The Life of King Edward VII Part 7
The Prince of Wales in India
To make a Royal tour of the vast British possessions in Hindostan was an inspiring idea. To const.i.tute the Crown a tangible evidence of Imperial power and a living object and centre of Eastern loyalty and respect was a policy worthy of Mr. Disraeli and of the statecraft in which he had once declared imagination to be an essential ingredient. To precede this action by the purchase of the Suez Ca.n.a.l shares in order to safe-guard the pathway to the Indian Empire and to succeed it with such an impressive appeal to Oriental individualism and personal loyalty as the proclamation of Queen Victoria as Empress of India were strokes of statesmanship such as no other Englishman of that time was capable of initiating.
INCEPTION OF THE PROJECT
In Bombay, when the project was finally in full fruition, the Prince of Wales told a distinguished audience that "it had long been the dream of his life to visit India," and there seems no room to doubt that it was a part of the original plan mapped out by the keen perceptions of the Prince Consort for the education of his eldest son. It was unquestionably suggested to the former by Lord Canning, when Governor-General of India in the wild days of the Mutiny, but the idea necessarily slumbered until the young Prince was old enough to undertake the heavy duties involved.
By that time his father had pa.s.sed away; the old-time rule of the East India Company was gone; a new and greater India had expanded in territory and population; while the loyalty of its native Princes had become a constant marvel to other peoples. Yet there were causes of discontent and grounds for trouble. The myriad ma.s.ses of Hindostan did not yet fully understand who was ruling over them, nor had they ever fully comprehended how the rule of the Company pa.s.sed away. The word "Queen" had to them an Eastern significance which did not exactly compel respect, and that personal side of Government which means so much to the Oriental mind had never been brought home to them. The a.s.sa.s.sination of Lord Mayo proved the possibilities of greater trouble, and there was always the danger of Russian aggression and the existence of border warfare. In the winter of 1874, therefore, the question of a Royal tour was seriously considered, and some correspondence pa.s.sed between the authorities concerned. To send the Heir to the Throne on such a visit was a unique project, and there were various difficulties to overcome.
India was accustomed to visitors of the type of Alexander the Great, of Timour, Baber, Mahmoud of Ghuznee and Nadir Shah; but a peaceful progress of the foreign Heir to its Throne was another matter. Brief and hasty visits to some of its Princes had been made in recent times by Prince Adalbert of Prussia, the King of the Belgians and the Duke of Edinburgh, but there had never been a state tour of the country with all its accompaniments of splendour and costliness, the danger from fanatics and the trying changes of climatic conditions.
ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE TOUR
It was not an easy matter to arrange, and the probabilities are, that if the Prince of Wales had not himself insisted that it was his duty to go, the project might ultimately have been abandoned. He had by this time come to fill so important a place in the public eye and in the external functions of Sovereignty that his absence for six months, or more was a serious consideration. The preliminary obstacles, however, were overcome, and on the 16th of March, 1875, the Marquess of Salisbury, Secretary of State for India, announced that the visit would take place, and a little later the _Times_ stated that Sir Bartle Frere would accompany His Royal Highness. The former was widely known in India through administrative duties admirably performed in Bombay and the North-West Provinces. The Duke of Sutherland, a much respected n.o.bleman, was selected as one of the suite, together with Lord Suffield, head of the Prince's Household; Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur Ellis, Equerry to the Prince, and who had served in India; Major-General (Sir) D. M. Probyn, V.C., who arranged the details regarding horses, transport and sporting; Mr. Knollys, who has since been so well known as Sir Francis Knollys, the Prince's Private Secretary; Lord Alfred Paget, an old man and most attached friend to the Prince; the Rev. Canon Duckworth, who went as Chaplain; and Dr. Fayrer, who attended in the capacity of guardian to the Prince's health, and afterwards became a well known physician and Sir Joseph Fayrer, Bart., F.R.S., etc.
