The Life of King Edward VII
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 shore 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 passed 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 massed 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 passed 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 investiture 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 passed 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 passed 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 mass 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 multitudes 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 passed 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 massed populace--more fortunate than that
of Bombay--was able to be certain of his identity. 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 principal 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 shores. At midnight the Prince passed
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, passed 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 multitude 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 massive 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