The Hobart welcome was given on July 3rd and a most tasteful, loyal and enthusiastic one it was. There were a dozen triumphal arches and the civic address was presented in a beautiful pavilion specially erected. The usual state dinner and Reception followed. In the morning a Levée was held and thirty addresses received from the Churches and Friendly Societies, the Freemasons and the Orangemen, the Half-castes and the Chinese. During his reply the Duke referred to the Island's entry into the Commonwealth and said: "I trust that the hopes and aspirations which prompted her people to enter this great national union may be fully realized in the future prosperity of the Commonwealth and in the greatness, power and solidarity of the Empire." In the afternoon the foundation-stone of a statue to Tasmanian soldiers who had fallen in the war was laid by the Duke and an eloquent speech delivered in which reference was made to the event as being a testimony to "that living spirit of race, of pride in a common heritage and of a fixed resolve to join in maintaining that heritage; which sentiment, irresistible in its power, has inspired and united the peoples of this vast Empire." A log-chopping contest was then witnessed followed by an impromptu visit to inspect an arch in a poor and squalid part of the city. Another Reception was held in the evening accompanied by illuminations on sea and land. The succeeding day saw a review of two thousand troops, the presentation of war medals, a children's demonstration, a trades' procession, a Reception by the Mayor in the City Hall with the singing of a special Ode, and illuminations and a fire brigade procession in the evening. Sunday was spent quietly and then the Royal yacht sailed for Adelaide, the capital of South Australia.
IN SOUTH AND WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Here the Duke and Duchess were formally received on July 8th by the Lieutenant-Governor, Lord Tennyson, and his Ministers, and enthusiastically welcomed in crowded and tastefully decorated streets, bathed in a bright and genial sunshine. There were four arches—though £2000 of the grant had been expended on the poor instead of on temporary decorations. At the Town-Hall an address was received and at the the same time twelve hundred homing pigeons were liberated to carry news of the Royal arrival to all parts of the State. A state banquet followed in the evening and after the Levée on the next day a number of addresses were received. Meanwhile the Duchess visited the two local hospitals. Her Royal Highness also attended a football match in the afternoon and received a brilliant assemblage of people in the evening—the Duke being compelled to have a tooth extracted. On the succeeding day the Art Gallery was visited and a bust of the late Lord Tennyson unveiled and an honorary degree accepted from the Adelaide University by His Royal Highness, who also laid the corner-stone of a new building in connection with this institution. Later, a demonstration of six thousand children was attended and a Reception held in the evening. The next day was devoted to shooting and to seeing an exhibition of sheep-shearing, bullock-riding and buck-jumping, with a military Tattoo in the evening and the usual spectacle of brilliant illuminations. The last day, but one, in South Australia included in its programme the laying of a foundation-stone for a Maternity Home in memory of Queen Victoria, and the review of four thousand troops with a state concert at night. On Sunday, a recently-completed Nave in St. Peter's Cathedral was dedicated by the Bishops of Adelaide and Newcastle and a tablet to South African heroes unveiled by the Duke.
The voyage was then resumed for Freemantle and Perth, in Western Australia, but stress of weather on July 2nd caused the Ophir to put in at Albany, instead, and there the surprised and delighted people gave the Duke and Duchess a rousing welcome as they took the train for Perth. The State capital was reached two days later and, amid perfect weather, through great crowds and a dozen splendid arches, the Royal progress was made to the Town Hall where the inevitable address was received. In the evening there was the usual state dinner given by the Governor, Sir Arthur Lawley, and ensuing Reception. On the following day the programme included a Levée, the reception of addresses, the laying of the foundation-stone of the State's monument to its sons lying on the South African veldt, the presentation of war medals and a civic Reception and state concert. The last two days of the visit were devoted to attendance at a state service in St. John's Cathedral where the Duke unveiled a brass tablet in memory of South African heroes, laying the foundation-stone of a new building connected with the Museum, a visit to the Mint, an enthusiastic welcome given by a children's demonstration and a visit to the Zoological Gardens. Before sailing for South Africa on July 26th, the new Heir Apparent addressed a formal farewell to the people of Australia in the form of a letter to the Earl of Hopetoun. Reference was made at some length to the twenty-five thousand troops reviewed during the visit, to the educational systems of the States, to the loyalty exhibited to the King and the generous personal reception given by the people, to the hospitality of Governments and the good management and kindness of officials. Finally he said:
"We leave with many regrets, mitigated, however, by the hope that while we have gained new friendships and good will, something may also have been achieved towards strengthening and welding together the Empire, through the sympathy and interest which have been displayed in our journey both at home and in the Colonies. The Commonwealth and its people will ever have a warm place in our hearts. We shall always take the keenest interest in its welfare, and our earnest prayer will be for its continued advancement not only in material progress, but in all that tends to make life noble and happy."