The Earl of Aylesford, Lord Carington and Colonel Owen Williams were invited, as personal friends of the Prince of Wales, to join the party, while Lieutenant the Lord Charles Beresford, M.P., who had accompanied the Duke of Edinburgh on his preceding hasty visit, also lent his experience and unflagging gayety to the suite, and was aided by Lieutenant Augustus Fitz-George of the Rifle Brigade. Mr. Sydney Hall was the official artist of the tour; Mr. Albert Grey (afterwards Earl Grey) was Private Secretary to Sir Bartle Frere; and the present Sir William Howard Russell was a special correspondent with the nominal duties of Honorary Private Secretary to the Prince. When Parliament met various questions were asked as to whether the expenses of the tour were to be charged to the British or Indian Governments; whether the Prince would represent the Queen; whether he would supersede the Governor-General for the time being, etc. On July 8th Mr. Disraeli made a full statement for the first time in connection with the subject. He alluded to the previous travels of the Prince of Wales and expressed the opinion that they were the best form of education for a Royal personage.
But the rules and regulations and etiquette which sufficed for the Prince in Canada and other countries would not do in India. One important difference was the probably costly character of the ceremonial presents which would have to be exchanged between the visitor and his hosts amongst the native Princes. Money would have to be granted for this, and the sum of 30,000 had been casually estimated for the purpose. The estimate of the Admiralty for the expenses of the voyage and corresponding movements of the fleet was 52,000. He would ask for a vote of 60,000. The Prince would go as the Heir Apparent to the Crown and be the formal guest of the Viceroy from the time of setting foot upon Indian soil. The expenses of the tour were to be charged to the Indian Budget. This statement created some criticism, while the very small amount proposed for expenditure caused still more comment. As a matter of fact, the Prince did not exceed, in the end, the comparatively small amount voted.
THE JOURNEY COMMENCED
On Sunday, October 10th, a farewell sermon was preached at Westminster Abbey by Dean Stanley, who expressed the hope that the visit might leave behind it "on one side the remembrance of graceful acts, kind words, English n.o.bleness, Christian principles, and on the other awaken in all concerned the sense of graver duties, wider sympathies, loftier purposes." On the following day the Prince left London amid marked popular demonstrations of respect and regard, and with every evidence of a deep public interest shown by the press of the country. At Dover thousands of people cheered the Prince farewell. He took the boat for Calais, accompanied by the Princess, who, however, did not land, but returned home next morning. At Paris he was accidentally met by President MacMahon, who was leaving on the train for another place, and welcomed to France; officially he was received by Lord Lyons, the British Amba.s.sador. On the following day His Royal Highness lunched with Marshal MacMahon at the Elysee. This visit and the ensuing journey through Turin, Bologna and Ancona to Brindisi was carried out in a private and non-official capacity. Nevertheless, at every station there were officials, guards of honour and crowds of people to see the special go through and to do honour to the traveller. The bulk of the Royal suite followed the Prince a little later, and on October 16th the whole party met at Brindisi and the voyage proper commenced.
WELCOMED BY THE KING OF THE GREEKS
Later in the same day H. M. S. _Serapis_, under the command of Captain the Hon. H. Carr-Glyn, accompanied by the Royal yacht _Osborne_, left Brindisi, and two days later the Prince was being welcomed in Athens by the King of the h.e.l.lenes--Otto I--and by a picturesque Court clad in the attractive costumes of the nation. Visits to the Acropolis and to the country house of the King were followed by a State banquet at the Palace, which gathered together all that was eminent in modern Grecian life, glittering with laces, orders and decorations, and including some young men who have since become famous--Tricoupi, Delyannis, Commoundourus and Zaimes. Illuminations of the city ensued, and in the morning, after a Royal reception, the Prince left Athens through crowds of people, who seemed a little more demonstrative than had been the case at first. On October 20th the Piraeus was left behind after a farewell visit from the King and at dawn the next day Crete was in sight. The ship steered steadily ahead and three days later was welcomed at Port Said by Egyptian frigates on sea and Egyptian infantry on sh.o.r.e.
There was no cheering from the people but much curiosity. A formal welcome was offered for the Khedive by Princes Tewfik, Hussein and Ha.s.san, who were accompanied on their visit to the _Serapis_ by the well-known statesman Nubar Pasha, and other officers of the Court. The Prince then transferred himself to a smaller vessel--the _Osborne_--and with a Royal Standard floating over the ship for the first time since the Empress Eugenie had opened the Suez Ca.n.a.l, he traversed that famous waterway. At Ismaila, the Prince and his suite landed and took a special train to Cairo, where His Royal Highness was welcomed by the Khedive in person, with the towering form of the Grand Duke Alexis of Russia standing behind, and a brilliantly uniformed Court around him. To the Prince of Wales the Gezireh Palace was given as his temporary residence.
