llm UBRAR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF THE FIRST STEP ON INDIAN SOIL LANDING AT BOMBAY. (See Page 109.) THE PRINCE OF WALES' TOUR A DIARY IN INDIA; WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF THE VISITS OF HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS TO THE COURTS OF GREECE, EGYPT, SPAIN, AND PORTUGAL. BY WILLIAM HOWARD RUSSELL. WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY SYDNEY P. HALL, M.A. t ARTIST IN THE SUITE OF H. K. H. THE PRINCE OF WALES. NEW YORK: LOVELL, ADAM. WESSON & COMPANY'. 7(54 BROADWAY. LAKE OHAMPLAIN PRESS. ROUSES POINT, N. V. BY PERMISSION TO HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS ALBERT EDWARD, PRINCE OF WALES. 85957 TO THE READER. A FEW words to the reader to explain some matters con- nected with this book. It is a Journal or Diary kept from day to day, in which the Prince of Wales is the central figure round which all the things, persons and events men- tioned in it revolve, so that if his name and title occur repeatedly in the same page, it is necessary, from the nature of the work, that they should do so. The impressions re- corded by the writer are his own ; and if, as is rarely the case, opinions are expressed on questions of policy or of government, they must not be ascribed to anyone but to him who states them. Wherever the word " we " occurs, the reader is prayed to take it as meaning " the Royal party," not as the pronoun in an editorial sense, or as indicative of any intent to involve the identity of the Prince with that of the gentlemen who accompanied him. WILLIAM HOWARD RUSSELL. Middle Temple, 1877. INTRODUCTION. THE PRI>CE OF WALES told :i distinguished audience which had been invited by the Governor to meet him at a State Banquet soon after his arrival in Bombay, that " it had long been the dream of his life to visit India." The idea of a tour in the Eastern possessions of the Crown appears to have been first suggested by Lord Canning, whilst he was still in India, to the Prince Consort as part of the education of the Heir Apparent; and it was no doubt included in the great scheme of instruction devised for the Prince by one who thoroughly appreciated the value of the eye, when it is quick and observant, in aiding the other faculties in the acquisition of knowledge, and the power it has of impressing the mind " Segnius irritant animos demissa per aurem, Quam quae sunt oculis subjecta fidelibus et quae Ipse sibi tradit spectator." It is probable that the Prince Consort, with his acute intelligence, would have perceived the advantages of sending the Prince of Wales to learn something of the Empire over which he was one day to reign without any such suggestion, and that he would have recommended the Queen to include her Indian dominions in the programme of travel laid down for him. Lord Canning the first Viceroy, as Lord Northbrook was the last ruled India more absolutely, perhaps, than his successors, because he was charged vith the conduct of affairs during the greatest strain to Vlll INTRODUCTION. which the Imperial Power had been subjected ; but he was deeply convinced, even in the hour of triumph, of the necessity of cheating some substitute for the prestige of the great authority which had been overthrown for ever. The East India " Com- pany " to the princes and peoples of India was not an empty abstraction. In the recesses of the national brain, mixed up with images of mythological personages and of their heavenly attributes, there was a dim conception of it, as of a great physical force, of which there were manifestations in the paraphernalia of executive power, the dignity of the magistrature, and in armies terrible with banners. To the princes and peoples the Gover- nor-General was, after all, only the servant of the " Company," for they saw that the haughtiest and most powerful of them all was so swayed by its decrees that, if th| " Company" pleased, he could be swept clean off the scene of his apparent domination. When the Queen's Proclamation, which may be styled the Magna Charta of India, was read to the Chiefs assembled at Allahabad on the ist November, 1852, there were few of them and they were not many there who could understand what was the power which had destroyed the East India Company, and what au- thority replaced it. The Oudh Talukdars, who remained in arms, would not give faith to promises made to them in the name of " the Queen." Even the soldiers of the British regiments of the East India Company's army refused to recognize the right of the Crown and of Parliament to transfer their allegiance and ser- vices without their consent ; and a very great danger arising from their discontent, which Lord Clyde and Sir W. Mansfield regard- ed with profound apprehension, was only averted by manage- ment and concession. The Governor-General saw how desirable it was, at a time when the basis on which our authority rested had been shaken to the very foundation, that India should have an outward and visible sign of the personal existence of the Power which had control of her destinies ; and he appreciated the great benefits which would accrue from personal intercourse with her princes and people to one who would occupy a position in which he must exercise immense influence over the direction INTRODUCTION. IX of affairs not the less because exercised indirectly and without responsibility. But the Prince of Wales was only seventeen years of age. Circumstances, such as the lamented deaths of Lord Elgin and General Bruce, caused the intended visit to be deferred, after it had been accepted as an incident in a general scheme of travel ; and the activity of the Prince's disposition found opportunities for development, meantime, in tours in foreign countries, and in constant participation in functions of State importance, or of a national character, at home. The journey of the Duke of Edinburgh, which had been seized upon by the Princes of India as an occasion for lavish offers of splen- did hospitality, and for profuse munificence, had given already some indication of the manner in which his elder brother, Heir to the Throne, would be feted and welcomed whenever he could go amongst them. But the deplorable assassination of the Earl of Mayo, unit- ed with the memory of other sinister events, suggested the necessity of caution, and increased the dread of responsibility of these who were charged with the action of government in such a matter. The Prince of Wales could not travel incognito in India. His movements would be known to all the world before- hand. There, no doubt, were men who would esteem themselves happy in venturing their lives on the chance of destroying one so clear to Feringhee rulers. Religious passion " and study of revenge, immortal hate," might arm many a desperate hand ; and certain exhibitions of the fanaticism of the Wahabee, or of the strong prejudices of the Hindoo, showed that the apprehen- sions of those who considered that no precautions should be neglected were worthy of the gravest consideration. In the winter of 1874, the project.