CHAPTER IX

THEIR MAJESTIES’ TOUR IN EGYPT AND THE MEDITERRANEAN

Of this tour Queen Alexandra’s Bedchamber Woman, the Hon. Mrs. Grey, wrote a charming record, which her brother-in-law, General Grey, persuaded her to give to the world. It should be mentioned that Mrs. Grey was a Swedish lady, the daughter of Count Stedingk. Her first husband, the Hon. William George Grey, eighth son of the famous Earl Grey who was Prime Minister in the reign of William IV., had been dead some years before this tour began. She afterwards married _en secondes noces_ the Duke of Otranto, but it will be more convenient to speak of her here as Mrs. Grey.

Mrs. Grey begins by giving an outline of her plans for the summer of 1868, and then goes on:--

“These plans were, however, all upset by a letter from the Princess, in which she told me that she wished me to accompany her on the tour she projected with the Prince of Wales to the East, and to join her at Copenhagen in the beginning of January; and that in the meantime I might remain quietly--which she knew would be a pleasure to me--with my father and mother in Sweden. This was too tempting an offer not to be eagerly embraced.”

Mrs. Grey went to Copenhagen, and there writes in her journal at the beginning of 1869 the following sketch of the tour:--

“_January 12._--Soon after breakfast I went to see my dear Princess, and to hear something of the proposed plans. I found her, as usual, most kind and affectionate, but very sorry that the few weeks she had been able to spend with her father and mother had come to an end. Her visit seemed to have been a great happiness to her. It is now arranged that we shall set out for our long journey on the 15th, and that while I accompany Her Royal Highness as her lady-in-waiting, Lady Carmarthen and Colonel Keppel, who accompanied the Prince and Princess from England in November, shall part from us at Hamburg, and, with Sir W. Knollys, take the Royal children home. The plan is for us to pass by Berlin and Vienna, and embark on board the _Ariadne_ frigate, fitted as a yacht, at Trieste; sail from thence to Alexandria; and, after going up the Nile as far as the Second Cataract, to visit Constantinople, the Crimea, and Greece, before returning home somewhere about the beginning of May. Such is the plan made out for us, but it is, of course, open to many changes, as the political state of things between Greece and Turkey at the present moment may, after all, very possibly upset the latter part of the journey; and in that case we shall return home through Italy.”

King Edward and Queen Alexandra were joined at Trieste by Prince Louis of Battenberg, the Duke of Sutherland, Dr. (afterwards Sir) W. H. Russell, and other friends, together with their suite. There the Royal party embarked on board H.M.S. _Ariadne_, which had been specially fitted up for their reception. Of the accommodation in this vessel Mrs. Grey gives an attractive account:--

“The _Ariadne_, in reality a man-of-war, but for this occasion fitted up as a yacht, is most comfortable. The Prince and Princess have two large sleeping cabins, besides a large cabin for a sitting-room, and another for a dining-room. I have a charming cabin also, with a bath-room outside, and my maid next door to me. In short, I think we were all much pleased with the accommodation and arrangement of what is to be our _home_, while at sea, for the next four months.”

The travellers reached Alexandria on 3rd February 1869, and were met by the usual loyal greetings, addresses, and bouquets presented by the British residents. The party then went on to Cairo, where they were received by the Viceroy of Egypt and his ministers. Here the King and Queen were assigned a palace, which Mrs. Grey thus describes:--

“The Palace of Esbekieh is beautiful, full of French luxury, but without the real comfort of an English house. The Prince and Princess have an immense bedroom, full of rich French furniture. The beds are very beautiful, made of massive silver, and cost, I believe, £3000 each! My room is so large that even when the candles are lit, there might be somebody sitting at the other end of it without your knowing it. You could not even hear people speaking from one end to the other! It is as high as it is long, with nine large windows. There is a beautiful silver bed, a large divan (rather high and hard for comfort) round half of the room, a common writing-table and washhand-stand (put in all the rooms at the request of Sir S. Baker), a large sofa, and quantities of very smart chairs round the walls. The curtains and covers of the furniture are all made of the richest silk. Add to all this, one immense looking-glass, and you have the whole furniture of my room, which is more like a State drawing-room at Windsor than a bedroom. All the other rooms are furnished in the same way.”

Queen Alexandra and Mrs. Grey had an absolutely novel experience on 5th February, namely an invitation to dinner at the Harem of “La Grande Princesse,” the Viceroy’s mother.

The Queen, her lady-in-waiting, and two English ladies were received at the door of the Palace by la Grande Princesse, the second and third wife of the Viceroy (the first and fourth were not well), his eldest son, and two eldest daughters. La Grande Princesse took Queen Alexandra by the hand, while one of the wives handed Mrs. Grey, another Mrs. Stanton (wife of the British Consul), and one of the daughters Miss M’Lean; and so the party went in procession to an immense drawing-room, the whole way thither being lined with slaves. No stay, however, was made in the drawing-room, and what followed reads like a page out of the _Arabian Nights_.