The succeeding day was occupied with ceremonials of various kinds, a banquet being given by the Khedive at the Abdeen Palace in the evening, when the Prince pa.s.sed to and fro in a lane of light made by myriad many-coloured lamps.
On October 25th, the Prince of Wales invested Prince Tewfik--afterwards Khedive of Egypt--with the Order of the Star of India amidst all possible state. In a letter he told His Highness that the honour was conferred to mark British appreciation of the Khedive's friendship to England, and his good work in promoting the safety of British communication with India. The next day saw the Royal departure from Cairo after a formal visit from the Khedive, the Princes his sons, and his Ministers, who were again at the station to see him off a little later. Suez was reached in the evening and, amid elaborate preparations from the Pasha of that place, crowds of people and illuminated men-of-war in the roadstead, the Prince and his party boarded the _Serapis_ and, accompanied by the _Osborne_, proceeded on the voyage to Aden. Perim, which has been described as "a gigantic blistered clinker,"
was reached and pa.s.sed on October 31st, and from the ship the Prince got his first view of Her Majesty's Indian troops. It is to be hoped that the cheering Bombay Infantry drawn up on that vitrified surface, got a fair view of the Prince in return. On the following day the volcanic-like Island of Aden was reached, and its fortifications gazed upon with interest. As the flag flew from the mast-head of the _Serapis_ to announce its arrival the ships and crags rang with the roar of cannon. The Prince landed, clad in uniform of a somewhat mixed character, with Field Marshal's insignia, and accompanied by his suite.
Upon, or around, the platform and triumphal arch erected at the landing-place, was every variety of picturesque oriental costume with a background of mountain and blistered rock and white, painted houses.
Chiefs from the mainland in gorgeous array, the King's Own Borderer's Regiment, all the ladies of the island in European or Asiatic costume, fierce-looking Arabs, meek-looking Hindoos, sleek Pa.r.s.ees, people from all the regions between the Persian Gulf, Zanzibar and Arabia, were there to welcome him.
THE PRINCE RECEIVES AN ADDRESS
A formal address was presented to His Royal Highness by the Resident--a Pa.r.s.ee--and then followed a drive through decorated streets with numerous arches and curious mottoes to the Residency. A Levee was held here and later in the day the ship was again boarded and steamed away from the Indian Gibraltar as it lay bathed in lines of light along all its town and batteries.
Bombay was reached on November 8th, after a voyage which was upon the whole pleasant--certainly as far as surroundings and comforts could make it. For a few hours official visitors streamed on board, and then in the afternoon Lord Northbrook, Viceroy of India, appeared on the scene and was received with the honours due to his station. There had been some idea abroad that difficulties might arise as to the respective positions of the Heir Apparent and the Viceroy in State ceremonial, but from the day of this first formal meeting there does not seem to have been the slightest trouble upon the point. Each knew perfectly what pertained to the position and rank of the other. Then came the Governor of Bombay, Sir Philip Wodehouse, and with him the Commander-in-Chief of the Presidency, Lieutenant-General Sir Charles Staveley, and the members of the Council. Meanwhile the harbour was filled with ships and boats of all kinds, flags were streaming everywhere, in the distance was a vast triumphal arch spanning the waterway between two piers, and, as the Royal and Vice-regal party stepped into the barge and started for the landing-place, the cannon roared, bands played, guards saluted and crews cheered.
As the Prince of Wales landed the scene was one of the most splendid conceivable. Long lines of seats draped in scarlet cloth stood out under the sides of the gigantic archway and upon them stood a mult.i.tude of native notabilities--Chiefs, Sirdars and gentlemen, Pa.r.s.ees, Hindoos, Mahrattas and Mohammedans--a crowd glittering in gems and bright in all the brilliant hues of Oriental garb. Amongst them also were the officers of the Government and Munic.i.p.ality, leading citizens and dignitaries, and all the ladies who could be found within a radius of a hundred miles. Flowers and shrubs and banners and flags were everywhere. An address expressive of loyalty and pride in the British Throne was presented from the Munic.i.p.ality and duly answered, and then the Prince, with Lord Northbrook at his side, walked along a carpeted avenue, speaking to various Princes and Chiefs as they were presented--the first being Sir Salar Jung, the Prime Minister and representative and famous statesman of Hyderabad. At the end of the avenue, where carriages were taken for the procession of seven miles through the teeming streets of the city, a band of Pa.r.s.ee girls in white were waiting to strew garlands and flowers in the Prince's carriage and on the roadway.
