the North- West. Their children, at any rate, are tending in the right direction, and improved methods of life have al- ready given that slight increase of population which has been lo-^ked for as the effect of their training in habits of health and cleanliness. It would seem that, like the Maoris, they are not to become extinct, but are, in the course of years, to develop into useful citizens, and to pre- serve the memory of that archaeological and ethnological lore which makes them so interesting to the student. 288 WITH THE OPHIR CHAPTER XXXIX. ACROSS THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. The Charm of the Rockies— A Ride on a Cow-catcher— Banff and its Beauties. The charm of the Rocky Mountains is the charm of con- trast and colour. To solitary people the prairie may be very attractive, but to cheerful souls a solitude of wheat and yellow grass is not inspiring. The eye searches vainly for relief, and sees only the " mocking fugitive horizon," into which the sun sinks with dusky splendour. Mile after mile, and not a tree or a river— hardly a sign of life — only the clouds by day and the stars by night to give the variety that keeps the mind alive. Thought and fancy go back to the men who in olden days braved the terrors of this green desert, toiling at the footpace of oxen toward the setting sun. They had at least the inspiration of the unknown to bring the thrill of mystery and adven- ture — the herds of buffalo, whose remnant we have seen preserved as natural curiosities behind a fence — the savage Indian in war paint and feathers, with whose de- generate sons, tricked out in borrowed plumes, we smoked the calumet of peace — a common briarwood — at Calgary. The spacious vacancy of the prairie was beginning to weigh on our spirits with its huge sameness when, from the blue sky, there fell an immense black curtain, crowned and ribbed with snow. A cool breath scattered the heat and weariness of the plains, and filled our hearts with the strength and the mystery of the mountains. We beheld mVND THE EMPIRE 389 a vision of majestic hills, clothed in the eternal glory of the snow and the awful silence of infinite space-a vision of roaring torrents, of cool groves, and deep, woody ravines, over whose rugged chaos the dark pine casts a darker shadow. " Come and see Banff," said Mr. Richardson, who had us m charge smce we committed ourselves to the com- forts and luxuries of the Canadian-Pacific Railway. I was just despairing of getting rid of some Regina mud —the little town floats on a sea of black loam— when the dusky gentleman who attended to all our wants with en- gaging courtesy in every inch of his six feet five and five- eighths came to the rescue, and released me. My Canadian confreres were muffling themselves in heavy coats, but I had known and suffered from their cat-like love of warmth on the hot coast and sunny plains, and stepped out or the overheated carriage into— was it the Arctic circle? Our Lady of the Snows was mantled in dark- ness, and you saw not her white and beautiful face, but her cold breath, sweet with the scent of pine, fanned your cheek, and sent the blood coursing through icy veins Once more I knew the wisdom that comes from experi- ence, and returned for my overcoat. We walked up the silent road between black belts of forest, along the footway of planks, between houses and shops of wood, all dark and silent, and came at last to a large building, through whose windows streamed yellow lights. " That is the sanatorium," said Mr. Richardson. You should know that Banff is not merely a very beautiful Alpine village, but a health resort for those in need of rest and mountain air and sulphur baths. Above the black T ago WITH THE OPBIR wood beyond gleamed other and brighter lights, such a tell of the comforts of an hotel, for the Canadian-Pacifi Company are innkeepers as well, and have learned th duties of host in Europe instead of America, for whicl wisdom travellers must hold them in reverence and grati tude. A great cloud of steam, rising behind the bote carried my thoughts over the Pacific to the North Islani of New Zealand and volcanic Rotorua. There was n mistaking the smell of sulphur and the signs of volcani activity. It was midnight when we returned to the trair and looking back saw the dark valley embosomed in th mountains, whose white crests shone sharp and clea against the sky. Wordsworth is said to have got very angry when any one ventured in his presence to speak about mountain He held a corner in mountains. It is well that the poe of the Lakes did not live to accompany us in this Royj tour across the Rockies, for we talked mountains all th time. The halt at Banff was arranged so that we migh miss none of their beauties. It may saxour of the spir that would speak disrespectfully of the Equator, but am bound to confess that in the Tyrol and in Switzerlan are isolated peaks of loftier and nobler proportions, mour tains with more varied natural colour — for the Rockie when bare of forest, are bleached — glaciers and sno fields of greater extent, and torrents and cataracts ( brighter and piurer tint Having purged my soul of thi confession, I am ready to admit that the Rocky Moui tains are unsurpassed outside Northern India for exter and magnificence. The infinite variety of forest tints — the dark an ROUND THE EMPIRE 291 stately pine, the shimmering orange and gold of larch and aspen and birch, the glowing crimson of flaming vine and creeper— the foaming torrents and cataracts, the deep precipices, woody gorges, and dark cafions are a delight and an inspiration for all time. We felt this most when following the example of the Prince and certain members of his suite, we rode from Field to Laggan on the cow- catcher. It is not the most comfortable place from which to admire natural beauties— the hot front of an engine that hurls you through space, but it carries with it a fine sense of exhilaration, and gives a clear field of vision. The engine panted painfully upward toward "The Great Divide "—the imaginary line that runs across the con- tinent for eight thousand miles, and divides the watershed. Field, with its mysteries of snow and ice. glided past us. and we toiled toward Hector through valleys that stretched away to the foot of glacier-bound peaks, by the side of roaring streams, past forests that looked like multi- tudinous seas, incarnadine and gold, along shallow rivulets fed with eternal snows, beneath battlemented cliffs. Like an arrow from an Indian bow we shot from Stephen, the summit of the mountains, to Laggan. overhung by the vast glacial field that feeds three continental rivers. But this was on the return journey, and I must go back to Banff, our starting point after the Indian pow-wow at Calgary. At dawn on Sunday I crept out of the cosy box that IS a bed by night and by day a luxurious couch and table. The snowy peak beyond the valley was touched with fire, that spread until a rosy veil fell on the shoulder of the mountain. Our path lay through a forest valley by the 292 WITH THE 'OPHIR banks of Bow river. These mountain forests have pern liar charm at this season, for autumn has given them ; mantle of many colours. From a shady thicket of darl pine — the kind of wood in which you would look for tin Indian brave in his war paint, silently tracking his victiri — ^you come suddenly upon a grove of birch and aspen ii all the tints of orange and gold. Another moment, an from some pure and lofty summit of snow the pines pou a dark green torrent into a sunlit chasm. It is a spectacl of ever-changing colour, from crimson to gold, and fror grey to green, in which the charm is perpetually