-of a tour to India in the autumn of the following year became the subject of anxious deliberation, and communications passed between the authorities with a view to an understanding as to the manner of the visit. There were obstacles to be overcome, or at least there were objections to be removed in high places, for such an expedition had never been undertaken by any personage in the Prince of A* X INTRODUCTION. Wales's position in any period of our history. Royal visitors India has had and to spare. They came upon her nameless Chiefs at the head .of their invading hordes long ere Alexander, well knowing that there were more worlds to conquer beyond its waters, was obliged to abandon the object of his heart's desire on the banks of the Beas. Timour and Baber, Mahmoud of Ghuznee, and Nadir Shah these were terrible visitors indeed. Each represented the temporary overthrow of ancient dynasties, invasion, and wide-spread destruction, or conquest, occupation, and the permanent establishment of foreign rule. More recently there have been visitors of royal races of a more amiable type. Prince Adalbert of Prussia rode by the side of our victori- ous Generals in one of the most famous of Indian battle-fields, when the supremacy of Great Britain was challenged by the Khalsa. The King of the Belgians, ere he was called to the throne, included part of India in his course of travel. The Duke of Edinburgh, in the course of his interesting but rapid excursion, had some experience of the honors which would await the Heir to the Throne. But the position of the Prince of Wales, not only in its relation to the State at home and to the Indian Govern- ment, but in its bearings on the politics of Hindoostan, was totally different from that of any previous visitor. Never, with the exception of the Prince Regent, had an Heir Apparent been so much before the public eye, and never had any Prince of the Blood in direct succession to the throne been entrusted in the lifetime of the reigning Sovereign with so large a part of the functions of Sovereignty. The Prince was, owing to circum- stances of which no one questioned the force, in such a position that it seemed scarcely possible that his absence from the country for half a year and more would not be attended with serious incon- veniences. Those who followed the course of his life, as it was evolved from the exercise of one public act after another, best understood how incessant had been his labors in endeavoring to meet the demands of the country for Royal sanction and per- sonal encouragement of the works of which they are considered the fitting complement. The Prince of Wales, however, felt that INTRODUCTION. XI it was his " mission " to go to India, and he resolved to fulfil it. But for the strong insistance of the Prince, the dream of his life might not have been realized ; and whatever advantages may be derived from the tour must be attributed to the power of volition before which obstacles vanished, and to the force of conviction which defeated objections and overcame dissuasion. In the be- ginning of January, 1875, it was known that the project was seriously entertained, and soon afterwards it was spread abroad that the visit would be made in the ensuing autumn. Long be- fore the intention was communicated to the world at large, pro- grammes were sketched out and plans were prepared, the Indian authorities were consulted, and the Residents at great Native Courts had warning that the Prince might soon appear among them. On the 1 6th of March the Marquess of Salisbury made an official announcement to the Council of India of the intended visit of the Prince of Wales, and the Council then passed a reso- lution that the expenses of the journey should be charged on the revenue of India ; but at a meeting of the Council on the 2yth of April, they passed a further resolution that it was only the expendi- ture which was actually incurred in India which should be charged on the revenues of that country. The " Times " of Saturday, March 2oth, contained a short paragraph to the effect that the report of the Prince of Wales' intention to visit India towards the close of the year was true. This statement must have appeared to those in authority to have been a little too absolute, for on Monday, 22cl, there appeared another paragraph, inserted in the space usually allotted to official announcements, as follows : " We have authority to state that the report of the intention of his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales to visit India is well found- ed, and that his Royal Highness will leave England for that pur- pose should no unforeseen obstacle arise in the month of November. Sir Bartle Frere will accompany the Prince of Wales at the express wish of his Royal Highness." A flood of articles was at once poured out by the press. There was a general ex- pression of opinion that it was right for the Prince to visit Hin- XU INTRODUCTION. dostan. India had lately gained a new and rather painful inter- est for the people of England. The country, they were told, had just been rescued from the jaws of famine. About that time the deposition of the Gaekwar of Baroda and the inquiry into his complicity in the attempt to poison Colonel Phayre, caused peo- ple who would have been puzzled a short time before to decide whether the Gaekwar was a person or a thing, a man or a State, to read about India. The general relations of the great feuda- tories the Chiefs of States with Treaty rights and of the Crown were critically examined, and many homilies were deliver- ed on the duties of Sovereign States to their dependencies, and on the blessings of civilization to uncivilized nations. A sensa- tion of surprise was experienced by many people at the discovery that there were Native States in India which had some sort of autonomy a despotism tempered by Residents and something like alarm evinced when the papers reproduced from an Indian journal a most formidable looking muster-roll of the " armies " of the Native Chiefs, with their many thousands of horse, foot, and cannon. The common " Aryanismus " of the races was, however, much urged on the notice of the world as a reason for mutual relations. It was pointed out that the Hindoo and his master were after all made of the same clay, that " Blacks were not so black nor Whites so very white." It may be quite true that at some period, which conjecture cannot aspire to reach, Central Asia, the sceva mater of nations, poured forth the hordes which peopled Europe and Hindostan alike, though it is as difficult to persuade the Englishman of to-day that the Hindoo is his brother as it was to impress a