There was no music in this wonderful night procession and its surroundings are difficult to describe. Mr. W. H. Russell, the diarist of the Royal tour, speaks of the spectacle as being absolutely baffling to the eye. "There was something almost supernatural in these long vistas winding down banks of variegated light, crowded with gigantic creatures waving their arms aloft and indulging in extravagant gesture, which the eye--baffled by rivers of fire, blinded with the glare of lamps and blazing magnesium wire and pots of burning matter--sought in vain to penetrate." The piled-up ma.s.ses of human beings along these miles of streets; the Pa.r.s.ee women in brilliant costumes, which vied with the colours of the surrounding fires and lights; crowds of Mohammedans; Hindoo temples with roofs covered by Brahmins and their votaries; a Jew bazaar, an American store, a European warehouse, or a j.a.pan temple in close proximity to each other and all bearing a burden of people in varied dress; flashed a picturesque and never-ending variety of sight and colour and character to the gaze of the quiet, dignified man who drove through it all as the central figure of a spectacle whose like may never be seen again. A banquet followed in the great hall of Government House, and a state reception closed the varied proceedings of this first busy day in historic Hindostan.
Meanwhile, camp-fires blazed for miles around the city, the fiery furnace of the streets settled into as much of silence as an Oriental centre under such conditions could attain and all over India, in every mart and village and town where a gun could be found, volleys had announced the arrival of the heir to its Imperial throne. In the morning a Royal reception was held at Government House and, amid splendid surroundings and every form of dignity and severe etiquette necessary to impress the visiting Princes and Chiefs and Rajahs of the great Presidency of Bombay, His Royal Highness stood or sat for hours in the intense heat, clad in a stiff uniform, laden with lace and b.u.t.toned up to the throat. With him were the Duke of Sutherland, Major-General Lord Alfred Paget, Sir Bartle Frere, Lord Suffield, Lord Charles Beresford and the rest of his suite. The Oriental dignitaries, each in great state, came with attendants and ceremonies and gifts in accordance with his rank. Each Prince was treated along graded lines of cordiality, courtesy or civility, as was supposed to become his position. The little Rajah of Kolapore; the Maharajah of Mysore; the Maharana of Oodeypore; the Rao of Cutch--who left a sick bed and returned home to die; the little Gaekwar of Baroda, who was described as looking like a crystallized rainbow and was accompanied by the famous statesman, Sir Madhava Rao; Sir Salar Jung of Hyderabad; and the Maharajah of Edur; were received one after the other and then a succession of less important rulers with tremendous names, fierce-looking guards and more or less gorgeous costumes.
At the end of what was a Durbar in all but name the Prince was only beginning his functions for the day. The Viceroy had to be received and many matters discussed; a visit was paid to the _Serapis_ where the men were celebrating the Prince's birthday, as were many millions throughout India; telegrams were exchanged with the Princess at Sandringham; every step was marked by pomp and splendour; a state banquet was held in the evening and another, but less formal, reception afterwards. Meantime, the city, the shipping and the harbour were a blaze of light and general illumination--the great bay looking as if it were filled with rows of fiery pyramids and the streets as if all India were trying to pa.s.s through them. On November the 10th the Viceroy bade farewell to the Prince, who did not see him again until near the end of his tour. He went on a journey himself to parts of India which His Royal Highness was unable to visit. Another formal reception of lesser Rajahs and Nawabs took place in the morning. In the afternoon the Prince drove into Bombay, accompanied by Sir Philip Wodehouse and held a Levee in the Government Buildings. Then followed a visit to the harbour where, in an open s.p.a.ce, seven thousand children of all castes, cla.s.ses, colours and creeds, dressed in brilliant hues and laden with flowers, sang patriotic songs. They almost smothered the Royal guest in flowers as he ascended to his place. State visits were then made to a number of the native Princes who had been already received and, in the evening, a grand European ball, given by the Byculla Club, was attended. Other Chiefs were visited next day by the Prince--those who had not residences or were not of sufficient importance being a.s.signed reception rooms at the Secretariat, or Government Buildings.