fresl Beyond the Vermilion Lakes the train fell under th shadow of Castle Mountain, a grey keep, with turrets an battlements, high-throned on a precipice. Hector i passed, and you creep along the mountain side as th valley deepens, and you see the river a thousand fee below — a gleaming thread. Away to the right stretchc the magnificent valley of Yoho, shut in by massive peat of ice and ^^-'ow. Near to Palliser the canon deepens an the mountains become bronze walls, until at Golden yo see in the distant south the Selkirks lifting their whit heads far above the clinging pine woods, wh'le the broa and stately Columbia flows silently northward. It is wit a feeling almost of relief from this infinite change of fori and colour that you halt at Glacier House — a seclude Alpine valley, nestling at the feet of green mountain crowned with glaciers. The train glides out of this beai tiful valley into another majestic canon, through ; sheds that receive the avalanches of snow in winter, ac^. ravines and lakes, past peaks wreathed in mist, until tli great Fraser river forces a path through black walls <: I i w ii BANFF: VIEW FROM THE HOT SULPHUR SPRINGS. ttOUND THE EMPllte. ,53 rock. And now you see signs of life and intliistry. In the river below is a group of Chinamen, washing the sand for gold that yields them four or five dollars a day Near the green promontoiy, on which stands a little church, is a dredger with the same purpose written unmistakably on Its slimy sides. Here are flumes, through which the rich mud flows in unbroken stream, and there are strange skeletons of wood. ladcu with salmon in process of drying for the markets of Europe. The railway has revolution- ised these great industries, and as we speed along we find it hard to realise what pilgrimages of pain and privation have been made along that Cariboo road, which winds and twists like a white thread over hill and dale on the other side of the Fraser river. The road is no longer used, and is tumbling to pieces over precipice and river, but every fallen stone is a memorial tablet, telling of men whose adventurous spirit led them through these wilds to the rich plains beyond. And so, in due time, we came to Vancouver, the Pacific terminus of the railway. The stay of their Royal High- nesses on the Pacific slope was short, yet it must have shown them how great is the future of these maritime towns, which fifteen years ago were little more than a few shanties. The journey eastward was as pleasant as that to the west. From Banff the Prince departed on a shooting expedition thirty miles from Winnipeg, on the estate of Senator Kirchoffer, while the Princess rested two days at Banff. A more healthy and delightful spot could not have been chosen. The little hamlet of wooden houses lies in a beautiful valley, along which flows the clear, shallow stream of Bow. Forest-clad mountains and 294 WITH THE OPHIR' snow-tipped crags encompass it. The air breathes the vigour of the forest and the mountain. A resiful, bracing place is Banff, such as would attract thoiisands of seekers after health and the beautiful were it better known in Europe. Here her Royal Highness passed her time in rambling on the mountains, walking along the leafy ave- nues, visiting the Silver Lakes and the sulphur basin and crater of an extinct geyser that still wells up in hot springs, and watching the herds of elk and buffalo that thrive and multiply within wide fences at the foot of the mountain. "tf/fl- es the racing eekcrs )wn in ime in "y avc- in and prings. ve and tain. VANCOUVER, B.C. THE,R ROYAL HICHNESSES LEAVING THE STATION TO VieiT CITY. ROUND THE EMPIRE. 295 of CHAPTER XL. CHINESE IN BRITISH COLUMBIA. Vancouver and Victoria— Rival Cities— The Chinese Columbia. Vancouver and Victoria are examples of the rapid growth of cities in Canada. Fifteen years ago Vancouver was a heap of charred ruins, from which its six hundred inhabitants had been driven by one of those terrible fires that occasionally devastate the wooden villages of America. The city that greeted the Prince and Princess of Wales has 27,000 people, and is built with a solidity and an elegance that have no appearance of artificiality or want of permanence. Vancouver is destined to become a great maritime city. It is the natural port of the Cana- dian Pacific ; its people are energetic and enterprising, and it has the advantage of an unrivalled position on the mainland of a province with almost u.nlimited resources of mineral and forest wealth. The history of British Columbia is full of interest and instruction. When the Hudson Bay Company extended their commerrial monopoly to the shore of the Pacific, they discouraged in every way the spread of civilisation, fearing that the settlement of the country would drive away the game and demoralise the trappers and hunters who adventured their lives for rich furs and pells. The discovery of gold swept away these barriers. Some Indians brought to Victoria a few specimens of gold from 296 WITH THE OPIIUi the I'rasir river, and iuimediately thirty thousand strangers from CaUfornia and elsewhere invaded the land. So great, however, v.ere the difficulties and dangers of ascending the golden river that all who survived— save three thousand— hurried back to the coast. A few bold spirits, leaving the gloomy gorges of the l-raser river, struck north to the uninhabited wilderness of Cariboo, and discovered a new Eldorado. Once more the restless wave of gold seekers swept over these unknown regions, and in fifteen years the Cariboo was deserted. The dis- covery of the Yukon followed, and British Columbia again yields up her hidden treasure. }3ut her prosperity docs not rest on the shifting golden sands of the Eraser river, and her life does not depend on the frozen veins of the Yukon. This vast province, stretching from the Pacific to the Rocky Mountains, from sunny Victoria to icy Alaska, hao many resources. Ri -ers and lakes abound in fish, and the salmon-canning industry, which began in 1876, brings to the people millions of dollars every season. As far north as Alaska the coast is heavily timbered, and the red cedar and yellow cedar — conmiercially the most valuable— grow to enormous size, as the Prince and Prin- cess m\xA have seen in their drive through the beautiful Stanley Park at Vancouver, as well as at Oak Bay, where they lodged in Victoria. Fruit trees flourish in the mild and genial climate west of the coast range, and there are many fine valleys for the raising of cattle and grain. The distributing centres of a rapidly increasing and wealthy community, Vancouver and Victoria advance by leaps and bounds. They are in many respects rivals. Victoria, being the cnpilal and the older city, not un- VANCOUVER 8C TmE FORT SIMCSON iNOI*N CORNET BAND PLAVINO 9efO«t THEIR ROVAl HIGHNESSES HOUND THE EMPIRE 297 naturally looks with surprise, if not exactly with suspicion on he new port across the Gulf of Georgia-the terminus' of the ,,,, ^„ ^^^^^ ^^^.j ^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^ ne itv of vT"' "° ^°""^ ^""^ """'^^'"^^^- The pros- perity of Victoria increases with that of Vancouver. She jas. moreover, two advantages. Victoria is tlic scat of the provincial government, and has a situation of un- rivalled beauty, with mountam and forest and sea for un- oiiding delight. Like every provincial capital m the Dominion, her buildings are tributes to the good taste and public spirit of the citizens. But the chief delight of all IS the suburbs. Not even in England or on the Riviera arc there more charming houses or more beautiful gardens l^-very house stands in spacious grounds, with well-kept lawns, and is