knife cuts butter." Gathering way rapidly, the Serapis came down on the astonished Greeks on board the yacht ; but the King of the Hellenes, who is a thorough sailor, saw what was the matter at once, and sent the crew forward to fend off the coming mountain. In a second more there was a loud crash and snap as the Serapis avenged the damage done by the yacht's bowsprit to one of her boats by the abrupt removal of that spar, and then continued her career astern. There was speedily a scene of much activity all around us. Off came the 22 THE PRINCE OF WALES TOUR. Russian's boat with the end of a warp, and landed it cleverly on board the Osborne which had her steam up, and was manceuver- ing to help her erratic consort. There was not the smallest confusion, but there was a good deal of excitement on board. In a very short time the warp was made fast on board the Serapis, her way was checked just in time to avoid the danger of fouling, and, forging ahead again, she was brought up to her old ground, and then let go both sheet anchors, which held her fast at last. As soon as she was anchored (10.30 A.M.), King George came off under a Royal salute from all the shipping, yards manned, &c., and was received at the side by the Prince, who conduct- ed him to the saloon, where the members of the suite were pre- sented to His Majesty. Sir J. Drummond, Admiral Boutakoff, and many Russian, American, Austrian, and Turkish officers hastened on board to pay their respects to the Prince. These were followed by officers in uniform naval, military, consular, and diplomatic so that the decks of the Serapis presented a very animated appearance, in keeping with the scene outside, where the waters were crowded with boats and sailing craft, filled with people turned out in their best. At noon the members of the suite were told off to the boats alongside, to lead the way to the landing-place of the Piraeus, about a quarter of a mile away. On the platform there was a deputation, and probably an address, but the first comers had to drive off to the terminus before the Royal party landed, and did not witness the reception. They passed to the carriages from the steps through the guard of honor and troops lining the sides to keep off the crowds of curious who pressed upon them a medley of races in great variety of cos- tume, among whom there were not many women. These mostly looked out of the windows of the rather poor houses, much given to entertainment of sailors, and suggesting the idea of a Greek Wapping, which line the way here. There was abundance of green wreaths, bunches of flowers and banners along the streets to the Railway Station, which was prettily decorated scarlet cloth laid down on the platform banners, &c. a gathering of well-dressed ladies, the various ministers and ex-ministers, the RECEPTION OF THE PRINCE. 23 diplomatic body, the clergy of the Greek Church and others, the civil magistrates, the Town Council (TO dr^tnuuv Zuti.tM>uv 'AOyvatv), theNomarchs of Attica and Boeotia, the Demarchs of the Piraeus and of Athens, the 'Y-oopY\ &c. to receive the Royal party, whose arrival was announced by another salute of cannon and by loud cheering. The Royal train was in readiness, the engine puffing impa- tiently to get off, and after some delay, connected with the baggage, the King and Prince, greeted by the peculiar sort of cry which is the Greek substitute for a cheer, left the station. There was some curiosity manifested by the people in the suburb of the Piraeus, for they mounted on the walls to look at the train ; but the peasants, men and women, at work in the olive-groves and in the fields only paused for a while, some doffing their hats, and then resumed their labors. There were Royal carriages, an escort of cavalry, guard of honor, band, &c., in attendance at the Observatory Station, in the outskirts of Athens, where the King and the Prince alighted, and a greater gathering to wel- come them than there was at Piraeus. There a state procession was formed ; all who took part in it were in full uniform. The carriages, escorted by the Che- vaux L'egers, set out at a slow pace, in order to give the people an opportunity of seeing the guest of their King. It was a hot and dusty drive from the station to the palace, but the great crowds which lined the streets (6dbs Atohw, 6dbs 'Epiwo, &c.), and filled the windows and balconies along the route to bid the Prince welcome, had endured the fierce rays of the sun and dust of the roads some hours before he appeared. In the present day there are few distinctive marks about the dress of the better-off classes in European cities, and the ladies and gentlemen who looked with so much interest on the Royal visitor and his suite were pretty much like the inhabitants of any other large town. There was a good deal of an esprit moqueur about the crowd, and people in good coats and hats pointed at the novel uniforms with more freedom than is usual in Western cities. There were sprinklings of Greek costumes 24 THE PRINCE OF' WALES' TOUR. to be seen here and there among the poorer sort, and a large proportion of those " indescribables," with unwashed faces, and felt hats of strange shapes furnished by all the national- ities of the world, who may be seen in Levantine towns. And as of the people so of the dwellings. The new streets are formed in right lines of very lofty buildings of the Haussmann type. There are no " old houses." The Acropolis looks down proudly on what is, take it all in all, the newest city out of the United States. In the rear of the principal streets, which are nearly as wide as those of Munich or of modern Paris, are lanes of humble cottages, of modern construction and of no particular type, " the huts where poor men lie." But with this newness of look there was one thing ever before our eyes during the long drive to the Palace which prevented our forgetting where we were the characters and the names on the walls and the shop fronts which exercised well, let us say the ingenuity or mem- ory of the suite, and afforded them a distraction. There were many flags flying in the street. The majority were Greek, next Russian, next Italian, then English and French ; but the Crescent on the Red Field of the Turk was rare indeed. The Athenians did not cheer, but they talked loudly, and a buzzing sound pre- ceded the cortege ; the ladies waved handkerchiefs from the win- dows ; the police, who are dressed like infantry soldiers, had not much difficulty in keeping line, save in front of the numerous cafes, which were thronged with people and emitted clouds of tobacco-smoke. Certainly ten men out of eleven smoked cigar- ettes. The aspect of the Basilikon is imposing. The Palace is well placed on an elevated site at the base of Mount Lyca- bettus, commanding a fine view towards Hymettus and the mountains on one side, and facing the modern Place, in