The visitors were conducted straight to the dining-room, after having a cherry given them to eat, handed to them on a beautiful gold tray, with goblets and plates of gold and precious stones. A slave then offered each visitor a silver basin to wash their hands in before sitting down to dinner. In the middle of the room there was a kind of round silver table, about one foot high from the floor, looking more like a big tray than anything else; large square cushions were placed all round it, and the company sat down _à la Turque_ round the table, la Grande Princesse having Queen Alexandra on her right, next whom was Mehemet Taafik Pasha, then the third Princess and Mrs. Grey, with the second Princess next, on the left side of the Viceroy’s mother. Mrs. Stanton and Miss M’Lean, with the two daughters of the Viceroy, dined in another room.

A slave then entered very smartly dressed, half her skirt being of black satin and embroidered in gold, and the other half of yellow satin, also trimmed with gold, and with a sort of turban on her head. She had a beautifully embroidered napkin, with gold fringe, hanging on her arm, as a sort of badge of her office, which corresponded with that of a European _maître-d’hôtel_. She placed each dish in the middle of the table, beginning with soup--a sort of chicken broth with rice. Each visitor was given a sort of tortoiseshell spoon, with a large coral branch as a handle, but neither knife nor fork; and then, at a sign from the old Princess, everybody dipped their spoons into the tureen together. Next came an enormous piece of mutton, of which the company had to tear off bits with their fingers and put them straight into their mouths. About twenty dishes followed in rapid succession, alternately savoury and sweet, and the dinner ended with _compôte_ of cherries. No wine or water was served during the meal, and Mrs. Grey confesses that she felt thoroughly disgusted.

Some very necessary washing of hands followed, and then there was an entertainment in the great drawing-room, given by musicians and dancing-girls, in the course of which a slave brought in a tray covered with black velvet cloth embroidered with pearls and uncut emeralds, and decorated with an enormous diamond star in the centre. This was lifted off, and then were revealed a number of cups encrusted with diamonds, and full of coffee. These were handed round, and a slave brought pipes and cigarette-holders, all lavishly ornamented with precious stones, each mouthpiece being formed of one large ruby or emerald.

After an interval the visitors were taken all through the upper rooms, a young prince who acted as interpreter being most anxious that Queen Alexandra should see everything. “La Princesse doit tout voir,” he kept saying. More music and dancing followed, and more coffee, until at four o’clock it seemed to be time to go, so Queen Alexandra rose, and the party were handed out to the door of the garden at which they had entered amid enthusiastic demonstrations of affection on the part of their hospitable entertainers.

There can be no doubt of the impression which the Queen’s graciousness and charm created. Mrs. Grey says:--

“They were all perfectly enchanted with the Princess, and about every ten or fifteen minutes _une phrase de cérémonie_ was exchanged through the Prince [that is, the young Egyptian prince who acted as interpreter]. ‘La Grande Princesse est si contente de vous voir,’ or ‘La Grande Princesse regrette tant que cela soit contre l’usage du pays, de vous rendre cette visite’; and so on.… At last they all expressed a hope that the Princess would come and dine again on her return to Cairo.”

The same evening Queen Alexandra had the pleasure of visiting some beautiful Arab horses in the stables of Ali Sherif Pasha.

Before starting on their journey up the Nile the King and Queen took the opportunity of witnessing the curious and interesting Procession of the Holy Carpet starting from Cairo on its way to Mecca, which, strangely enough, few of the Europeans who at that time visited Cairo cared to see. Every year two carpets are sent, one of which goes to Medina to serve as a covering for the tomb of the Prophet, and the other to Mecca to be a covering for Kaabah or the central point of the Mahomedan religion. The King and Queen also witnessed the departure of the pilgrims for Mecca, or rather of that portion of the pilgrimage consisting of sheikhs and holy men, escorted by irregular cavalry and artillery, which left the city to join the other pilgrims encamped on the plain outside.

On 6th February the voyage up the Nile began. The party was a large one, and the number of vessels provided for them formed quite a little fleet, of which the following was the order of sailing:--

A large and very smartly fitted-up steamer, the _Federabanee_, Captain Achmet Bey, headed the squadron, and was occupied by Prince Louis of Battenberg (then a midshipman on board the _Ariadne_), Major Teesdale, Captain Ellis, equerries in waiting, Lord Carrington, Mr. O. Montagu, Dr. Minter, Sir Samuel Baker, and Mr. Brierley. On deck there was a large saloon, all fitted up with silk and looking-glasses and every description of luxury, and there meals were served. Outside this there was a small open saloon with a large looking-glass at the back, in which the scenery could be viewed in comfort.