embowered in trees and flowers The climate is as warm and bracing as that of any health resort on the south coast of England. A few miles beyond the city you come to the forest-a deep and impenetrable wood of gmnt trees, with a dense undergrowth The interior of the island is still the haunt of the black bear and other game that attracts the hunter and sportsman At Victoria, as at Vancouver, their Royal Highnesses were welcomed with great enthusiasm. The people are intensely British, not in sentiment alone, but in appear- ance and speech, having preserved the ruddy and clear complexion of the Anglo-Saxon, and having little or none of that nasal accent which may be due to chmatic influ- ence or to imitation of our cousins across the frontier Ihere is, however, a comparatively large Asiatic element m both cities. Their Royal Highnesses drove through the attle Chinese quarter in Victoria. The well-ordered 398 WITH THE OPHIR streets given over to the Mongols were decorated with lanterns and sacred emblems. Nowhere have I seen a cleaner or a more prosperous community of Asiatics. The Chinese of Victoria and Vancouver seemed to me of a better class than the majority of their kind who drift into the Eastern cities, or smuggle themselves over the border into the United States. Many are men of sub- stance, with well ordered business establishments. One confessed to me that he is worth twenty thousand dollars. Against men of this stamp there is no serious complaint. The objection is to the coolies, who are admitted into the Colony with no other restraint than a hundred dollar poll tax. To these there is undoubtedly strong opposi- tion on grounds familiar the world over. The competi- tion of the coolie, whether Chinese or Japanese, makes it well-nigh impossible for a white man to engage in un- skilled labour. Nearly every place is filled by Mongolians at starvation wages, so that the white man not only cannot compete, but feels it a degradation to use his hands in unskilled labour. He must be a skilled artisan or mechanic, or must be trained in commercial or professional pursuits. No doubt, this is an excellent thing in many ways, but it often happens that a white man, new to a town or district, finds it impossible to secure suitable employment at the moment of his arrival. He would willingly accept temporary work among the unskilled until an opening came. Not able to tide over this period of uncertainty, he is driven across the bcder into the United States. Moreover, the Mongolians practically monopolise do- mestic service. Many people do noi regret tiiis, for they make admirable servants, and the difficulty of inducing it . AHHIVAL Ar VCTORIA. B C THEIR ROVAi. HIGHNESSES. ACCOMPANIED a, SIR wiLfHlO LAURIER AND SIR HENRy JOCv OE LOTBINIERE •wiAviNG THt tMPHfcss Of India" for rng CITv, s-^fiaf - ROUND THE EMPIRE women and men of European origin to enter a household .s greater here than at home. One very serious effect, however, is that young women, especially in British Columbia, grow up without any knowledge of domestic duties. They look upon them with contempt, as fit only for the coloured labourer. Then there is the objection that the Chinese are a danger to health and morals. They herd together in crowded quarters; they rarely bring women of their own ; they are inveterate gamblers, and victims of the opium habit. Here, as everywhere, the one ambition of the Chinaman is to save enough money to live in his own country. He, therefore, spends a mere fraction of his earnings, and contributes nothing but his labour to the wealth of the community. The successful merchant will assure you that he has no intention of returning to China, but the evidence goes to show that he almost invariably does return, and that he sends his children to China to be educated Even their virtues are against them in the eyes of many working men. The Chinese are extremely docile, and put up with any treatment. They never strike for higher wages or shorter hours, but arc content to labour night and day for what a European regards as hardly a pittance. In the mines and the salmon-canning factories Chinese and Japanese are largely employed. To estimate their numbers is difficult, for they are adepts at evading the tax collector, and one Mongolian is so much like another that identifi .ation is almost impossible. It is estimated, however, that in British Columbia there are 15.000 Chinese, of whom 4,000 live in Victoria, and be- tween two and three thousand in Vancouver. No certain ! j'i JO* WITH THE OPBIR' statistics are forthcoming as to the proportion between Chinese and Japanese labour, but an estimate puts the Japanese at four thousand. The very fact that the Japanese are more progressive and more disposed to adapt themselves to the conditions of people of European birth and origin makes them a menace to the white man. They are certainl) less honest and tmstworth han the Chinese, as everybody knows who has had business relations with them abroad or in their own country. Climese are models of integrity, and you may accept a Chinaman's word as you would that of an Englishman. This difference be- tween the two Mongolian races is, I am told, especially notable in the salmon-canning industry. Mr. Deane, secretary to the provincial commission ap- {x>inted to inquire into the Chinese question, is strongly in favour of prohibition. He admits the international difficulties, and falls back on the proverb, " Charity begins at home." " The first duty of the Federal Government is to the people of Canada. I feel that if negotiations were entered into between the Imperial and Dominion Governments on the one hand, and the Government of the Mikado on the other, the Japanese would agree to the prohibition of imported labour. There is no mistake about the sentiment of the people of British Columbia. With the exception of some large employers of labour, everybody is opposed to the introduction of Asiatics. Some employers refuse to engage them, and by their steadfast adherence to principle give their less scrupulous competitors a decided advantage." On the other part, it is contended that industries have been estabUshed and built up on Mongolian laboi'i, and EOVND THE EMPIRE 301 that prices have been fixed in the world's markets on the.r scale of wage. To withdraw their labour would be wealth and employment. Prohibitionists naturally refuse c. admit th.s economic hypothesis, and urge that the^ ar^ already Chinese and Japanese enough to carry on thes« ndustr.es without endangering the new ind^tries thll are rapidly springing up. Columbia not unnaturally looks upon this as not merely a provincial but a naional ques- tion, and IS bent on raising the issue at every opportunity MtCROCOPY RESOLUTION TEST CHART (ANSI and ISO TEST CHART No. 2) 1.0 ■ 50 ■^" ti. y. 1^ I.I Bl.8 1.25 1.6 ^ /-APPLIED IN/MGE he ^^^ 1653 East Main Street Z^C Rochester, New York M609 USA "■^g (716) 482 - 0300 - Phone ^S (^^6) 288 - 5989 - Fax m 302 WITH THE 'oruii CHAPTER XLI. THE CITIES OF ONTARIO. Homelike Ontario— Canadian Weather— Two Day,? in Toronto London, Ontario — Hamilton. It is a common remark that all cities are alike. In Cana they are entirely different. Quebec, for example, is beautiful and ancient dame, with the manners of a pj age. Winnipeg is a hoyden, Victoria a dainty maid( Ottawa a lady of fashion, Montreal a solid business m; and Toronto a well-to-do citizen with a place in t country. It was with a feeling of repose that we a proached the capital of Ontario. Night and day we h sped across bare heaths and through great stretches forest, beautiful in their scarlet and purple vastm Never have I seen such masses of