which are the principal hotels. The portico, the colonnade, and much of the exterior are built of the pure white marble of Pentelicus, which towers behind it in the distance ; and much of the interior is decorated with or constructed of the same beautiful material. The vast hall is adorned with columns of marble \ the courts, by THE PALACE. \tfS 2 $ which the Palace is divided, contain two of the loftiest and finest state saloons in Europe, which are only used for great banquets or royal festivities. Great corridors run along the length and breadth of the Palace, which is a quadrangle of 300 feet by 280. On the first floor, which is at a great height from the basement, are suites of rooms of large dimensions too large to be easily warmed in the severe cold of the Attic winter, of which one is reminded by the German stoves in the corners of each bed-room and sitting-room. The King's apartments are charmingly com- fortable ; the Queen's suite bears the evidence of an exquisite taste, and of tendencies which in an English house would be called "ritualistic." There is a Greek Chapel in the Palace for Her Majesty, and for those of her attendants and others who belong to the Orthodox Church ; and there is a separate Chapel for the King. In the public apartments and on the terraces there are some pictures, treated in the heroic manner, of the great frescoes of Cornelius. These are painted, I believe, by Danes or Germans, for modern Greece has not yet found her Apelles. From the front windows there is a wide-spreading view towards the city and the country, in the direction of the Piraeus, and a glimpse of part of the Acropolis. Before the entrance there was a guard of honor, with band and colors, a company of infantry, clad in uniform with some resemblance to that of the French line, except that the men did not indulge in garance pantaloons. On the steps the officers of the household of the King and Queen, and a crowd of func- tionaries, were assembled, many of them in the picturesque dress of the Court which was adopted by King Otho to please the national taste gold-embroidered jacket and vest, sash, stiff white fustanelle, a cap, like a fez with an elongated bag decorated with a long gold tassel, and embroidered gaiters. There was a small gathering of people in the open space between the shrub- bery and railings which fence off the Place from the front of the Palace, for in Athens, as in most cities which boast of a royal resi- dence, there is no restriction on the use by the public of the walks about the Palace. The King of the Hellenes led his guest into the 26 THE PRINCE OF WALES* TOUR. great hall, and thence to the royal apartments. Presently those who accompanied the Prince were summoned to the saloon where the Queen was standing with her children the Duke of Sparta, Prince George, the Princess Alexandra, and Prince Nicholas and the ladies-in-waiting, and were presented to her Majesty by his Royal Highness. Her Majesty's manner is ex- ceedingly gracious, and for each she had a kind word, and for those whom she had known before a little speech, which proved she had a Royal memory. Nor did she forget to express her great regret that circumstances had prevented the Princess of Wales coming so far with the Prince on his way to India. Then came a general dispersion to the rooms, mostly of great size and well found, where the servants were already unpacking portman- teaus for a change from uniform to plain clothes. There was a little difficulty in establishing communications between the Greek gentlemen-in-waiting and our own people ; even Canon Duckworth, whose Greek was of the freshest and best, was at fault when he came to " hot water " and the like. The High- landers in the Royal train were especially disappointed in the expectations which had been raised in their breasts by the ap- pearance of kilted Albanians, that Gaelic would serve as a me- dium of converse ; but there was an excellent Corfiote who had picked up English in the old days of the British protectorate, and there were German- speaking men, remanents of the Othonic period in attendance, and so, after a time, all things went pleas- antly and well. The King and the Prince of Wales went out for a drive in mufti, and Mr. Malet, of the British Legation, came to the Palace to conduct those who wished to see the Acropolis, the Theatre of Bacchus, and as many of the sights as could be taken in before dinner. There is no city in the world, except Cairo, where spick-and-span new Italian and French villas smirk under the shadow of the Pyramids, which presents such contrasts between ancient and modern civilization as Athens. From the Acropo- lis you see the smoke of tall factory chimneys, rapidly increasing in number near the port, streaking the bright blue sky of Attica, THE PALACE. 2/ and the railway from the Piraeus traversing the plain where once flowed, and now trickle, the Cephissus and Ilissus. Separated from the base of the citadel by the space whereon lie the Areopagus, the Agora, the Theseum, the Pnyx, the Dionysiac Theatre, to the w. and s. w. rise the streets of the new city, its Greek churches, and lofty white houses glistening in the sun, and the imposing public buildings the National Academy, the University, the Poly- technic School, and the Museum which indicate that there is a "living Greece," and that learning, science, and the arts are re- membered in the land of their birth. These appear very justly to shun the fanes of the older city, although the Temple of the Winds, and one or two monuments which stood outside the boundaries of Athens, on the north side of the Acropolis, are in- cluded within the limits of the fast growing quarter which has the brand of Munich and Paris upon it. Since the Prince was last here the Venetian Tower has been removed from the Acrop- olis, and its place knows it no more. However great the force of the aesthetical reasons for the demolition may have been, I am not sure that the general effect of the grand mass of ruins, as seen from the lower ground, has not been injured by the re- moval. At dinner the young Princes came to their places at table, and when dessert was over took leave, going round to each guest, shaking hands, and bidding him good- night in the most charming, frank, and pleasant way. The boys resemble their mother blue, serious eyes, serene brows, and wonderfully fair skins. The Queen expressed much interest in the expedition, and seemed to think that the Princess of Wales could have had no diffi- culty in visiting India at all events, " she thought the Princess might have come as far as Athens." After dinner the King and Queen and the Prince of Wales drove out to see the lighting up of the rock and the temple of Jupiter Olympius, which was wound up by a very effective exhibition of fireworks, with clever com- binations of color, including an escutcheon