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 multitude of native notabilities—Chiefs, Sirdars and gentlemen, Parsees, 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 Municipality, 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 Municipality 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 Parsee 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 masses of human beings along these miles of streets; the Parsee 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 Japan 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 buttoned 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 pass 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 Levée in the Government Buildings. Then followed a visit to the harbour where, in an open space, seven thousand children of all castes, classes, 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 assigned 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 massive efforts of distant ages to embody what seemed to them the divine attributes. Returning to the city the Royal barge passed 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 Parbuttee, 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 assigned £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 clusters 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 principalities relying more securely on British justice than could mighty nations on their embattled hosts."