colour— the deep pur of the blue beech, the trembling orange and gold of bii and aspen, wreathed with the dark green of pines, a car] of flaming schumach— all fading into a dream of pink a purple and green and gold against the cold blue of autumn sky. As we drew near to Toronto a new a quiet sense of home came over us. From the windows the train we looked out across English meadows i gardens and hedgerows right away to a blu- line of h and a dull grey sky. Smiling homesteads, pleasant ht lets, busy towns glided past us, leaving an impre'^siori industry, content, and settled prosperity. The peo] too, reminded us strongly of home, for we were in oruiii ' Toronto — n Canada tiple, is a of a past y maiden, ness man, ce in the at we ap- ly we had retches of vastness. eep purple Id of birch :s, a carpet f pink and alue of an . new and /indows of dows and Ine of hills Lsant ham- 3rp«5sion of he people, 'ere in the i BOUND THE EMPIRE 303 ^Xl %''"""' '"' '''°'"''"' ™-™"i'y- Even, «te« the Pnnce and Princess were welcomed w,™ly Jd hearuty even ,„ French and Catholic Quebec, bmin ^v a* Npwmark^f .r.A t ™''°^' ^''^'^ tumultuous iNfiwrnarket, and were a hurricane at Toronto nart t? """T" '^'' '^'' ^'^^^"^ ^^ ^°™- ^^s not due in part to another cause. It was raining. The climaL of Canada h.s been woefully misrepresented. Mos^^^^^^^^ remem er the words. " Our Lady of the Snow ^ nTfo get the hcence of the poet. There is a popular Lelief that ou ta !:rr°" ?T 'T '"" " ^^"^^^ ^° — r -th wh ch ZTfu '""^ '°"^^ '°^^^^^^ ^he other day which puts the case m a less subtly humorous way : "There was a .small boy in Quebec, Who was buried in snow to the neck Said a friend : ' Are you fri^ ? • Says he : ' Yes, I is, But they don't call this cold in Quebec ' " Now, m a journey of six thousand miles we had ;,In..=f o^f rezr h ?°"^- °" *= ="- °< ^'^ ram and all the rest warn,, bright, and sunny. Even the Of England, for the a.r .s clear and dry and still, though whe* r"":;"™^ ^ ^-^ -^-e-" tebw .ero. Only wrt Ir";;' 'T' "If *" '^ --'y- 'I" y- need ,0 »^ap yourself m furs and avoid exposure. Well, i, was «.nmg u, Toronto, and the sky was leaden, and no one 'Ai' m: 304 WITH THE 'OPHIE seemed to give it a thought. The children— there v/ere six thousand healthy youngsters at the railway station- sang their national songs, waved their Union Jacks anc maple leaves, and cheered as lustily as if the sun had been shining on them and they were not soaked to the skin. The streets were densely crowded, and the enthu siasm was a thing to be remembered. Their Royal High nesses drove through miles of suburbs, in which are manj beautiful residences, gardens radiant with blossoms, anc leafy avenues. In the city are many handsome churches and public buildings, with well-ordered streets, traversec in every direction by electric tramcars. Canada is a lane of public buildings and tramways. Every provincia capital has a pile of Government buildings that would noi discredit a European capital. Wealthy merchants anc citizens also display admirable taste in the constructior and decoration of their business houses and dwellings The effect is pleasing and, in towns not a quarter of a cen tury old, surprising. The Prince and Princess spent twc busy days in Toronto. His Royal Highness reviewec twelve thousand men on the shore of the lake — the larges' muster we saw in the Dominion. Martial spirit is not sc manifest in Canada as in Australia, and the cadet system strong and widespread under the Southern Cross, is in iti infancy. Yet Canadians have proved themselves excel lent soldiers. jse paraded before his Royal Highnesi were for the most part men of fine physique. The cavalr) and mounted infantry were especially good, and made c fine show as they trotted past the saluting base. Three companies of Indians in the 26th Regiment were in strong contrast to the warrior? we saw at Calgary, with nakec ROUND THE EMPIRE 305 bodies, painted yellow. Uniformed and erect, with set immobile faces, they marched along, as if unconscious of the cheers that followed them. From Toronto the Royal party made a rapid tour among the eastern iowns of Ontario, stopping for a few hours at London, on the Thames, in the county of Middle- sex. London is the centre of a rich agricultural district, ard the visit, though short, enabled them to form some Idea of the wonderful natural resources of the country On every side were evidences of industry and thrift, and of a soil that yields abundant harvests. London is but one of a group of townships that give to Ontario its pre- eminence as the wealthiest and most populous province in the Dominion. In 1826 it was the administrative centre and to-day it is the boast of London that more trains' arrive and depart daily there than at any other point in Canada. The most fertile area of Ontario is its tributary, and sends to its busy markets every kind of agricultural produce. A great brewing industry has been established, and London ales are famous throughout the continent. At Hamilton, which the Prince and Princess visited later, they saw another flourishing city. A canopy of smoke rising from the foot of the mountain at the head of Lake Ontario recalled Sheffield or Birmingham. And on near approach we found a small Capital of the Midlands, for Hamilton claims that disLinction. The outskirts are mean and dingy, and it is only when you come to the heart of the city that you are reconciled to such meanness and dinginess in a land of air and light and space. Hamil- ton can plead in extenuation an industrious and thriving population, u 3o6 WITH THE 'OPnil CHAPTER XLII. IMPRESSIONS OF NIAGARA. " Three Minutes to See the Falls "-The Penalties of Greatness- The Emerald Horse Shoe. A DELICIOUS freshness breathed from the lake as w skirted the lucent expanse of water rippled with delicat waves. We were on our way to Niagara, and were fille with that exultation of spirit which comes upon all wh approach one of Nature's wonders. The soft blue c Ontario faded into the sky, and presently we were hurr> ing through a land of orchards. Mile after mile the trai sped straight as an arrow until the track was a point o: a vague horizon. On each side stretched meadows c tenderest green and deep, warm hedgerows shutting i: vineyards and gardens of peach, and quince, and appk and pleasant honesteads. It might have been Devon o Somerset, so soft and rich was the prospect. Nothinj proclaimed a new country won from the wilderness witl much toil and suffering. Farms and orchards looked a though they had stood there and flourished from th( dawn of time. But the colour was of the West— a rio of crimson, and purple, and gold, breaking in waves o fire at the foot of green pines. " TJ'ree minutes to see the Falls," shouted the con ductor as the train hissed and creaked to a dead stoi on the bridge across the gorge. His tone was that ir which he would have announced lunch at a wayside station. One of the penalties of greatness, whether ir BOUND THE EMPIRE. 