of the Royal Arms. But surely in the strict application of TO -t,i-v the Acropolis ought not to be desecrated by fireworks ? Or if that be begging 28 THE PRINCE OF WALES' TOUR. the question is it not a " desecration " to make the Acropolis the scene of a pyrotechnic display ? Whilst we were going over the Erechtheum and Parthenon we came on gangs of workmen fixing the stands for rockets, Roman candles, and similar fenx tf artifice along the facades. It must be admitted that the dis- play pleased thousands of spectators, and that it was very beau- tiful. The great crowd which assembled to see the Prince and the fireworks behaved with much consideration, although it could not be expected they would prove utterly indifferent to the desire to have a close view of the Royal personages. The King was delighted with his presents from England, which were delivered from the Serapis in the afternoon. There was a steam-launch, an Alderney bull and cow, a ram and sheep, and a few fine specimens of the British pig, which came, I think, from Sandringham. Tuesday, October 19. It was somewhat amusing to make out in the morning paper, the " Stoa," the account of the Prince's landing yesterday, which appeared under the date of October yth, and to try to identify the persons in attendance upon the Prince. Here they are : 2. f O Aopdoq Zoixptekd, Adpdos iv uxypsffta xai dp%7)ydpoupa<; xai. ux 0.071 tarys 5. ( -/optuq W. H. f Pouffff& ixiTi/jLos Idtatrepos YP a ! J -l J - are * ) S c /7. J. M. f] Baffifaffffa. OTred^aro rov Upt^na iv ry atdobffr] TOO Spovoo fyouffa nap auTr) TTJV fj.fdkr)v Kupiav xai raq rpei i-xiTCfJLOuq xupiaq. Td iffr^paq^ ry 7 JJL. fj.. idoOy yeufj.a els o xATJ07]ffav 6 Kplff[3u<; xai V xvpfo roy 5 xa ^ f duo) ^/?a///jtarl? rr t q TilvTS xa} ol i^7 t q dxrcu : I. C ivrtfjidraTot; Sir Bartle Frere, dvwrepoc; raz tap/us roD MODERN GREEK. Tdffj.aTo<; TOO 'AffT^pos TUJV 'I'sdtwv xal ratap%o<; TOO rdf^aroq TOO A OUT pOO. 2. '0 bxoffTpdTOYos Probyn iratpoq (compagnori) TOO AouTpoo, wstbrzpns d^ni)fj.aTixoq iv riy OTiypsffia TOO ttpifycrptos. 3. '0 d>;TiffuvTayfj.aTdpxr]7}<; "ApOoopoq Ellis TWV iirtUxTtov TJ^ ApoopaSj dvojTifios dzuorjLaTtxos x. r. A., UK; dvajT^pw. 4. /.. Francis Knollys tfitatTepus ypafjLfjLarebs TOO IIpiyxirjTroq. 5. '0 Fsvuos yz '.poop-foe; Fayrer M. D. iTcupos TOO vapoury /j.oo TOO Tdffiaros TOO 'AffTiuoq TUJV '/v^aiv, iuTpos TOO ripfyxyxoq. 6. '0 &it&icXofapxos Adpdos 'AdpoAoz Beresford, OTraffxKTTrjS TOO 7. '0 a>.8s(7i!J.u)raToq Canon Duckworth, lepebs TTJS A. M. ry 8. e O dvTtvauap%<><; Drummond. ' ExToq TUJV avioTipu) ffr i iJ.eta)OivToj\> datdexa, TTJV d.xoXooOiav TOO TtpifXTj-xos dicoretoufft xal ol iZys 6xT(i) : "i. f O bxoffTpdTrjYos Aopdoq 'AApdo$ //ayer, I er Ecuyer, Sous- Marechal Ti t <; A. M. TT/S Batrdirttrr^. 2. '0 Kkotapyos Honnaih H. Carr Glynn, iTa'tpoq TOO Tdy/j.aTo<; TOO AooTpoo } OTtaffKiffTris T^q BafftAtffffrjq, Ko^tepv^T^q TOO dtxpoToo 3. ffovTay/j!.aTdp%r]S Owen Williams, dunx^T^ TOO ffuvTdy/j.aTo<; ' Li7i~oo @poopaz. 4. '0 oxoXoxafoq Augustus Fitz-George, sxTaxToq <37ra KING AND QUEEN OF 'GREECE LEAVING THE " SERAPIS.' STUDYING RELIEF MAP. CHAPTER II. FROM THE PIR^US TO GRAND CAIRO. Theatre Royal, Serapis Sports and Pastimes The Saloon Port Said The Suez Canal Ismailia The Palace of Gezireh The Khedive- Investiture of Prince Tewfik The Pyramids " Why go to India ? " Departure from Cairo Farewell to Suez. OCTOBER 21. At dawn Crete was in sight on our starboard bow. Surely there never was more stately ship nor gentler for- tune in these waters ! Not a breath of wind. The crew beat to quarters, and were exercised at putting out an imaginary fire, and in closing the water-tight compartments, to which recent occur- rences at sea had given unusual interest. The sectional drawing of the Serapis which is nailed up on the main-deck forward is awful to contemplate. It represents a mighty maze of pipes, THEATRE ROYAL, " SERAPIS. 45 v lives, stop-cocks, and machinery, which sets one thinking ; and Mr. Hulton, the first lieutenant, who is always working down below, said it was a week's hard practical study to master the secrets of our floating prison-house. At noon the thermometer marked 70. The awning fenced off the sun's rays, but they glanced fiercely from the bright blue sea, which spread out sail- less, birdless, and apparently fishless, to desolate-looking San- torin. In the afternoon there was a gentle breeze right astern, the sea crisply lapping the sides of the ship, which was so steady that the Prince and his friends could play deck tennis, an adap- tation of lawn tennis, which did very well indeed, only that the balls were apt to fly overboard. Whereupon it was enacted that he who knocked a ball overboard should pay one sovereign fine ; howbeit at the end of the voyage there were less balls out of the many provided than sovereigns, but that was a matter of detail. Pistol practice at marks hung to the yard-arms varied the tennis- playing. In the evening, the Prince and the company repaired to the after-part of the quarter-deck, on the starboard side, where a very pretty little theatre had been set up. Chairs were placed on deck from the wheelhouse forward to the companion. Behind these were ranged the picturesque masses of the crew and the marines, some in the rigging and mizen chains, others on the bulwarks a very attentive and enthusiastic audience. There was a drop-scene, well executed by one of the men, representing the Serapis leaving Portsmouth. When the curtain was raised it revealed an elevated stage of moderate capacity, provided with a piano and the inevitable troop of Ethiopian Serenaders, furnished by the bandsmen, sailors, and marines. The stage manager was Mr. Smith Dorrien, one of the lieutenants, and the theatrical company was furnished by the ship's crew ; the Mag- nus Apollo was an A.B. sailor named Spry, a fine, manly-look- ing tar, with a big beard, and a burly voice, and with a turn for versification, for which the rules of rhyming needed to be stretch- ed a little. He was evidently a favorite with the crew, for before he had said a word he was cheered, and his song on " Optiona 46 THE PRINCE OF WALES* TOUR. Cocoa " was received with wild enthusiasm. Now " Optional Cocoa " seemed a recondite subject, but it was one well known to his audience. They roared at every satiric touch of Mr. Spry, as he recounted his experience of life as one of the seamen on board a ship of the Channel squadron, in which, by the Admi- ral's orders, it was " optional " for the crew to take a cup of cocoa in lieu of some more stimulating beverage. The entertainment was diversified by clog-dances, hornpipes, sentimental ditties, and " regular fore-bitters," by various legs and voices, and it was brought to a close at n o'clock by "God save the Queen," sung by the company with a chorus from the audience, and the ship's company, Prince and all, standing with heads uncovered. All the men enjoyed it very much, and the encouragement given by the Prince's presence was very grateful to those concerned in providing so much harmless pleasure for their fellows. The following was the programme : H.M.S. "SERAPIS." CHRISTY'S MINSTRELS, 2ist OCTOBER, 1875. PART I. OVERTURE Encore BAND. OPENING CHORUS " We niggers are free " . . . . COMPANY. SOLO " Pretty little dark eyes " SEIDON. SOLO Napolitaine SNELL. COMIC " Hat and Feather " BRANDON. COMIC " Kingdom's Coming " . . . . HOLMES. PART II. SOLO "Nellie's Answer" COSTER. COMIC SKETCH ..." Statue Blanchia " HOLMES & BRANDON. DANCE Break Down . . . DUFF & HILL. COMIC "King Coffee Dust" SPRY. PLANTATION Walk Round .... COMPANY. October 22. Dr. Fayrer, full of hygienic wisdom and sani- PORT ?AII). 