The _Federabanee_ towed a most beautiful dahabeah, or Nile boat, which was named the _Alexandra_, and in which the King and Queen and Mrs. Grey lived. It was all fitted up in blue and gold, with a great deal of taste, and the cabins were all large and most comfortable. Mrs. Grey mentions that the King and Queen had “a very nice sleeping cabin, with a bath-room and dressing-room apiece.” The _Alexandra_ also contained a large sitting-room with a piano, and outside there was a place for sitting and reading, as well as the upper deck. The only inconvenience of this arrangement was that the travellers in the dahabeah had to go on board the _Federabanee_ for every meal. This necessity was especially hard on Queen Alexandra, who resolved, however, to return to the dahabeah after breakfast as often as she could in order to have time for painting and reading; this, with the active co-operation of Mrs. Grey, she contrived to do on a good many days.

After the dahabeah came a kitchen steamer, carrying four French cooks and one Arab cook, and towing a barge full of provisions and live stock, such as turkeys, sheep, and chickens. Following this came another steamer, having on board Colonel Stanton, British Consul-General at Cairo, with two Egyptian gentlemen, Mourad Pasha and Abd El Kader Bey, and towing a barge containing horses, donkeys, and a French washerwoman. Nor was this all. In his anxiety to do everything possible for the comfort of the Royal party, the Viceroy had actually provided another steamer of lighter draft than the _Federabanee_, simply in case the latter vessel should get stuck in the mud.

The whole flotilla was completed by a steamer belonging to the Duke of Sutherland, the father of the present Duke, who brought with him a distinguished party, composed of his son, Lord Stafford, Colonel Marshall, Dr. Russell, Mr. Sumner, Professor Owen, Mr. Fowler, the distinguished engineer, Major Alison, the Duke’s brother Lord A. Gower, and Sir Henry Pelly.

The King looked forward to having plenty of sport during the voyage. Accordingly he had taken a large variety of guns of almost every calibre in use, as well as a wherry to be used for approaching land game. For the purpose of capturing crocodiles, nets were brought which had been specially made under the superintendence of Sir Samuel Baker. The King also specially arranged for the inclusion in his party of a clever naturalist and taxidermist.

Both the King and Queen greatly enjoyed this novel form of yachting, although, unfortunately, bad weather soon set in, and the _Alexandra_ was frequently enveloped in clouds of dust and sand. Notwithstanding this, however, the King had fairly good sport and bagged some very large birds, though the crocodiles were, on the whole, conspicuous by their absence. Soon the Royal taxidermist could show some very fine specimens of spoonbills, flamingoes, herons, cranes, cormorants, and doves.

Mrs. Grey thus records an amusing adventure which happened on 9th February:--

“The fog was so thick this morning that we could not start till nine o’clock, the hour at which we are in future usually to begin our day’s voyage being between five and six in the morning; and then to go on, with occasional stoppages, till six in the evening. We now only went on for about an hour, as the Prince wanted to try and shoot some ducks from a small punt with a large gun, which had been lent to him for the trip. At eleven, the Princess and myself, with Prince Battenberg, Sir S. Baker, Mr. Brierley, and Dr. Minter, followed in another boat to look at the shooting. We saw perfect swarms of wild ducks, and hundreds of flamingoes and a few pelicans. However, the ducks took fright, and only a few flamingoes were shot. We determined to land, as soon as we saw that we could no longer spoil the sport; but the water being low, we stuck fast in the sand about thirty or forty yards from the shore. The four boatmen at once took off their jackets, shoes, and trousers; but luckily some undergarments (waistcoats and trousers in one) remained; and in they jumped, and dragged the boat a few yards, beyond which their utmost efforts were unable to move it. The alternative was now either to remain in the boat or to allow ourselves to be carried through the water. Of course we chose the latter. Sir S. Baker and Mr. Brierley carried the Princess, crossing their arms, on which she sat.”

Ultimately the whole party got off and reached Minieh. There the King joined a shooting party on the following day, while the Queen, Prince Louis of Battenberg, and some of the others visited the Viceroy’s palace, and afterwards saw the process of making sugar out of the sugar-canes. Queen Alexandra and Mrs. Grey were allowed to visit the wife of one of the directors of the sugar factory, whom Mrs. Grey describes as a very ugly woman, painted and bedizened. The room was full of her women friends, all as ugly and as lavishly dressed as she was. Queen Alexandra, however, was much pleased with the novelty of such a visit, for, though the hostess and her friends were very cheerful and talked and laughed, yet naturally everything that was said was quite unintelligible to their English visitors. The Queen afterwards sent some presents to the ladies in memory of the visit.

