The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1869-02-13 00:00:00

THE CRUISE OF THE DUKE OF EDIN-
BURGH IN THE " GALATEA."

The Galatea, screw frigate, under the command of
His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh, arrived
here on the afternoon of Christmas-day, having had a
pleasant massage from England ( writes a correspondent
limo Sum iiiii Bay, under date Jan. is). She reached St.
Vincent on Sunday, Nov. 22, and, after coaling, resumed
her voyage under sail on the following day, crossing
the hue in 18 degrees west longitude on the let Decem-
ber. Although royalty was on board, Neptune, as
usual, claimed that the traditions of Her Majesty's
service should be remembered and respected, and His
Royal Highness yielded to the claim, on understand-
ing that those on board who declined to submit to the
operati.m of " shaving" should be permitted to remain
on the lower deck. AA Neptmm and his aseistants
warmed to their work, however, the conditions of the
agreement were forgotten, and the rule laid down by
the god of the sea was made imperative, to the dismay
of the victims and the intense delight of those who
had already passed through the ordeal. There was, as
usual, plenty of frolic and fun, but the ceremony,
which is ushered in with so much grotesque gravity,
and carried out with such a rollicking disregard of
social distinction and profe,ssioaal rank, passed off good-
humouredly.
A very ag,reeable method of relieving the voyage of
its tedium has been adopted on board the ship by the
establishment of several musical parties. One, got up
by the sergeant of the band, is under the direction of
Lord Beresford ; another has been formed amongst the
i officers. Then, n the forecastle, there is a nigger
party who gave their first entertainment on Christmas
Eve, and made a very creditable d,- bit. And lastly,
there are the boys and the schoolmaster, whose efforts
are more directly encouraged by his Royal Highness,
who accompanies them upon his harmonium in their
rehearsal of the chants and tunes to be sung on the
following Sunday. There was a time when mdulgen-
cies of this kind were regarded as being utterly in-
compatible with the discipline indispensable to the
efficiency of a man-of-war, 'but the race of zealous old
gentlemen who entertained those gloomy apprehensions
is fast dying away, and the admirable discinline on
board her Majesty's ship Galatea will add an additional
incentive to the extinction of the race. The
,general
programme of the royal movements at this port has
been published in the Cape papers, but there are one
or two incidents which do not appear to have been
mentioned. On the 27th of December the captains
of the men-of-war in harbour were entertained at
luncheon by His Royal Highness, who in the evening
was the guest of Captain Purvis, of the screw corvette
Racoon.

Amongst other amusements the officers of the
Galatea have played two cricket matches, one against
the officers of the squadron, and one against the 99th
Regiment. The former they won, with seven wickets
to go down; the latter they lost by one run. On the
let of January a ball was given by the officers of the
99th Regiment, at which some the officers of the
Galatea were present, and on the llowing Monday
(the 4th) a ball was given by the Commodore of the
squadron. On the last named day there was a grand
review of the crews of the Seringapatam, Galatea,
Forte, Racoon, and Pelerel, which were under the com-
mand cf His Royal Ilighness.