47 tary precautions, gave counsel yester8*^Sjliiffi^g^nerous energy of the French chef should be restrained ; that the number of hot dishes at breakfast should be reduced to two ; that attendance at lunch should be, like cocoa in the Channel squadron, "option- al ; " and that three courses at least should be struck off the dinner menu ; and next (this) morning the new rules came into effect. All day the Serapis screwed steadily along with her head pointed Egyptwards, the Osborne following at her prescribed distance. There were many means of passing the time pleas- antly on board in such fine weather. There was a large relief chart of India against the side of the Prince's sitting-room to study. There were many books novels in French and English, voyages and travels, works relating to India, biographies, history, and literature, heavy and light in the drawing-room bookcases ; and there was another smaller collection in the quarter-deck saloon. There were chess and backgammon boards in the saloon seldom used, however, as the attractions of tennis were greater, and there were pistol practice and the general amuse- ments of the deck, such ,as quoits and ball. There were letters to be written. at the many well-furnished writing-tables ; a little music to listen to when Prince Louis of Battenberg or some other less gifted amateur could spare half-an-hour ; inspections of the horses and animals ; visits to the bridge, to the ward-room ; and there was last, not least, the never-failing solace of a siesta in one's cabin when the pen began to falter and the words on the paper danced before the wearied eyes. October 23. The speed of the vessel was once more reduced to eight knots, as it was when we were running for the Piraeus, lest the vessels should arrive to soon at Port Said ; but at dawn, this morning, the look-out man reported that the harbor-light was in sight. The engines slowed, until the little squadron only just crept through the discolored sea, for we were still too early. The land-fall of Port Said is not easy, for the strip of beach on which the town stands is not six feet above the water-level ; but the Light House is very lofty, and there are also a few date-trees to mark the site, and close to them there were now visible a 48 THE PRINCE OF WALES' 1 TOUR. clump of masts and rigging, and a tall flag-staff which seemed to rise from the sea. At 7.30 A.M. those on the deck of the Sera- pis could distinguish the color of the flags flying from the Con- sulates on shore, and from the shipping inside the breakwater, conspicuous among which were H.M.SS. Invincible and Pallas, which had arrived from Brindisi. The men-of-war and the Egyptian yacht Mahsa saluted as soon as they made out the Roy- al Standard. At 8.30 A.M. the Serapis and Osborne entered the Canal, and proceeded slowly ahead between the two breakwaters to their moorings off the Custom House ; the Invincible, Pallas, and Egyptian frigates manning yards and cheering ; the bands on deck playing " God save the Queen ; " and a guard of honor of Egyptian infantry drawn up on shore, with band and colors, presenting arms and saluting with martial flourishes of trumpets. Port Said has ample stores of bunting; and there was a great display of it; but the people were not very demonstrative, and although there was a considerable crowd of the dwellers in that accident which cannot be called lucky for them, at all events on shore, there was not any cheering. There was some curiosity shown by the population near the shore, but the coal- heavers and the dredgers went on with their work as usual, and people were to be seen up the long sandy streets, lined by wooden huts, who could not be tempted to the water's edge to look at the Royal personages and their suites in all the splendor of full- dress uniform. The bulk of the people are French by birth or naturalization. Certainly they are^ French by feeling, and they still cherish the recollection of the hostility England displayed to the enterprise, to the success of which she now so largely contributes. It is the most curious spot on the face of the globe. On the strip of land between Lake Menzaleh and the sea there is pitched tent-like on the loose sand, which rises over the shoes where asphalte or planking has not been deposited, a city of wooden houses, laid in perfect parallelograms, and furnished with shops and magazines, where every article of European luxury can be had. Outside, on the same belt of sand, in a condition akin to savagery, there is a settlement of Arabs. The commerce of SUEZ CANAL. 49 one quarter of the world passes by the city, but few traders land, and none remain there. The population, which probably exceeds 15,000, lives, however, on the crumbs of that commerce ; and the most singular fact connected with this singular place is that the whole of the towns-people, and of the natives around it, depend for fresh water on the work of a steam- engine sixty miles away, which drives it from the Sweet- water Canal at Ismailia to feed the reservoirs at Port Said. Per- haps there is no place in the world which contains members of so many different nationalities. In addition to the Arabs and fellaheen, every European country has representatives Tunisi- ans, Algerines, Syrians, Moors, Hindostanees, Persians,Chinamen who mingle with people from all the isles of the sea, and yet, I was told, that serious crimes are not frequent. The place has created itself and its police ; but Port Said, as all the world knows, owes its existence to M. de Lesseps' determining that the end of the Canal or the beginning, if you like it better should be at this precise point. It was but a point on the sea-beach extend- ing from Damietta to the coast of Palestine, and it was selected to be the site of the Port because the sea-soundings off that point gave greater depth of water than at other points in the curve. As soon as the Serapis was abreast of the quay of the Custom House, where the guard of honor was stationed, Major-General Stanton, Consul-General. came on board to pay his