307 Rome, or Venice, or Niagara, is that it shall be beset with vulgar sights and sounds. But conductor and train vanish and are things that never have been as soon as you hear the roar of the cataract and behold the mighty rush of waters sweeping in clouds of deepest blue and purest v/h\\.e from a tranquil grey sky into the swift, shining river. " All aboard," cried our inexorable fate! and we stepped back to earth. But we had had a glimpse of Paradise, and the memory of it sustained us when we came to the village known as Niagara Falls, Ontario. How can these vulgar little shops and mean streets have the effrontery to call themselves by a name that breathes sublimity.' They have the grace, at any rate, to seem abashed and to hide their heads from the stupendous presence. But I was destined for even greater trials. I had begun the day by play- ing truant, and now learned that the Royal train would rest for the night at Niagara-on-the-Lake, and would return to the Falls in the morning. Fifteen hours to spend, and the city and Exhibition of Buffalo only an hour across the frontier. The attractions of Buffalo leapt into your eye at every corner. Railway and street shrieked them in every colour of the rainbow, and on the walh wert mysterious sums showing how, for the in- significant outlay of a dollar and a half, you might visit the finest city in the world and the greatest Exhibition on earth — provided you took your own lunch. The temptation was great. Another moment and I was in the United States, with one hot, bustling hour in which to reflect on the virtues of our despised English railway carriages. At any rate, they set limits to the company ^ WITH THE OPJIR you are obliged to keep, to the noises you must hea.. and to the sights you have no choice but to see I am not going to say much about Buffalo or its Exhibition They are both very good in their way. yet not so mar- vellous as they would have the world believe. One of the weaknesses of humanity, and particularly American humanity, is constricted vision, and a disposition to con- template our own greatness without the material for comparison. It is an amiable weakness, which philo- sophers like Dugald Stewart and Mr. Lecky tell you is the root of happiness. I am content, therefore, that Buffalo should Hve and die in the faith that it is the finest city, and the Pan-American Exhibition the greatest on earth Were it not for the paradox of the Stoics, that to the wise man all external circumstances are in- different. I might have said that Buffalo is a second-rate provmcial town, and the Exhibition only a trifle better than the shows that Earl's Court has made a yeariy incident in the life of London. Returning to Niagara next morning I me . 'my French- Canadian con- freres, who hke r. ., been playing truant. One or two of them I b = .ted of a leaning toward the United States. They came back wholly British. I sus- pect It was the famous Midway, with its vulgar dime shows, that cured them. Niagara should be seen in solitude and silence. We ahghted to find the American shore crowded with visitors. Though it was Sunday, the little bazaars in which they sell moccasins and models of birch canoes were doing a brisk trade. The bars were overflowing, and a dime show that made itself out to be exceedingly nOUND THE EMPIRE 309 naughty drew hundreds of delu.led people. The noise ctldhTd, T '"^''"^- ^^^^^^ -' ^-^ hoHday could hardly be worse. Three or four families were pick mck,„g boisterously under the trees near the edge of he Falls; several noisy young people were throwing sticks into the rapids and watching them disappear in he ^ammg abyss ; boys were crying pea nuts and chew- ing gum. and photographers importuned you to have your picture taken with the Falls for a background. It was all very common and vulgar. One step and we were in that stupendous presence which has filled with wonder and awe countless genera- tions of men-before which the earth trembles, and the air laments with the voice of many waters. The might and majesty of it come upon you hke a vision slowly taking hold of each sense until you see nothing, hear nothing feel nothing, save the cataract and the vaporous gulf. The power and magnitude of it create a soli- tude round about you. Standing on the American shore I watched the flood of four vast lakes sweep along till the foaming waters broke on the edge of the pre- cipice and plunged with an angry roar into the cloudy abyss. Through the trees on Goat Island, which divides the Amencan from the Canadian waters. I could see the Emerald Horse Shoe. The ground shook under my teet ; the roar of a thousand seas was in my ears, and amid clouds of sun-lit spray on which danced a hundred rainbows. I had fleeting glimpses of a rushing, plunging tide-now an avalanche of snow, now a pillar of ice a cloud, a rainbow, a wall of emerald, and a curtain of sapphu-e. H I ' 310 WITH THE OPHIi Stepping into the car on the inclined railway, w were shot to the bottom of the cliff, and took our plao on the little steamboat., Maid of the Vist. Clad i oilskins, and cowled like monks, we struggled throug the boiling tide until our brave little craft was hidden i a tempest of spray. Here was a new and greater woi der. Hurling itself from the summit of the rock, tl water broke into snowy masses that threatened to ove whelm us. Beating a path through the swirling eddi( we came at last to the Horse Shoe, and gazed breathle: on the mighty ever-moving wall, shining like a livir emerald which from the dawn of creation has curtaine the grey rock and crashed into a myriad glittering fraj ments upon the smooth surface of the river below. A\ looked on from afar. To draw nearer was impossible to have gone even thus far seem', d to me almost an act < sacrilege, as though we had thrust our puny bodies inl the heart of some sacred mystery. Crossing to the Canadian shore we equipped ourselv< for the descent under the Falls. The banks and th beautiful little park were thro/ d with people waitin for the Prince and Princess. B^t their Royal Highness( were bent on seeing the Falls without an escort < strangers, and their movements were kept as secret J p..5sible. They did not set foot on the American shor Their Royal Highnesses were fixed in the deterrainatic to complete this journey of 46,000 ules without toucl ing any save British soil. And ft is not necessary 1 cross into the United States, for the best /iew is froi the Canadian side. The Prince and Princess spent great part of the morning in a special tram car th: ROUND THE EMPIRE. ,,3 passed unnoticed from point to point. They lunched at the convent, from which they looked upon the panorama of the cataract, the rapids, and the gorge. " Step right in there. The guide will join you in a moment." Thus the pleasant youth who received us at the door t f the pavilion where you dress for the descent under the Falls. The dainty Httle bazaar, with its tempting display of furs, Indian bead work, and other native curiosities, did not look exactly the place for a guide in dripping oilskins. The shadow of a suspicion must have passed over our faces, for the pleasant youth insisted that the guide would be forthcoming in a second. So we stepped " right in." A smiling young lady with dark eyes and an American accent met us half way, and soothed our rising suspicion by presenting the visitors' book. We felt relieved and flattered. It was our names they wanted — not our money. Another moment and we were admiring the furs and the bead work and the other native curiosities under \} - direc- tion of the smiling young lady v th dark eye a id an American accent. Of course th y were liiaced ' re to amuse visitors v/hile waiting for the guide. Bi e we were aware several of our company found '.