THE PRINCE'S POPULARITY AT BOMBAY
After this wearisome and almost unbearably hot business was over the Prince attended a dinner given by the people of Bombay to the sailors of the fleet and the vigorous cheering of these two thousand seamen as His Royal Highness entered the hall must have been a relief after the heavy and sustained etiquette of the past few days. Following this was the laying of the foundation stone of the Elphinstone Docks with Masonic ritual and ceremonies. Then came a visit to the Hyderabad Prime Minister and deputation and to others and a busy day closed with the usual state dinner and reception. On the evening of November 12th the famous Caves of Elephanta were visited and a banquet received by the Prince of Wales amongst these wonderful and ma.s.sive efforts of distant ages to embody what seemed to them the divine attributes. Returning to the city the Royal barge pa.s.sed between two rows of ships, discharging volleys, while the hulls and riggings were brightly illuminated, coloured fires were everywhere and earth and sky seemed merged in a tremendous display of fireworks and rockets. A visit to Poonah followed and this included an inspection of the Temple of Parb.u.t.tee, from one of the windows of which the last of the Peishwas had seen his forces routed on the plains of Kirkee below; a review of native troops; a reception in the city characterized by the usual fireworks, triumphal arches, crowded streets and revel of colour.
On the 16th, His Royal Highness was back at Bombay considering plans which had been disarranged by the prevalence of cholera in Southern India. Finally, it was decided to visit Baroda, the capital of a State where the Gaekwar had recently been deposed for his crimes. It was felt that danger might exist, as even the most evil of Eastern rulers has fanatical followers, but the former Resident, Sir R. Meade, expressed the belief that it could be done safely and would be of great service and the authorities and Prince, after much discussion, approved the change of programme. This last day in Bombay saw the presentation of colours to a battalion of Native Infantry amidst an immense concourse of people, and a ball given by the citizens at which natives, Chiefs and gentlemen could see Europeans dancing and amusing themselves. The presents received during this part of the tour numbered over four hundred and included specimens of every variety of Indian workmanship--tissues, brocade, cloths, arms, jewellery, gold, silver and metal. The Rajah of Kolapore, in addition to the gift of an ancient jewelled sword and dagger, had a.s.signed 20,000, or $100,000, to the founding of a Hospital to be called after the Royal visitor.
The journey to Baroda was commenced on November 18th and finished early on the following morning. At the station the Prince of Wales was received by the Gaekwar, Sir Madhava Rao, the British agent and other officers, and outside were triumphal arches and a rolling sea of dark, silent faces, topped by turbans of every colour in the rainbow. Outside also was an enormous elephant, with a golden howdah on his back, and into this the Prince and the Gaekwar presently entered. Everything was cloth of gold and velvet. The procession started after a time with a long line of gorgeously-caparisoned elephants following, a way was cleared for them by an advance guard of the 3rd Hussars, while in the rear were some of the Gaekwar's artillery and cavalry and a great crowd of Sirdars and lesser chiefs. The three miles to the Residency was lined by cavalry, and the spectacle must have been a superb one to see for the first time. The whole of the route was bordered by a light trellis work of bamboos, hung with lamps and festooned with flowers, while at certain points were special arches and cl.u.s.ters of flags. On his arrival the Prince held a sort of Durbar, paid a return visit to the Gaekwar and went to the Agga, or arena for wild-beast combats, where he saw Eastern wrestlers, an elephant fight, a buffalo fight, a struggle of fighting rams, and a show of wild or curious animals. The night was brilliant with illuminations, and the Prince accepted an invitation to dine with the 9th Native Infantry--an honour of which they were very proud.
The next day was devoted to sport, and in the evening dinner was taken with another Native regiment. On the evening of the 21st the Prince visited the Gaekwar at the ancient Palace of the Mohtee Bagh, and on the way crossed a bridge spanned by triumphal arches, with men holding blazing torches placed along the parapets. Lamps and lights were everywhere. A great banquet was held, in the course of which Sir Madhava Rao expressed the thanks of the Gaekwar, and said that "it was now their felicity to see that Prince who was heir to a sceptre whose beneficent power and influence were felt in every quarter of the globe; which dispelled darkness, diffused light, paralyzed the tyrant's hand, shivered the manacles of the slave, extended the bounds of freedom, accelerated the happiness and elevated the dignity of the human race. He had come to inspect an Empire founded by the heroism and sustained by the statesmanship of England; to witness the spectacle of indigenous princ.i.p.alities relying more securely on British justice than could mighty nations on their embattled hosts."