On the 11th the Queen and Mrs. Grey succeeded in staying for the whole day in the dahabeah, where they played and wrote and painted. The same thing happened on the afternoon of the 13th, the morning being occupied by an interesting lecture from Mr. Fowler on the Suez Canal.

During the voyage Queen Alexandra had one very serious adventure. One night the King, who was on board the steamer, observed a light reflected on the side of the _Alexandra_. He at once gave an alarm, the Queen and Mrs. Grey, who were in the dahabeah, were hurried off to the shore, and the fire, which had been caused by a lighted candle in Prince Louis of Battenberg’s cabin, was put out by the King and his suite. Had not the quick eye of the King discovered the danger a terrible disaster might have happened, for the boats were wooden and scorched by an Egyptian sun, while there were, of course, a considerable number of cartridges on board.

The 14th was Sunday, the first Sunday in Lent, and Mrs. Grey records that King Edward read the service to the party and the servants very impressively. The party frequently landed to visit the temples and the other splendid ruins of ancient Egyptian civilisation. On one occasion the King caught a bat in the large tomb of Rameses IV.

The party started to see the Temple of Karnak by moonlight on the evening of the 18th. The King rode a milk-white ass caparisoned in crimson velvet and gold, while the Queen was mounted on a gray mule. When they approached the temple an electric light was lit between each enormous column, and in the background there was a display of rockets and fireworks, forming stars of different colours. This had been arranged by the King as a surprise for the Queen, though Mrs. Grey confesses that the secret had been accidentally revealed. However, she describes the whole scene as one of surprising beauty. She walked alone with the Queen amid the gigantic columns, until they were recalled to the prosaic luxury of the nineteenth century by being offered glasses of iced champagne.

The 20th was rendered memorable by a mishap; all the steamers stuck fast in the ground, with the result that everybody had to turn out, and all the luggage had to be removed in order to lighten the boats. The King and Queen and Mrs. Grey were entertained on board the Duke of Sutherland’s steamer at dinner, and by the next day the difficulty of the sand-banks had been surmounted, thanks to the smaller steamer which the Viceroy’s foresight had provided.

On the 21st the King again read Divine Service, and the party arrived at Assouan. Here they found a large number of camels ready to carry the baggage across from the First Cataract to Philæ, whither the party rode to see the boats in which they were to go on to the Second Cataract. On the 22nd the King started first in order to pay a visit to Lady Duff Gordon, who was living in her dahabeah a little above Assouan; while the Queen, the Duke of Sutherland, and Mrs. Grey followed in a boat to the foot of the First Cataract, where they were to meet the King. There seems to have been some hitch in the arrangements, but Queen Alexandra was not at all disconcerted, and was highly amused at having to ride a wretched donkey without a bridle, and with a cushion for a saddle, though Mrs. Grey, who was no better mounted, regarded the incident with less philosophy. After a time, however, they met their own donkeys, and ultimately joined the King’s party, who had been getting very anxious.

The Duke of Sutherland and his party left on the 23rd, while the Royal party continued their voyage in two new dahabeahs tied together, and towed by a small steamer. The accommodation was not nearly so good as it had been below Philæ. The Queen and Mrs. Grey landed frequently, and the latter notes that her Royal mistress found great pleasure in distributing the _baksheesh_ for which the natives were continually asking, especially the little children. On one occasion the Queen and her lady-in-waiting found a donkey running about; they caught it, and the Queen mounted it and rode through the fields in the cleverest way without saddle or bridle.

Meanwhile the King was very anxious for crocodile, but he had very poor luck, though he had better sport with fishing. It was not, indeed, until the 28th that he had a fair shot at a crocodile, which he killed at fifty yards with his first barrel. The excitement was tremendous among the party, for, as is well known, the shyness of these beasts is so great that they are among the most difficult game to stalk in the world. This specimen was 9 feet long and 4 feet round the body; and it was at once skinned with a view to being stuffed. Inside the creature was found a quantity of pebbles, two bottles full of which were brought away as mementoes.

The King and Queen throughout the voyage took the greatest interest in the antiquities along the route, visiting all that were accessible. Mrs. Grey mentions how much Queen Alexandra enjoyed the extreme peacefulness of the life led by the party, for there was no post nor any papers, and, after the first inconvenience had worn off, the feeling that no means existed of either sending or receiving letters soon became perfectly delightful.

A touching incident occurred at Wady Halfa on 3rd March. The party were at dinner, when the King and Queen took a fancy to a little boy whom they saw watching the torches, which were always fixed in the ground on shore wherever the Royal dahabeah stopped for the night. On being questioned, the child said that his father was dead, his mother had married again, and he had not a friend in the world. He was delighted with the idea of going with the party, and so he was engaged as a pipe cleaner. The only property he had was a white linen shirt and a white cap. Mrs. Grey describes him as an intelligent ugly little boy, not very black, but rather bronzed, and wearing a large silver ring in one ear.