■> n»^lves in T'^ssession of bead work and moccnsins, and -'-ts of crystallised limestone found at the foot of — ^which, by the way, a cynic has since declari i, nothing but fish eyes. Still the guide tarried iow much longer will he be ■ " asked a daring member 01 'he party. " Oh, the dressing room is over there," answt d the smile and American accent in innocent surprise. T guide was a myth. We slunk away and hid aboshc ^" WITH TUB OVll heads in oilskin cowls. Americans call this " joUyi We have another name for it Is there anywhere a scene more impressive than mystery that awaits you at the foot of the Canac Falls? Imagine yourself withdrawn suddenly from sights and sounds of the living world and shot i thunder-shaken clouds that dissolve in tempests of ^ and tossmg billows of snow among which rainbows da and disappear and come back again. The earth treml under your feet and vanishes in mist, f ,e fountains the great deep are broken up and cast around yoi spectral veil. Through the riven rents stream lines hght. blue and grey, fading into shadows as they fall heaving hillocks of foam. The veil is wafted aside, a for a fleeting moment you see the crumbhng avalanche water hurl itself over the dark rampart of rock. flood of sunshine smites the grey fantastic forms, and t clouds melt away slowly and mournfully like reluctc ghosts. The wind breathes upon them, and they scati in countless rainbows. Every moment some new € chantment of form and colour holds you breathle Climbing the ladder up the sheer face of the cliff I --% on this world of troubled waters with feelings of"' • liness and awe. A mighty torrent roared over me, fa mg from the dark rock above, blinding with its spra and stunning with its fury. Through this rushing v( I saw the wide sweep of the Horse Shoe Falls flingir off flakes of foam and breaking into pillars of sapphii and emerald, and alabaster, as they fell into green spac. of level and whirling water. The broad surface of tl nver was wreathed in clouds that spread wider and wid "jollying." '^e than the ■ Canadian i from the shot into sts of rain •ows dance h trembles )untains of md you a n lines of ley fall on aside, and alanche of rock. A s, and the reluctant ey scatter new en- ireathless. T I --red i of ^ • e- me, fail- its spray, ihing veil s flinging sapphire, m spaces :e of the nd wider ROVKD THE EMPIRE. 3,. and mounted higher and higher u al tb-, jvove about me a vaporous veil, a mystery of cloud, against which beat the unseen waves of a sounding sea. No words are rich enough to paint the grandeur of the Falls ; none delicate enough to tell the enchant- ment of their strenr ', and majesty. Who can marvel that the Indian /. hipped them and made human sacrifice to the s^. of these waters .' None can look on them without awe and reverence, none hear their voice without a deep and abiding sense of their power and mystery. Day was drawing to a close when we left the Falls and betook ourselves to the whirlpool and tlie rapids. The river races through a magnificent r orge between steep banks and cliffs overhung with pine trees. The smooth current is broken into surf as it tumbles over shelves of sunken rock or dashes on in dark waves. '>re it ct wis along in eddies, there it swirls and tosses though some leviathan stirred in its dark depths. '. nus the river hurries with a rush and a roar into the tree- girt lake of the whirlpool to hnger a while, calm, and smooth, and treacherous, making sport of all that comes within its cruel and relentless grasp, speeding the flot- sam and jetsam toward the shore, only to draw them back into the unending circle of waters sucked into the bowels of the earth. The sun was tinging the western hills with a crimson glow as we stepped on board the steamer for Niagara-on-the-Lake, a pretty little watering- place with a romantic and stirring history. :'4 WITH THE '0 PHIS' CHAPTER XLIII. NEWFOUNDLAND AND HOME. The Thousand Islands-British American Societies-Farevel! ttT'r'?"''"^' °' ''''''''''' Misfortune '•-Potentiali- tie> of the Island. w ""^.^n^''^" """^ ''' ™""^°""^ °f the Revolutionary War the Royal party took ship and sailed to Brockville They passed through the Thousand Isles, from which, as night fell, they were welcomed by glowing watch-fires and showers of rockets. At St. John. New Brunswick, the Pnnce and Princess received a deputation from the British Societies of Boston, to whom a colour was pre- sented Many of the members, as was stated in the ad- dress, have been long resident in the United States and some were born there, but all of them still cherish the memory of their origin and the desire for the growth of a great Federation which rejoices in the fact that it is British, and under the sway of King Edward. On Satur- day. October 19th, the booming of guns across the water announced that their Royal Highnesses had come once more to the shores of the Atlantic. The harbour of Halifax, one of the finest in the Empire, was crowded with shipping, and the most powerful fleet that has ever assem- bled m those historic waters lay in sight of the Citadel The satisfaction of the Prince and Princess at the close ot their long journey was tempered with regret at taking leave of a country in which they had spent five delightful ROUND THE EMPIRE. 3»5 weeks. Halifax made the parting none the easier by the eagerness of the citizens to do honour to the Royal visitors. The homely streets bore ample testimony to the loyalty and affection of the people of Nova Scotia. Thousands came from all parts of the province, and from Prince Edward's Island, the only province of the Domi- nion on which the Prince and Princess could not set foot. A blizzard blew up the channel and wiped out the beach as we steamed from Halifax on the morning of October the 2 1st. Through the driving sleet we had visions of drenched and shivering spectators who had come to say good-bye. At dawn on Wednesday we sighted the grim ramparts of Newfoundland. A bare wall of rock rose out of the sea to bar our passage, but the ships held on their course, and the wall divided to admit us into the harbour of St. John's. We had heard much of this island, which nature has raised up in the Atlantic to be a guard for the St. Law- rence. A land of fog and cod was the verdict of past generations. For a century and a half settlement and cultivation were forbidden, and at the end of the fishing season men were driven away as though the shores were accursed. Small wonder that Lord Salisbury spoke of it as " the sport of historic misfortune," and that people at home think of Newfoundlanders mainly as the victims of the Treaty of Utrecht, which gave to the French a prac- tical monopoly of the most valuable part of their island. I have to confess to a feeling of disappointment at the first view. The great rocks that enclose the harbour have a barren and desolate aspect that recalls the wild coast of Donegal, and the city of St John's — picturesque and ^' ^ITH THE 'OPHin even in^posing from the sea-cannot be said to improv on nearer acquaintance. It is impossible to think o^ thi 1 A T «°^ '^" °'^"' ^"^^^^^ ^°I°"y. of an islan hat has been British since the reign of Elizabeth, and o^ country arger than Ireland. Yet I am told tha the ck has vastly improved since ,89.. when sixteen hlX houses were destroyed by fire, and ten thousand peopl frr.^n/H^ ' ' '?'' """^^ '°"'"^ «-^^ ^^°- the frownmg chffs. warships were outlined in a myriad lights rockets hissed and flashed over the dark and drippbg f^m th "f ^^T""""' °^ '*^" ^^'^""'^ ^^ twinkled from the forest of masts in the fishing fleet Their Royal Highnesses did not land until Thursday and spent only a few hours on shore. We had, therefore' tune to make a short excursion into the country unde; be^'oTt^r ""'■ ^- ""■ ^''''' ^°"^ ^"^ — ' -em- bers of the Government. Mr. Reid will be remembered as the Czar of Newfoundland." to whom, it was said, the polmaans had sold every asset of the colony and four and a half milhon acres of land. Mr. Reid resents the title of ^'J' '"k Tu "°' "''"P' '^' ^^'^ *^^t *he Government made a bad bargain when they handed over to him the working of railway, telegraphs, and docks. He is a plain energetic and clever Scot, who began life as a stonemason.' emigrated to Australia, laid the foundation of his fortune ^s a contractor for the Canadian Pacific Railway, and finany settled in Newfoundland. His coming hal un- doubtedly been a good thing for the island. Trade was langmshmg. and over the whole community hung the shadow of the dark days of 1894-5. when the banks failed ROUND THE EMPIRE 317 mercantile houses collapsed, and the Government de- spaired of raising a loan of half a million. Mr. Reid saw the urgent need for new enterprises and the development of the natural resources of the country. The people have been too long content to live on fish and to do business 2^ XK .""