THE PRINCE TAKES PART IN A HUNTING EXPEDITION
After dinner, various Eastern performances in dancing and juggling were given, and then they departed for the shooting grounds farther south, where "pig-sticking" and other sports were enjoyed. His Royal Highness succeeded in killing one wild boar. On November the 24th the Royal visitor arrived again at Bombay and went on board the _Serapis_. On the following day he landed to take leave of the Governor, and suddenly, to the dismay of the local authorities who had lined his announced route with troops, intimated his intention to attend the wedding festivities of the son of Sir Mungulda.s.s Nuthoobhoy, a great native merchant. The visit proved well worth the trouble, and the undisguised delight of the host and those present was a privilege to see. A farewell incident was the knighting of the energetic Chief of Police, Sir F. H. Soutar. At 6 P.M. the _Serapis_ was on its way to Goa.
The visit to this ancient Portuguese dependency was not prolonged and the incidents of importance were few. But much that was curious was seen and many historical memories revived. On November 28th the little foreign strip of territory was left behind and Beypore was sighted on the following day. It was found, however, that cholera existed along all the routes which the Prince proposed to take in this part of the country and the medical men would not take the responsibility of advising a continuance of the tour in this direction. The Prince bore his disappointment philosophically, though he had expected much pleasure from the splendid shooting places of the Mysore country. What can be said, however, of the disappointed people and authorities? The Mysore Government had spent thousands of pounds in preparation; Ootacamund, Bangalore, Travancore and other places had laid out much money and the population for hundreds of miles was stirred with expectancy. A visit was paid to the sh.o.r.e and a brief glance taken at the old-time land of Tippoo Sahib, and then the voyage was resumed to Ceylon.
On December 1st the lights of Colombo were sighted, and soon the familiar spectacle of British men-of-war dressed to welcome royalty was seen. The sight at the landing-place was a pretty one, and the long avenue of gaily-decorated and flower-garlanded boats through which the Royal barge first pa.s.sed was equally so. The Prince was received in a beautiful pavilion under a striking archway and everywhere in sight were arches and flags and palm-leaves, and ma.s.sed displays of fruits and flowers, and tier on tier of spectators. All the dignitaries of Ceylon were there and the usual addresses and replies were given. Thence the Prince pa.s.sed to the Government Buildings and took a drive round the town, meeting everywhere an enthusiastic and sincerely generous reception and a wealth of decoration in fruits and flowers and ferns.
His Royal Highness gave a state banquet on the _Serapis_ in the evening, while Colombo was illuminated and the ships were a blaze of light. Never were the Cinghelese more happy than on that day and night, and spectators found it hard to describe the revel of light, fantastic, Eastern pleasure. On the following day the railway train was taken for Kandy amid genuine British cheers from throngs of men clad in petticoats and wearing combs in front of their _chignons_.
At this splendidly situated town--the ancient stronghold of Chiefs and the seat of more than one rebellion against earlier British rule--the Prince was received by a great number of queerly-clad but distinguished personages and Buddhist priests. The Governor, Mr. W. H. Gregory, who accompanied the Royal traveller, was unusually popular and this, perhaps, helped in the success of the reception. Addresses were received and in the evening the Governor held a state dinner attended by all the notabilities of Ceylon and accompanied outside by the beating of native drums, the blowing of myriad horns, the clang of mighty gongs and sounds of distant cheering. Afterwards the Prince witnessed a grotesque and extraordinary procession of elephants, dancers and priests of the Temple. On the following day he visited the Royal Botanical Gardens and in the evening held an invest.i.ture of the Order of St. Michael and St.
George at which the Governor was knighted and some lesser honours given.
The Chiefs and their stately and dignified wives were then formally presented. From the audience hall he afterwards pa.s.sed to the Temple and was shown the famous "Sacred Tooth of Gotama Buddha"--an object of veneration to many millions of the human race and of visible fear to the priests who stood around the Prince or took it from its precious and numerous cases. On December the 4th the Prince went on a visit to the interior of this wonderfully beautiful country and enjoyed the excitement of an elephant hunt and of killing some of those colossal creatures of the jungle. Colombo was reached again, three days later, and another state banquet attended in the evening. On the following day the new Breakwater was inaugurated by the Prince and in the evening a farewell banquet received and the city left amid scenes of brilliant illumination and fantastic Eastern beauty.