Whenever the dahabeah stopped, numbers of natives came down to the bank, mostly children; and at first the Queen used to throw them bread and oranges, but it was discovered that they regarded empty bottles as much more valuable, and for these there was the greatest competition, although in the end they generally agreed to divide the spoil equally in the most good-humoured manner. At one place a little Nubian monkey was presented to Queen Alexandra, and the fortunate donor was presented in return with a double-barrelled English fowling-piece and some money.

There were the usual groundings on sand-banks, but nothing else of interest occurred, and the party returned to their old dahabeah on 8th March, having thoroughly enjoyed their expedition to the Second Cataract. After lunch the King and Queen, with Mrs. Grey and Sir Samuel Baker, paid a visit to Lady Duff Gordon in the dahabeah, which she had made entirely her home on account of her health.

The return voyage down the Nile began on the following day, and immediately the big steamer stuck fast on the old sand-bank which gave so much trouble on the way up, although the Viceroy had had six hundred people working away in the interval to deepen the channel. No amount of exertion could get the steamer off, and consequently the little steamer was used, and Prince Louis of Battenberg, Sir Samuel Baker, and Lord Carrington had to sleep on deck.

On 10th March, the anniversary of the King and Queen’s wedding day, some members of the Duke of Sutherland’s party, which had broken up, met the Royal party at Thebes, namely, Colonel Stanton, Sir Henry Pelly, Major Alison, and Abd El Kader Bey. Colonel Stanton entertained the party, and Mourad Pasha proposed the health of the Royal pair. After dinner the party went to the house of Mustapha Aga, the English Consul, where they saw some famous Egyptian dancing-girls, including the Taglioni of the country, and some remarkable mummy cases, which had been excavated on purpose for the King. The following day they visited the spot where the digging was going on. Mrs. Grey describes it as like a coal pit, at the bottom of which was a magnificent stone sarcophagus, said to be that of the beautiful Queen Nicotris, which the King intended to take to England, together with a selection of mummies.

This was the last day’s picnic on the Nile, and the party were due at Minieh in two days, going thence by rail to Cairo. On the 15th, however, the Queen, Mrs. Grey, and some of the gentlemen of the party paid a visit to the little town of Minieh, where an old woman was engaged to tell fortunes. This she did with the aid of a heap of shells and bits of coloured glass; and she told the Queen that she had many friends and much money, with the usual “patter” traditional among fortune-tellers. Thence the party went on to the house of the Governor of the town, where a kind of lemonade was offered to the visitors, and the Queen was presented with a beautiful white parrot and two live flamingoes. The menagerie already consisted of the Nubian monkey, a snapping turtle, and two goats. As for the little Nubian boy, who was added to the party at Wady Halfa, he turned out much too sharp and difficult to manage, so, instead of bringing him to England, the King decided to start him in life with a donkey, as one of the numerous donkey boys so common in Egypt.

On 16th March the party went by train from Minieh to Ghizeh, where they were met by the Viceroy’s eldest son and a number of officials. After some conversation the King and Queen took their leave, and the Royal party, entering some carriages, drove to the Pyramids. At the foot of the big Pyramid they found a small pavilion which had been built on purpose for the Royal visit. The King and Queen, in spite of the slippery, difficult, and suffocating ascent, visited the King’s and Queen’s chambers, and the King actually went up to the top of the Pyramid. Dinner was served in the pavilion by order of the Viceroy, consisting of nineteen dishes, eight entrées, ice, and other luxuries--quite a small dinner for Egypt.

On the night drive to Cairo which followed, there was very nearly a bad accident, the carriage being driven up against a high white flag-post, which it fortunately only just touched.

During the voyage down the Nile the King received letters to say that as the differences between Turkey and Greece had been happily settled, their Majesties were free to pay their proposed visit to Constantinople and Athens.

The King and Queen spent a week in Cairo, and saw all the sights of that wonderful city, which were then, it must be remembered, much more novel than they are nowadays when Egypt has become a regular winter resort. Mrs. Grey gives an amusing description of a shopping expedition on which she attended Queen Alexandra in the Turkish bazaar. Abd El Kader Bey, their old friend of the Nile expedition, did the bargaining in the Oriental method. The Queen wished to buy a burnous, but the price was too high, and so Abd El Kader Bey sent for a shopman from another shop where they had seen a similar burnous, and employed him to help in bargaining with the other shopman. This extraordinary device was most successful, and the Queen ultimately obtained her burnous for £9.