^ '^""^""^ "^^^^°^^ ^^^^ I'^en intro- duced. The railway-restored to the Government-has been placed for half a century under the control of an ex- TZ .T^^^^ ""'" '' " J""^''°" ^^' ^^" ^ffe-ted with the West by the steamer Bruce; four and a half million acres ,n alternate sections along the line-the grant to Mr. Reid for building the railway to the west coast and ope- rating It for a fixed term of years-are offered practically for nothing in small lots or homesteads to farmers and settlers and efforts are being made to develop the interior of the island. Our excursion brought us to Conception Bay The country here is bleak and stony, and has a strong likeness to the Western Highlands of Scotland. On the slope of the hills are a few acres of cultivated land and some small cattle. From the shore of Conception Bay we saw one great hope oi Newfoundland. Belle Island, six or seven years ago. was a bare rock without a trace of hfe upon it Now It IS one of the richest and busiest iron mines in the worid. Sixty million tons of ore lie close to the surface, so that half a dozen men in one day can raise several hundred tons with picks alone, and ships can be loaded at the rate of a thousand tons an hour. The ore breaks into rhomboidal junks, and requires only occasional blast- ing to loosen the jointed cleavage. It is not of high grade, but is so easily worked and contains so much phos- 3'8 WITH THE OPHIR' phorus that it finds a profitable market in Nova Scotia, whose iron ore is less tractable. We lunched at the Octagon Hall— the fantastic crea- tion of a whimsical American, who has added to a quaintly original restaurant the allurement of a bridal chamber and a mortuary of his own handiwork. Of course there were speeches. The passion for oratory grows in the Briton the further he is from home. I cannot deny that I re- turned to St. John's with more hopeful impressions. From members of the Government; from merchants and traders I heard much of the resources of the country — of fertile tracts that await the farmer, of forests of pine and spruce that will abundantly repay the lumber merchant and maker of wood pulp, of coal mines already profitable, of railway projects, and other enterprises to quicken the sluggish life of the island. The o.c subject on which I was most anxious to have information — the French shore question— interested nobody. Every man whom I con- sulted — and they were many of the most prominent in the colony — declared that it is nothing more substantial than a political bogey, and that, if left alone, would settle itself. A much more real grievance is the loss of revenue in consequence of smuggling from the French islands, St. Pierre and Miquelon. These islands, M. Faure suggests, we should allow the French to fortify and use as coaling stations in return for the withdrawal of the French claims nn the shore of Newfoundland. This disingenuous pro- posal to have a French place d'armes at the mouth of the St. Lawrence, and close to the French -Canadian province of Quebec, has no support in the colony. At daybreak on Friday, October 2Sth, we steamed ROUND THE EMPIRE 319 out of St. John's harbour on the homewarJ voyage The Cr....«/-Vice-Admiral Bedford's flagsh.>-bore us com- pany for some miles. No sooner were we clear of the coast than we felt the broad heaving of the Atlantic under us, and for five days we rolled steadily toward the Irish coast. Two incidents broke the painful monotony of the prolonged struggle to recover an unstable equilibrium. While m the Arctic current we saw three huge whales spoutmg near the ship, and after midnight on Sunday I was summoned on deck to see an iceberg. The Diadem steaming a mile ahead of the Ophir, reported this tardy- wanderer from the regions of eternal snow. A strangely beautiful sight it was as the radiant ghost of a mountain • floated along in lambent light. Silently and stately it glided past, like the wraith of a cloud, and vanished in the night. Fifty miles south of Cape Clear, on the morning of Wednesday, October 30th, we sighted the Channel Fleet under Admiral Wilson, and were escorted to the Isle of Wight, where we anchored next day off Yarmouth. Their Majesties the King and Queen, with the children of the Prince and Princess, came from Portsmouth in the Royal yacht on November ist, and on the following day their Royal Highnesses received from the citizens of London the welcome due to tl. ^ccessful peiformance of a re- sponsible and arduous , ic duty, and to the termination of a journey without precedent in the history of any country. ! APPENDIX. Itinerary of the Tou R. Portsmouth Gibraltar Malta Port Said Suez Aden Colombo Kani.1 Colombo Singapore Albany Melbourne (Opening of Federai Ballarat Brisbane Sydney . AucKLAND(N Zealand).., Rotorua Wellington Lyttleton Christchurch Dunedin Hobart (Tasmania) Adelaide (South Australia) Albany (put back by weather) Perth Fremantle V Arrive. De/a rt. ... .«* March 16 March r,o ••■ 11 22 »i 25 „ 28 »» 30 ... ,9 31 April I April I »» 5 ... ,, 6 »9 12 „ 12 »> 12 „ 15 >l 15 » 16 » 21 » 23 11 30 May I May 6 • •■ jy 18 Parliament, May 9). May 13 ., 13 »» 20 )» 24 » 27 June 6 June II (1 13 ') 13 i» 15 >» 17 i» 2T >» 22 • •• 1) 22 » 22 ... „ 25 » 25 ... 1, 27 July 2 July 6 )» 9 )» 15 )> 20 >» 21 »> 22 »» 26 » 26 ... ,, 2G 333 Mauritius Durban Maritzburo Simon's Bay Cape Town St. Vincbnt Quebec Montreal Ottawa WiNNIPEO Regina Calgary (Night at Banff) ... Vancouver Victoria Banff Poplar Point (Shooting Expdtn.) ," Toronto ^^ London Niagara Hamilton " Kingston and Thousand Islands „ St. John ^ Halifax ^ St. John's, Newfoundland ArriM, August 5 .. »3 » 13 „ 18 II 19 September 3 16 October Portsmouth .., iS 20 26 27 28 30 I 4 5 10 12 13 14 15 17 20 24 November i APPENDIX. Dt/mrt. August 8 II »3 •I IS 11 19 II 33 . Septembers 18 20 33 26 27 28 » 30 OCTOBnR 2 6 8 12 12 13 14 15 18 21 25 II II II II II II i« II II II II II II II II II APPENDIX. 383 Members of the Royal Suite. Prince Alexander of Teck, Captain His Serene Highness 7th Hussars, K.C.V.O. ''''th'eHo';;^!"' n'-'lr.'*''^ ^y«°"' ^^^y Catherine Coke, the Hon. Mrs. Derek Keppel The Wght Hon Lord Wenlock. G.C.S.I., G.C.I.E.. Lord-in- Walting and Head of the Household. Lleutenant-Collonel Sir Arthur Bigge. R.A.. G.C.V.O.. K.C.B.. C.M.G., Private Secretary. Commander Sir Charles Cust. Bart.. R.N.. M.V.O., Equerry. The Hon. Derek Keppel, M.V.O.. Equerry. ^ The Rev. Canon Dalton, C.M.G., Domestic Chaplain, t r n ^A^^""' K-C-M-G-. representing the Colonial Office Sir Donald Wallace, K.C.I.E., Assistant Private Secretary Commander B. Godfrey Faussett, R.N., A.D C Major J. H. Bor, Royal Marine Artillery, C.M.G ADC Captain ^Viscount Crichton, Royal Horse Gua;ds, M.V.O., '^^"Gri."M%S:A.^:^ ^-^^ °^ ^--^'^^ «^^^' ^orse Chevalier E. de Martino, M.V.O., Marine Artist. Dr. A. Manby. Mr. Sydney Hall, Artist. JN AFPBNDIX. Royal Proclamations and Messages. Queen Victoria's Message of Assent :— vLr AUK I *? ^°''' °^ Australasia in the spring of next year. Although the Queen naturally shrinks from parting ^h her grandson for so long a perioo. Her Majesty SyUl nises the greatness of the occasion which will brinr hf; Colonies of Australia into federal union, and del res to Hv. this special proof of her interest in L\\ it ? ^ ° welfare of her Australian snbS Her Mattv'^rr' *'' time wishes to signify her seise of fhp l!