The Prince of Wales and his suite landed in Tuticorin on the coast of India, again, on December 9th, and proceeded inland by train without any particular or formal reception. The Tamils were found to be a handsome, mild-natured, respectful people and the land cultivated and apparently prosperous. At Mainachy, a deputation of six thousand native Christians and one thousand boys and girls, headed by the Rev. Dr. Caldwell and the Rev. Dr. Sargent, presented an address and a handsomely-bound Bible and Prayer-book in the Tamil language, to His Royal Highness. A native "lyric" was then sung by the children including words of which the following is a translation: "Crossing seas and crossing mountains, thou hast visited this southern-most region and granted to those who live under the shadow of thy Royal umbrella a sight of thy benign countenance." Madura was reached a few hours later and found to be profusely decorated, one of the arches being made of native work in perforated paper, covered with talc plates and silver plaques in front of a screen of red. The name of the town signified "sweetness" and it turned out to be a place of great charm, imposing buildings and unusual cleanliness. The Rajah of Pudducottah was duly received and during his visit he showed the Prince a book consisting of original letters, dispatches etc., which had pa.s.sed between Clive and his own ancestor during the times of French and English struggle for supremacy in Southern India. The Prince visited some of the ancient buildings of the place, including the Temple of Minakshee, where Nautch girls scattered flowers before him and garlands were placed over his shoulders, and the Tank of the Golden Lotus and received a number of interesting presents from the Rajah and from the Ranee of Shivagunga. He left on December 11th for Trichinoply, where he arrived in a few hours.
Here, His Royal Highness, after his progress through flowers, arches, crowds, officials and decorations of unusual richness and taste, visited the famous Temple of Seringham which has been described as "a vast bewildering ma.s.s of gate, towers, enclosures, courts, terraces and halls." In one of the last-named there were one thousand columns of granite each consisting of one block and carved with elaborate images of deities. The next place seen was the ancient Palace of the Nawabs of the Carnatic and here presentation of the notabilities of the city took place and an address was received by the future European Emperor of India in the very home of the olden Eastern power. The scene from this place in the evening was very striking--immense mult.i.tudes below, a great tank full of boats and blazing with coloured fires and lights, Clive's historic home on the opposite side and, above and over all, the vast pyramidical pile, the Rock of Trichinoply, with its Temple of Ganesa crowning the famous precipice and towering above the city.
PRINCE WELCOMED IN MADRAS
On December the 12th, the Royal visitor was again travelling and on the following day reached Madras, where he was formally welcomed by Lieutenant-Governor the Duke of Buckingham, the Rajah of Cochin, the Maharajah of Travancore, the Prince of Arcot, the Rajah of Vizianagram and others. The procession then pa.s.sed from the station to Government House through the narrow streets of the native town and the wide thoroughfares of the European quarters. A golden umbrella was held over the Prince's head and thus the ma.s.sed populace--more fortunate than that of Bombay--was able to be certain of his ident.i.ty. At the Wallahjah Bridge some thousands of students and boys and girls were ranged on both sides, each school with its distinctive banners and badges. The audiences given afterwards at Government House to Native Chiefs, and the return visits, were conducted in the same manner and style as those at Bombay. In the afternoon a crowded Levee was held and in the evening a state banquet given to which the Governor invited all the chief personages in the City and Presidency. A brief reception followed and then His Royal Highness drove out to the Duke's country residence where he spent the following day in seclusion as being the anniversary of his father's death.
The events of the succeeding day included fashionable and interesting races at Guindy Park which all the Madras world attended under the patronage of the Prince; and in the afternoon a Royal reception of the Chancellor and officers and Fellows of the University; of the Grand Officers of the local Freemasonry; of Commissions or deputations from Mysore and Coorg and Coimbatore. Each of the latter bore gifts and all presented addresses. Formal calls were made upon the princ.i.p.al Chiefs and a memorial foundation stone of the new Harbour works laid. The latter was an impressive scene and on his way home the Prince, despite pouring rain, visited the historic Fort of St. George with its many reminders of past struggle and conquest. Another state banquet and reception followed.
On the following day the Prince enjoyed a spectacle of Indian jugglery and saw feats performed which in a western land would be deemed miraculous. December the 17th saw His Royal Highness lunching at the Madras Club where he tested Indian curries in their highest state of development and in the afternoon he was welcomed at the Park by thousands of children. A little later he reviewed a body of troops accompanied by the Commander-in-Chief, Sir Paul Haines. With the latter he dined in the evening and at ten o'clock drove to the Pier to see the great event of the visit. This was an illumination of the sea. Mr. W. H.