respects, and to take orders respecting the arrangement for the journey on to Cairo. There was a great " turning of keys and grating of locks " as baggage was sorted out to be transferred to the Os- borne, and a mighty hurrying to and fro on the main-deck to get all things in readiness. A State pinnace put off from the Egyp- tian yacht, with the Princes Tewfik, Hussein, and Hassan, in very rich uniforms. They were accompanied by Nubar Pasha, Mustapha Pasha, and other officers of the Khedive's Court. The Prince had on his Indian helmet and plume, blue undress frock coat, with Field-Marshal's insignia, and white trousers the suite according to order. The helmet is a very presentable 3 4 5O THE PRINCE OF WALES* TOUR. head-dress. The military men wear a veritable pickel-haube, with a spike on the top like the end of a classical spear ; gilt for regu- lars, silver for yeomanry and militia, metal scale chin-straps to match. The civilians rejoice in a brass or gilt knob instead of a spike (less dangerous in thunder-storms) ; but after their arrival in India it was found that the metal chin-scales were not legiti- mate, and that there was nothing like leather for them, and the scales were accordingly lightened. The Prince received the Egyp- tian Princes with much warmth, and engaged in conversation with them until they rose to return to their yacht, which was to follow the Osborne. In future it will be scarcely necessary to say that " the Prince was accompanied by the members of his suite" It may be taken for granted that ^neas was always followed by his faithful friends, " Fortis Gyas,fortisque Cloanthus" and that, as far as outward adornment in the matter of uniform was concerned, their appearance was regulated by that of his Royal Highness. After the departure of the Egyptians, the light baggage hav- ing been transferred to the Osborne, the Prince, attended by Major-General Stanton, shifted his flag from the Serapis to the Osborne, which went up the Canal, with the Royal flag flying at the main and the Egyptian at the fore, at ten knots an hour, under a salute from the Invincible which made the wooden habi- tations of Port Said shake to their not very stable foundations. The last time a Royal Standard floating over these waters in- dicated the presence of the head of a great Power, was when the Empress Eugenie, leading one of the most glorious naval proces- sions ever witnessed in the world, opened the Suez Canal, along which we were now speeding towards Ismailia. It was certainly a tribute to the genius and insistence of Baron de Lesseps that the Heir to the English Throne should be seeking India by a route the idea of which was so much in disfavor in England for so many years, and the execution of which was both secretly op- posed and openly discountenanced by the most powerful of English Ministers as politically dangerous and as practically im- possible. It was that opposition which created the Canal in TO ISMAILIA. 51 the first place, by stimulating French feeling on the subject of English jealousy, and tickling the mouths of French money-bags by appeals to national vanity ; and in the second place, by forc- ing Baron de Lesseps to call in the aid of mechanical genius to provide the means which were denied to him by the Egyptian Government when they removed the laborers, in consequence of the representations of our Government that the corvee was, in fact, " slavery," and that the scenes of misery which accompan- ied the making of the Mahmoodieh Canal must not be repeated so late in the nineteenth century. The Prince took great interest in the scene which was pre- sented on either side of the two narrow mud walls marking the course of the Canal through Lake Menzaleh the broad expanse where the water and the sand of the Desert mingle, undistin- guishable one from the other, save that boats, busily engaged in fishing, marked the outlines of flotation, and that vast flocks of flamingoes and pelicans, standing breast-deep, showed where the land was rising to the surface of the lacus piscosus. By special order the Osborne was allowed to proceed at a speed forbidde n to ordinary vessels : and as the wave impelled by her bow broke on the banks, mullet and other fish, disturbed by the unusual rush of water, bounded repeatedly high in the air. When the Osborne, followed by the Mahsa, rushed past the elevateurs and dredging stations on the banks, and the small reed-huts and houses of the employes, the men of many nations paused for a while at their labor, and now and then raised a cheer, or raised their caps respectfully as the notion burst upon them that a great Prince was passing. No more difficult pilotage can well devolve upon a man than that of the Canal, narrow as it is, for every inch of water must be measured accurately, and the slightest turn of the wheel will send a ship pretty hard and fast for the time ; but the French pilot knew his work thoroughly. Indeed, Captain Glyn, and other naval officers who had experience of the management of the Canal in all its details, gave unqualified praise to the excellent method and precision of the service. The nicest management, of course, was needed in the case of vessels 52 THE PRINCE OF WALES' TOUR. encountered in the way, of which there were not a few the Scot- land of London, the Montgomeryshire, and others. The Peninsu- lar and Oriental steamer Pekin, with the passengers of the bro- ken-down Deccan, was passed about half-way to Ismailia. From men up masts, rigging, and yards, and from her crowded deck, came repeated cheers for the Prince of Wales ; but as he stood on deck, with a great crowd of persons in the same kind of dress, all of them with lorgnettes to their eyes trying to make out their friends on board the Pekin, it is probable, there were doubts as to his identity, until he raised his cap in acknowledgment of the cheering. Amongst the passengers by the Pekin were the spe- cial correspondents of the London and other papers on their way to India. The Royal visit to Cairo just enabled them to reach Bombay a few days in advance of the Prince. The great stretch of Lake Timsah, on which Ismailia is built, attracted special notice, when it was explained to the travellers that where navies can now ride triumphantly there was but a few years before a desert, and salt-pits, and barren rock; but the Prince was familiar with the scene, as he had visited it with M. de Lesseps before the canal was opened. At Ismailia, which the Osborne reached at 5 P. M., every preparation had been made infantry and cavalry guards, and a force of military-looking, well-dressed, and active Egyptian police to show the Prince all fitting honor. Carriages, comprising all the resources of Ismailia in the way of vehicles, with auxiliaries from Cairo, conveyed the Royal party to the station ; but the luggage was not quite so mobile, and there was a delay of some half-hour before everything was transported from the steamer to the baggage-vans. The American saloon and state carriages, so familiar to many recip- ients of the Khedival hospitality, were in readiness, provided with a train of valets and ample store of refreshments. The Egyptian Princes Tewfik, Hassan, and Hussein, Nubar Pasha. Mustapha Pasha, and the officials of the Court, busied them- selves with the necessary preparations for departure, which chiefly consisted in the carriage of the baggage from the shore to the station, but that was at last effected. And as the sun was ARRIVAL AT CAIRO. 