On the 19th Mrs. Grey attended the Queen in the ordeal of being photographed on a dromedary, and then the party, having been joined by the King, went to see the museum of Egyptian antiquities, where the distinguished French Egyptologist, M. Mariette, explained everything. In the evening of the same day there was a great dinner at the Viceroy’s palace on the other side of the river, where the scene was one of truly Oriental magnificence and luxury, finishing up with a display of fireworks so arranged that their reflection was seen in a large ornamental piece of water.

The Royal party had intended to leave Cairo on the 21st March, but the King was persuaded by the Viceroy to remain over the Feast of Bairam, which corresponds with the Christian Easter. Consequently, instead of starting immediately, the Queen, to her great delight, was able to pay a visit to the wife of Mourad Pasha, who had attended so ably to the comfort of the Royal travellers during their voyage on the Nile. Queen Alexandra was delighted with this lady, who was most kind and good-natured, and spoke French very well, her father, indeed, having been half a Frenchman.

On the 22nd the Queen started after breakfast for the bazaars, and met the King there and shopped until lunch-time. In the afternoon the Queen and Mrs. Grey visited the wife of Abd El Kader Bey, and then went on to see Achmet Bey, the captain of their dahabeah. His wife received the English visitors with much enthusiasm, kissing both the Queen and Mrs. Grey violently. Mrs. Achmet was a very pretty woman with pleasant manners, but although she could only speak Arabic, which was not understood by her visitors, yet she never stopped talking for a minute.

The following day, the 23rd, was the first day of Bairam, and the Queen again visited la Grande Princesse, the Viceroy’s mother, who held a sort of Drawing-room in the Harem. In the evening the Queen went to the Viceroy’s palace across the river to dine with His Highness’s four wives. The Princesses were much charmed with some photographs which the Queen gave them of herself. Shortly before leaving she expressed a wish to see how the Egyptian ladies’ outdoor veils were fastened on. Some were accordingly sent for, and Queen Alexandra was dressed up in a veil, much to her amusement; her eyebrows, and those of Mrs. Grey, were painted, and the thin veil and the burnous were put over them. These Her Majesty and her lady-in-waiting were entreated to keep as a _souvenir_ of their visit. They were still wearing their Egyptian dresses when they returned to their palace, but to their great disappointment found everybody gone to bed except their courier, whom they succeeded in surprising, though he very frankly said that he thought the ladies were looking far better than usual. That was the last night in Cairo.

On the following day the Royal party had a very hot and dusty journey, and arrived at Suez at seven o’clock in the evening. There they were joined by Dr. Russell and Major Alison, and were met by the great de Lesseps. Dinner was served in the large dining-room of the hotel, and among the waiters the King observed a small black boy about fourteen years old, who seemed intelligent above the average. After dinner His Majesty asked the landlord of the hotel about him, and, finding that he was an Abyssinian boy and had an excellent character, he decided to take him home instead of the little _mauvais sujet_ whom the party had picked up at Wady Haifa.

Then came one of the most interesting episodes of the tour, namely, their visit to the Suez Canal, where their Majesties were received and escorted by M. de Lesseps. The works of the Canal Company were by no means completed, but they were being actively carried forward, a large dock, 450 feet long, having been already finished. At Tussum the King performed the important ceremony of opening the sluices of the dam across the finished portion of the canal, thus letting the waters of the Mediterranean into the empty basin of the Bitter Lakes.

The Royal party then drove about three miles beyond the town through the desert to the Viceroy’s _châlet_, a pretty little place built on high ground overlooking Lake Timsah. The King and Queen were lodged here, the rest of the party having to rough it in out-houses and tents. Dinner was served in a large tent, and, thanks to the Viceroy’s forethought, it was a most excellent French dinner, for His Highness was determined that his guests should not have to rough it unless it was absolutely necessary.

The next day the Royal party went up the Canal towards the Mediterranean, and after driving through Port Said, they embarked on board the Viceroy’s yacht _Mahroussa_ for passage to Alexandria. M. de Lesseps and his party also came on board the yacht. When the vessel passed outside the breakwater she began to roll so much that dinner became more exciting than comfortable. One swell threw everything off the table, and the Royal party were rolled out of their chairs, and then in an instant, before they had time to pick themselves up, another roll threw the ship over on the other side. Fortunately, however, the rolling did not last very long, and the resources of the yacht were so great that dinner was not long interrupted.

The following morning the yacht arrived at Alexandria, where the Royal party visited the various sights, including Cleopatra’s Needle and Pompey’s Pillar. Then they were rowed off in a barge to the _Ariadne_, their old home, which looked quite small and poor after the gorgeous _Mahroussa_, with its silk hangings, Italian marbles, mosaic mother-of-pearl, and so on, though in reality it was much more comfortable in a practical way. Here they said good-bye, much to their regret, to Mourad Pasha, Abd El Kader Bey, and old Captain Achmet, as well as to Colonel Stanton, the British Consul.