The response of the press to this Message was pronounced and may be represented by the statement of the Melbourne Argus on June 29th, that from first to last "the Australasian visit was a success, in every way worthy of its statesmanlike conception and purpose." The Royal couple came from King and Empire, and their mission was personally performed with unique success. "Everywhere they were received with demonstrations of delighted loyalty. They were living symbols of British unity. From all they will take back a reciprocal message to King and Empire. There is not a single blemish upon the record of the visit. Not one imprudent word was spoken, not one slight left a stinging recollection."
Mauritius was reached on August 4th, and the brightly-decorated streets of the capital were crowded with Creoles, Mohammedans, Hindoos, and Chinese, while the French language was everywhere, and the English tongue seldom heard. Tropical flowers and foliage were brilliant and plentiful in the plans of decoration, and the streets were lined with a combination of Bengal Infantry, Royal Artillery and Engineers. At Government House the first investiture of knighthood in the Island's history was held and various addresses received. The foundation-stone of a statue of Queen Victoria was then laid, a procession of Hindoo and Chinese children witnessed and a drive taken through the town. The next four days were spent in strict privacy at the residence of Sir Charles Bruce, the Governor, with the exception of a state dinner and Reception on the first evening.
ROYAL RECEPTION IN SOUTH AFRICA
War-tossed South Africa was sighted on August 13th and the landing took place at Durban, where the welcome was enthusiastic. There were many arches and excellent decorations, eleven thousand singing children, crowded streets and shouting spectators who included Zulus, Kaffirs of all kinds, Indian coolies and the whole white population. In a Royal pavilion, specially constructed, addresses were presented and answered, and the train was taken to Pietermaritzburg after luncheon with the Mayor and a distinguished gathering. A deputation of ladies had, meanwhile, presented the Duchess with a table-gong made of pompom shells mounted on a rhinoceros horn. The railway to the capital of Natal was patrolled by mounted troops, and the drive through the illuminated city and densely-packed streets to Government House was done at night. On the following day the place was found to be handsomely decorated with many arches and the first function was the Royal inauguration of a new Town Hall. The cheering of the people was intense and continuous in the streets. Afterwards addresses were presented—that of the Corporation in a singularly beautiful casket of ivory and gold. In his eloquent speech the Duke referred to the events and sacrifices of the war. They had not been in vain. "Never in our history did the pulse of Empire beat more in unison; and the blood which has been shed on the veldt has sealed for ever our unity, based upon a common loyalty and a determination to share, each of us according to our strength, the common burden." An address was also presented from Johannesburg and specially replied to.
In the afternoon there was an extraordinary assemblage, composed of the dignitaries of political and social life and the pick of the great British army in South Africa—a quarter of a million fighting men. It was a gathering of eleven holders of the V.C., and forty-three holders of the honour next in degree for bravery in the field—the D.S.O. These famous medals were conferred by the Duke of Cornwall and York, and then a great deputation of Zulu Chiefs, clad in barbaric war paraphernalia, presented loyal congratulations. A reception was held in the evening and the city illuminated. The next day the voyage was resumed, and Simon's Bay reached on August 19th. After landing, through a guard of one thousand bluejackets, and receiving an address from the Mayor, the special train was taken to Cape Town. There the formal reception was given by the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, the President of the Legislative Council, the Archbishop, the Chief Justice, the Mayor, the President of the Africander Bond and other officials or public men. The reception in the streets was enthusiastic, and it has been said that more Union Jacks were displayed than at any other point on the tour. A Levée was held in the afternoon at the Parliament Buildings and two thousand citizens were presented, while addresses were received from many public bodies in Cape Colony, Orange River Colony, and Rhodesia.