^ u ^ ^^ *^^ "^"^ .ha, a. «,. ,tae tod for .h« Tuie'^rVo"',' depru"/' "^ crcumslances are as tavourabl. as a, oreMnl anf Z. AfPENDIX. •Id the mcmbtr. of fhn L ? T™ '>''"P-"l>y «ltli himself exhibited l.y hi. .„bw,f,„ ,,, r r , °'° " '"''"' ''"' '"'" ..#- .1 '^®'^®^ '°« 'oUowing f peech :— of this, The first ParuLl, /.,. .'"'''°'""" '' ""« °I»°1"S and to manSlt'Cr^lf 1 tSrXf ? °' '"""""' welfare of her loval ^uZZ\ ! ^" *^^* concerns the a Special Co^Sn t ope'th^tl"^ '^ ^""""« *° "« •nission had been dulv «?J2i k r !* ^^'''°°- '^''^^ ^0™. plunged the whole En,T ^°™ '^"^ '^^ "^^"* *hich has dVfather fX sh^j'^fbVJatrr'? ^^"^' '"^^ give effect to them Majesty's wishes, decided to by his 'sense of the Stv and'T' If *''' '^P^^^"°"' '"°-'*^ ^y '^^ Colonies will continue whl^ th" n*^.? ^ ^ ""* ""■"" °' *''•' »"" **d" P°^«" with which the United Commonwealth ha. been fully endowed. Hi. Majesty eel. assured that the enjoyment of these power, will, If possible, enhance the loyalty and devotion to his Throne and Empire of which the people of Australia have already given such signal proof. ^ h.n'l?/ '" S'" ^"i^^^y'" **"«»* P«y« that this union, so S/ ^''"rf^' ""^y. "°d« God's blessing, pr-^ve an instru- men for stiU further promoting the welfare and advancement of his subjects iu 3tralia, and for the strenKthoning and con- sohdation of his Empire. "u^-on iM "i "r* *° "" Majesty's name, and on his behalf, declare this Parliament open." . m«. a.o APPENDIX. sn Officers of the "Ophir and Escort. Captain ... Surttary Commander Lieutenant Major, R.M. ... Lieu' R.M.A. Liei ,R.M. ... Chaplain Staff Surg. Z Staff PaymaUir Sub-Lieut. Surgeon Assist. Paymaster Senior Eng., R.N.R. Engineer Gunner ... Boatswain Carpenter Bandmaster, R.M. H.M.S. OPHIR. 6,910 Tons. I.H.P., 10,000. Alfred L. Winsloe, M.V.O. (Commodore, 2nd Class.) Walter Cask. Rosslyn E. Wcmyss. (n) Philip Nelaon-Ward. William G. E. Ruck-Keene. Reginald A. Norton. Hon. Herbert Meade. Coventry M. Crichton-Maitland. Hon. Sereld M. A. J. Hay. Gerald A. Wells. Charles Clarke. George L. Ralkes. Henry H. F. Stockley. Rev. Hugh S. Wood, M.A. Hugh W. Macnamara. Edward D. Hadley. John H. Bainbridge. John B. Waterlow. Gerald L. Saurin. Robert Hill. ... Granville A. Miller. .. George Gray. ... Sydney M. G. Bryer. ... (t) Alfred Turton. ... John Paddon. (s) Matthew Allen. ... William Banbury. ... John Wright. 328 APPENDIX. H.M.S. JUNO. [Tu^in Screw Crnhcr, 2nd Class. 5,600 Tens. I.H.P., 8,000. ^''^''""•; Henry P. Routh. f'?"'""""'^'' Albert S. Lafone. ^""'"'^"i William D. Church. (N) Alfred A. Ellison. (g) Cyril B. Hampshire. Francis R. Wood. „ ., p ,, Philip H. Waterer. rfr, ^^^ Jasper Baker. StTsZ:! '''"''' ""'''''''' 5-. Ebenezer T. Fyffe. B.A. Staff Surgeon Paymaster Fleet Eng. Sub-Lieut. Surgeon Assist. Paymaster Engineer . Assist. Eng. ... Gunner Boatswain Carpenter Midshipman ... Naval Cadet Charles Strickland. ... William L. Davy. ... William W. White. .. Arthur G. Muller. .. William H. Pope. .. Reginald F. Brown. .. Samuel P. Ferguson. .. Frank M. Attwood. .. Frederick J. Russell. (t) William J. Bonsey. . John M. Piper. . John B. Watson. . Charles M. L. Scott. Herbert L. Lucas. Arthur G. Sparrow. Trevor R. Chamberlain. Quentin O. Grogan. Gordon F. Markwick. Cuthbert P. Blake. Delorest J. D. Noble. Arthur M. Longmore. . H.M.S. ST. GEORGE. Tw„. Screu. Cruiser, ^st Class. 7,700 Tons. I.H.P., xo.ooo. ^J'^'"'"-- Paul W. Bush. ^'"'"'"""'^'' Alexander L. Duff. APPENDIX. Lieutenant ... /^\ ^u i ^ (g) Charles F. Thorpe. (N) Henry W. Grant ™PABateman.Champain. (T) Charles W. Trousdale. Cyril P. Ryan. Capt., R. M yi"^"!^" ^' "an"Jng-Lee. ,-.,,,. . '" John H. Lambert ■ Fleet Paymaster Staff Engineer Sub-Lieut. ... ^ Surgeon Assist. Paymaster Engineer Assist. Ene. 339 Gunner ... Carpenter. Boatswain Midshitmtan ... Alfred Cropley. ... Francis B. Pritchard. ... Williain J. Black. ... Charles W. J. Howard. - William J. Codrington, M.B. ... Arthur Mudpe. ... Alfred E. Everitt. ... George M. Gay. Robert D. Nelson. ... George J. I.Stroud. William Ford. ... James W. Dodd. ■ .. William M. Taylor. ... Bernard Buxton. Cyril Goolden. Edward Chichester. Frank G. Ter«y. Baldwin C. Walker. John C. Porte. Edmund A. T. de P. De la Peer George E. M. Blackmore. Alfred E. A. Freemantle. Louis J. McSheehey were replaced by the nZm Tnd ^Lf ' '^'"""*' "'"^ ^'^^^ T, . ^ H.M.S. DIADEM. Jmn Sere. Cruiser, rst Ciass. rr, 000 Tons. I.H P ,5,00 Captain... „ '-n.t-., 10,500. ■•• Henry Leah. Clerk 330 APPENDIX Commander Lieutenant Lieut., R.N. R Capt., R.M Lieut. R.M Chaplain and Naval Instntct Staff Surgeon Staff Pay ma^' Staff Eng. Sub-Lieut Surgeon Assist. Paymaster Engineer Assist. Eng Gunner ... Boatswain Carpenter Midshipman Naval Cadet ... Bentinck J. D. Yelverton. ... (o) Frederic G. Bird. (T) Frank Brandt. (n) Ernest F, Gregory. Percy E. M. Humphery. August B. T. Cayzer. George D. Ward. Ronald Howard. ... Andrew E. Moscrop. ... Francis J. W. Harvey. .. Bertram Neville. < Rev. James J. Smith, M.A. .. George F. Collingwood. .. Charles E. C. Webb. .. John E. Jenkins. .. Edward L. Grieve. .. William E. Gribbell. .. Frederick C. V. Brown. .. Percival R. T. Brown. ,. Robert Preston. Percy C. A. Hillier. Thomas G. R. Davies. WilUam H. Mitchell. James M, Walker. . Thomas Hulme. Alexander Grant. . (s) Arthur G. ColUs. Thomas MidcIL-ton. . William T. Searle. , James G. Eraser. George Gipps, Eric L. Wharton. Hugh B. Worsley. John. H. K. Clegg. Hugh D. Collins. Hugh A. Williamson. Graham C. Glen. Douglas Faviell. Andrew Johnstone. ENDIX. APPENDIX. Naval Cadet ... Clerk ... 131 . Peter Mackinnon. Ernest T. FavelL Henry D. Pridham-Wippell Thomas R. Fletcher. Prosper C. C. de Laru^. . H.M.S. NIOBE. Twm Screw Cruiser, zst Class, ii.ooo Tons. Captain .. Commander Lieutenant f'H.P., 16,500. Lieut., R.N.R.. Capt., R.M. . Lieut., R.M. . John Denison. Algernon W. Heneage. (g) George E. S. Patch. (N) John B. Hancock. (T) Herbert N. Garnett. Percy Crabtree. George D.Jephson. Aubrey Lambert. Richard H. Graves-Burton Charles E. F. Drake-Brockman. Claude L. E, Muntz. -, ,, . *^iauae L. E Mnnfr Staff Surgeon .V; : ■■ Paymaster,, fleet Eng. Sub-Lieut. Surgeon Assist. Pay m" iter Engineer Assist. Eng. Gunner .„ Boatswain Carpenter Cornelius Bradley, M.D. .. James L. H. German. .. Arthur J. Johns. .. James H. Thorn. .. Hardy V.Wells. .. C. Betton Roberts. .. Walter C. Johnson. Gilbert Northey. . Percy L.Edmonds. Frederick J. L. Heath. Ebenezer J. Allen. Frederick Alexander. Arthur C. Turnbull. Albert Northcott. Alfred J. Parkes. Thomas G. Southwood. Charles Hardy. 33S Midshipman Naval ,, det APPENDL ... Ralph Tindal-Carill-Worsley. Guy D. Fansbawe. Francis E.;Byrne. Oswald H. Dawson. George F. Cholmley. William W. Hallwright. James B. Kitson. Douglas R. Saxby-Thomas. Edward B. Arathoon. Charles W. A. Baldwin. John R. A. Codrington. Geoffrey G. Bavin. Philip P. Willis-Fleming. ... George F. Hanimick. John B. Glencross. Claude C. Dobfton. ... James E. Pitcairn. Richard G. T, Sennett. Clerk Assist. Clerk Mr. Edward Chichester and Mr. Frank .Terry, who had charge of the Royal barges, were transferred from the St. George to the Ntobe at St Vincent. " ^ fo J!r?/'"^"" ^nd Niobe escorted the Ophir from Portsmouth Porfsmouth.'' ^*' ^*"'^"* ^° ^*°^''^' *"^ '^^""^^ *° P«.HT« BV CA8..LL AND COMFANV. L' La BeLLE SAUVAGE LONDOK. E.C PENDIX. ■sley. 'ho had K George :smouth ence to r, E.C