The next day, 28th March, the _Ariadne_ left for Constantinople, but nothing much of importance occurred during the voyage, and the vessel anchored on 1st April some three miles from Constantinople. There the Royal party were transferred to the Sultan’s yacht _Pertif Piati_, in which they went past the entrance to the Golden Horn, as far as the Saleh-Bazar Palace, which had been assigned as a residence by the Sultan to the King and Queen during their visit. The Sultan himself received the Royal party on landing, and took Queen Alexandra up to her rooms, every one following.

Mrs. Grey describes the rooms in the Saleh-Bazar Palace as not quite so gorgeous as those which they had had at Cairo, but, on the other hand, fitted up with the most perfect taste in the French style. Every European luxury had been provided. The lattice work, which is always put up across the windows in Turkish houses in order to screen the fair inmates from the rude gaze of outsiders, had been removed and replaced with magnificent silk hangings. All the servants appointed to wait on the King and Queen were Greek and European, except the coachmen, who were French. The meals at the Palace were all served on gold and silver plate studded with gems; a band of eighty-four musicians played during dinner; every morning arrived gorgeous presents from the Sultan, including exquisite flowers and trays laden with fruits and sweets; while, at a clap of the hand, black-coated chibouquejees brought in pipes with amber mouth-pieces of fabulous value, encrusted in diamonds and rubies. There was a complete Turkish bath establishment in the Palace, and the slightest wish expressed by the Royal guests was considered an order.

Almost immediately after the arrival the labour of official functions began, King Edward going to pay a visit to the Sultan at the Palace of Dolma-Baghtche. The next day the Royal party saw the Sultan going to the Selamlik, the brilliant uniforms and the native ladies in their white yashmaks and brilliantly-coloured dresses producing to Mrs. Grey’s eyes the effect of a bright flower-garden. While the pageant was passing, little Prince Izzedin, the Heir-Apparent, visited their Majesties. Nothing could exceed the anxiety of the Sultan to entertain his distinguished visitors in a splendid manner, and he certainly seems to have succeeded.

On 4th April the Royal party dined with the Sultan at the Palace of Dolma-Baghtche. The dinner was good, and well served in the European fashion, but it was remarkable for being the first time that the Sultan had ever sat down to dinner with ladies; and, indeed, it was the first time that any of his own Ministers, except the Grand Vizier, had ever been known to sit down in his presence. Half the party were Turks, and they looked so frightened and astonished that they acted as wet blankets to the rest of the company, which included Mr. Elliot, the British Ambassador, and Mrs. Elliot, and General Ignatieff, the Russian Ambassador, and his wife. The Sultan was in high good-humour, but spoke very little.

After dinner Queen Alexandra, attended by Mrs. Grey and accompanied by Mrs. Elliot and Madame Ignatieff, went to visit the Sultan’s mother and wife. The visit very much resembled that which had been paid in Cairo to La Grande Princesse; and the most amusing part of the evening was the sudden appearance of the Sultan’s son, aged ten, and daughter, aged nine, who both came marching in followed by slaves. Both were enormously over-dressed, the little girl, indeed, being hardly able to move under all her lace and finery. They sat themselves down in large arm-chairs, and the little Princess kept slipping down off hers, but a slave always helped her up again.

The King and Queen, who adopted for the nonce the name of Mr. and Mrs. Williams, spent the whole morning of 5th April in the bazaars, attended by Mrs. Grey, and entirely escaped being recognised. Another Oriental precedent was broken on the 7th, when the Royal party went to the opera, and the Sultan joined the King and Queen and Mrs. Grey in the Royal box. This was the first time that the Sultan had been seen with ladies in his box. On the following day Queen Alexandra was delighted to have an opportunity of seeing the Sultan’s stables, containing about 200 horses of extraordinary beauty.

It would be tedious to describe in detail the ceremonies and visits to places of interest which the Royal party paid. In this way the days were filled up until the 10th, when it was decided that the Queen should accompany the King in his proposed visit to the Crimea.

After lunching with the Sultan, the Royal party again went on board the _Ariadne_ with the usual ceremonies, and started for the Crimea. They had a beautiful passage across the Black Sea, and arrived in the harbour of Sevastopol on 12th April. The great struggle with Russia was still fresh in every one’s memories, and they found not a single ship in the harbour, and all the forts and fortifications abandoned--indeed, the whole town on one side almost one mass of ruins. The _débris_ remained just as they were left in 1856, and the populace, which before the war amounted to 60,000, had been reduced to 5500.

As soon as the _Ariadne_ had cast anchor a boat came off containing General Kotzebue, Governor-General of New Russia, and General Jukoffsky, Governor of Crim Tartary, who had come from Simferopol to meet King Edward. They were accompanied by Admiral Kisalinsky, the Commandant of Sevastopol, and other officials, together with the British Consul at Odessa. The Russian authorities offered every possible assistance to the King and Queen in order that they might see everything that could be seen.