Russell in his _Diary_ says: "Man will never see any spectacle more strange--nay awful. Neither pen nor pencil can give any idea of it. It was exciting, grand, wierd and beautiful." Fireworks from the ships looked like volcanoes bursting from the deep, while multiplied fireboats had an effect upon the stony ink-blackness of the surf, like rolling flames pouring in upon the sh.o.r.es. At midnight the Prince pa.s.sed from this scene to a special Native entertainment in his honour. The great railway station had been converted into a decorated theatre crowded with many thousand natives. Upon the elevated platform the Prince received an address and an exquisite gold casket and then watched a programme of eastern dancing. At six in the morning the Prince was up and away to attend a meet of the Madras pack and enjoy a few hours'
sport--and in the afternoon the _Serapis_ was again his home and Madras was left behind.
After a pleasant voyage up the Bay of Bengal the Prince of Wales arrived at Fort William, pa.s.sed through a great fleet of vessels and prepared to enter Calcutta, the capital of the great Eastern Empire. Meantime, many eminent Indian officials and unofficial personages called to pay their respects and finally, the Earl of Northbrook, Viceroy and Governor-General. Amidst the thunder of artillery from fleet and forts His Royal Highness then landed and was welcomed by a great mult.i.tude of people, luxuriously seated in tiers of seats ranged beside two pavilions draped in scarlet, the canopies of which were upheld by gold pillars wreathed with flowers. Beyond was a ma.s.sive arch of triumph and the platform and landing stage was carpeted with red cloth. In the surrounding crowd was the whole central machinery of government amongst three hundred millions of people and Rajahs, Chiefs and authorities innumerable. The procession through the "City of Palaces" was marked by the same splendour, the same crowds, the same curious contrasts as had impressed the observer at Bombay. But the absence of the night effect and its wierd illumination and the presence of certain indefinable elements made it more dignified; while the greater number of English people gave a certain leaven of western enthusiasm which had been wanting elsewhere. In the evening a magnificent banquet was given by the Viceroy and the city was a blaze of light and the scene of general festivity.
The day before Christmas saw a state reception more remarkable than any yet held. The first native prince to be received was the Maharajah of Puttiala--a melancholy-faced man who died soon afterwards. Then followed the Maharajah Holkar of Indore who was said to have 5,000,000 in gold stored away; the Maharajah of Jodhpore, who wore an indescribable glittering ma.s.s of gems; the Maharajahs of Jeypore, Cashmere, Gwalior; the Sultana Jehan, Begum of Bhopal, of whom little more than a shawl and a silk hood could be seen; and the Maharajah of Rewah, a dignified personage who was said by some writers to be suffering from leprosy. A Levee was then held and the Prince, for two hours, with the Duke of Sutherland on one side of him and Lieutenant-Governor Sir Richard Temple on the other, stood in full uniform bowing to a steady stream of people.
Another state banquet in the evening, and then attendance at an entertainment some miles out of town gotten up by Native gentlemen, brought this Christmas Eve to a close. On the following day the Prince attended service at the Cathedral accompanied by Lord Northbrook and listened to a powerful sermon from Bishop Milman--who died of a fever caught on his Episcopal tour a few weeks later. He then drove to the harbour and went on board the _Serapis_, which was decked out in imitation of winter, and here had a sort of Christmas dinner. The rest of the day was spent at Barrackpoor, the Viceroy's country residence, but better known as the place where the terrible first signs of the Mutiny were detected. After church on the 26th (Sunday) the Prince made an excursion to the little French territory of Chandernagore--one of the remnants of historic empire.
On the following day His Royal Highness held another reception for Chiefs attended by envoys from the King of Burmah, the Maharajah of Punnah in person, an emba.s.sy from Nepaul, the n.o.ble-looking Rajah of Jheend, the Maharajahs of Benares, Nahun, and Joh.o.r.e. This was the last of the Chiefs, for the moment, and the Prince and his wearied suite could rest from a succession of sights and ceremonies in which dark-featured magnates with diamonds, emeralds, rubies and pearls and an infinite variety of Sirdar escorts, must have come to be a mere picturesque and confused medley. Many splendid presents were received and on the two following days return visits were paid in state. On December 21st the Prince witnessed a tent-pegging exhibition by the 10th Bengal Cavalry, made a round of the hospitals and asylums, and wound up with a garden party at Belvidere and a dinner and grand ball at Government House.