53 setting on the horizon, which melted into the grey Desert in the distance, the train glided, amid loud cheers from a crowd of sev- eral hundreds of persons, among whom were many French ladies and gentlemen, out of the pretty station of Ismailia on its way to Cairo. The Moslem Pharaoh has not neglected the interests of his country like the Turk. In the memory of young men the Desert and the land between the Bitter Lake and Cairo were roadless, no vehicle travelled where there is now regular railway traffic, the camel and the ass afforded the only means of conveyance. It was then past six o'clock, but the line was clear, the car- nages in good order, and the train, carefully driven under the orders of Betts Bey, ran continuously through to Cairo at the rate of forty miles an hour, and at nine o'clock drew up at the platform of the Shoubra Road Station. The Khedive, in gala uniform of blue and gold, and with all his orders on, surrounded by his ministers and by the foreign Consular body, stood waiting for the Prince, beside him towered the Grand Duke Alexis of Russia, in naval uniform, attended by his officers. There was a battalion of infantry drawn up from end to end of the platform, the passages were lined with soldiery, and another regiment was on duty outside the station. The Prince was in full uniform. The station was as light as day, from gaslight and torches, and the coup (Tail, as the Khedive advanced to meet his guest, and the whole mass of men in uniform, lace and jewels moved along the platform, was striking. There was a most warm greeting. The carriages of the Khedive, turned out faultlessly, were wait- ing. There was a host of runners and masalchees to precede them, and the Prince and his host drove off amid cheers, music, and clattering of sabres through the well-watered streets of the new quarter of Cairo, and turning to the west, passed the Nile by the Iron Bridge to the Gezireh Palace which had been assigned for the Royal residence. The Khedive, having installed the Prince in his sumptuous quarters, took leave, and was driven to Abdeen, at the other side of the river, which seems to be his favorite abode. The Gez- ireh Palace was, I think, built for the reception of the Empress 54 THE PRINCE OF WALES' TOUR. Eugenie ; and it is certainly in some respects worthy of its pur^ pose. The rooms are exceedingly handsome and well-furnished large armoires ; mirrors against the walls, of course ; and lustres, or many-dropped chandeliers, from the ceilings. The floors cov- ered with French carpets ; the bedsteads of brass, with musquito curtains. French ormolu clocks ; Austrian furniture, which should be marked " fragile," covered with damask ; rich curtains, badly hung, and sometimes hooked back on common iron staples driven into the walls ; marble-topped washstands and chests of drawers ; tables with exquisite cut-glass service, fleur d orange water, sugar for eau sucre, scent flasks, and last, not least, small bottles of ammonia to assuage the pangs of insect bites, if haply such there were. There are some very fine objects from the Great Exhibition of 1867 in the rooms. Late as it was, the table was laid, and dinner was served with creditable alacrity. Then came coffee, pipes, and bed. I believe we lodge in the very rooms where but a short while ago Zuleika, Hanoum, Fati- ma, and others, lorded and ladied it supreme. All the ladies of the household have gone off to some other viceregal retreat ; but I am not quite sure of the point, and do not care to ask. Any- way, the palace would delight St. Kevin. It is perhaps a little too near the river for the safety of the walls, but the situation affords agreeable prospects. The suite, servants and all, were lodged without any difficulty within the walls. Musquitoes were " out of season," but some of the Royal party declared other things were " in," and one sufferer cried aloud and spared not. October 24. Early in the morning the black-coated servitors, each with red fez on his head, badge of public or State employ, began their scurrying work along the corridors not noiselessly. They are the housemaids of the Palace. They are of all races, and are supposed to speak French or Italian. The prospect from the Palace windows is exceedingly inter- esting. There is the money-making muddy river beneath you, and along yonder bank a selvage of Nile boats, with naked masts and long lateen yards triced to the top ; a broad belt of houses, such as can only be seen in Cairo, above the roofs of which THE PALACE OF GEZIREH. 55 seen through a golden haze, which is but the fine dust raised by the slippers and feet of the multitude, and lighted by the rays of the sun rise the minarets of mosques in the incongruous com- pany of factory chimneys. Further still, towards the east and south, the rock, on which stands the Citadel, and the slender minarets and dome of the Great Mosque come out high and clear, and the barren shelves of many-colored rock of the Great Mokattan ridge trending towards the Nile. The Nile is now almost bank-full ; it is rushing past my windows at such a rate that the country-boats, with their vast sails bellying out with the strong breath of the north wind, can but just stem its stream. The Palace of Gezireh abuts on the left bank of the river, which swirls and gurgles against the buttresses of the garden wall, and circles in deep, eddying pools in the angles of the em- bankments, to the great joy of the catfish and other Siluroids, which rise heavily at pieces of bread and floating offal. At the other side of the river lies Boulak, which is called the Port of Cairo, but which is part of the city all the same. The ruins of houses in the stream, the overhanging banks, the ends of walls, and the masses of masonry rising out of the current, show how destructive the river is in some of its moods. When the Nile is at its highest it does much harm, and it is mischievous even when it does most good. There is no solid basis for masonry to be found till the rock, some forty feet below the great alluvial bed, has been reached, and few can afford the expense of laying such deep foundations. The weakness of the Grand Barrage, a magnificent work which few visitors to Cairo ever visit, is mainly due to the want of an adequate KWJ