On that first day of their arrival they visited the Russian cemetery, and then drove to the battlefield of the Alma, where Mrs. Grey records the shaking which the Queen and she experienced in driving over the rough ground still full of great holes made by the shells used in the battle; indeed, the pony carriage broke down, and they had to get into a larger one with four horses. They saw the broken-down bridge over the Alma, just as it was left after the battle; the party drove through the water, and Dr. Russell pointed out where the Duke of Cambridge had passed with his Staff--in fact, the King and Queen examined the battlefield most thoroughly, studying the various positions occupied by the forces on both sides.

The Russian authorities entertained the party at luncheon in a Tartar farm-house, which had been used during the war as a field-hospital. Dr. Russell, Major Alison, and Captain Ellis, who had all been there during the war, were perpetually pointing out fresh places of interest, and in the evening the Russian officials were entertained at dinner on board the _Ariadne_. Nothing could exceed the tact and courtesy of the Russians, who affected to regard the war as if it had been some long distant historical campaign, and had no hesitation even in pointing out to their visitors the different places where the Russian forces had been beaten.

It is needless to mention the names of all the places visited by the Royal party. Wherever they went the beautiful old Russian custom of offering bread and salt was never omitted, the inhabitants of the villages always rushing out and presenting these signs of hospitality to Queen Alexandra.

On the 14th the Royal party found the _Psyche_ in the harbour of Balaklava, in which they embarked and steamed out of the harbour to see the rocks at the entrance where the ship _Prince_ was lost in 1845, and where the Duke of Cambridge had such a narrow escape in the _Retribution_. On re-landing they visited the field of Balaklava, and listened to many amusing stories told by Dr. Russell.

That night the party slept at Livadia, and were most agreeably entertained by Count Stenboch, who had been sent all the way from St. Petersburg on purpose to receive the King and Queen. The _Ariadne_ and _Psyche_ had been sent round from Sevastopol to meet the party, and after visiting some villas in the neighbourhood, they all embarked in the _Ariadne_ and bade farewell to their Russian friends with much regret.

On the 16th they anchored again opposite the Sultan’s palace, and His Majesty and King Edward exchanged farewell visits. On the 17th the _Ariadne_ left Constantinople for Athens; she was lighted up with red and blue lights held by sailors at the end of the yard-arm. The Turkish ships were all illuminated, and rockets, music, and cheering sped the parting guests.

Bad weather detained the _Ariadne_ until the 20th, when they entered the Piræus, where the King of the Hellenes and Prince Frederick of Glucksburg came on board. The King had arrived, on purpose to receive the Royal visitors, from Corfu, where the Court was established, and after two days’ sightseeing His Majesty was to conduct the Royal party there, where he had left the Queen. King Edward and Queen Alexandra duly arrived at Corfu on the 24th, and on the following day, which was the Festival of St. Spiridion--the patron saint of Corfu--they had an opportunity of seeing the town _en fête_. The body of the saint was carried in procession amid much picturesque rejoicing of the populace. On the 27th the King left for the Albanian coast for some wild boar shooting, and returned on the following evening, having bagged two boars and other game.

The visit to Corfu came to an end on 1st May. There was a great display of fireworks, and the _Ariadne_ and the _Royal Oak_ were dressed with red and blue lights. Unfortunately there was a sad accident which occurred just as the illuminations were over. One of the sailors fell overboard, and though a most careful search was made, nothing was ever seen or heard of him again except just the splash as he fell into the water.

On the following day the Royal party arrived at Brindisi, and returned to London over-land, stopping a little while in Paris, where they were treated with the most marked attention by the Emperor and Empress of the French.

As may be easily imagined, the King is very popular all over France, and he has had many curious and interesting adventures when going out in the semi-_incognito_ which he affects when travelling for pleasure. On one occasion, shortly after the end of the war, he visited the battlefield of Sedan attended by General Teesdale. He was naturally anxious that his identity should not become known, for French susceptibilities were very keen at that time, and he had no desire to appear to glory over his brother-in-law’s brilliant victories. When the time came to pay the hotel bill General Teesdale found with great dismay that he had no ready cash; the King was in an equally penniless condition; while any telegram sent would have disclosed the identity of the Royal visitor. At length, after much discussion, the equerry made his way to the local _Mont de Piété_ and placed both his own and King Edward’s repeater in pawn.

Among the formal acts of ceremony which King Edward performed during this year was the unveiling of a statue of the late Mr. George Peabody. In the speech which he delivered on this occasion he alluded in the warmest terms to his feeling of personal friendship towards the United States, and his enduring recollection of the reception which had been accorded to him there.