On their way back from Dublin the Prince and Princess of Wales visited North Wales, and on landing at Holyhead they passed along the pier through a double line of aged Welshwomen, who were all wearing the tall hat and national dress of the Principality. At Carnarvon the Prince inaugurated some new waterworks, and after this ceremony the Royal party proceeded to the famous castle, where they were presented with an address from the Council of the National Eisteddfod. The Prince replied in a neat little speech, in which he observed that he and the Princess received the address with peculiar satisfaction on the anniversary of the birth, on 25th April 1284, and in the very birthplace, of the first Prince of Wales, “Edward of Carnarvon,” the son of Edward I. King Edward’s fourth child, the Princess Victoria, was born on 6th July, and after a quiet summer spent at Sandringham the King and Queen, attended by a small suite, left Marlborough House in November for a long Continental tour, which extended over some months and enabled them to renew old ties and make new friendships. They spent a few days in Paris, and paid a visit to the Emperor and Empress of the French at Compiègne, where, during a stag hunt organised in honour of King Edward, an accident happened which might easily have cost him his life. As he was galloping along one of the grassy drives of the forest, a stag rushed from one of the cross-paths and knocked him and his horse completely over. Fortunately he was not hurt, though much bruised and shaken. Without alarming those about him, he again mounted and went on hunting to the end of the day. At this house-party the King and Queen had as fellow-guests Marshal Bazaine, Count von Moltke, and a number of other notable people destined to make history. [Illustration: QUEEN VICTORIA, QUEEN ALEXANDRA, AND PRINCESS CHRISTIAN _Photograph by Hughes and Mullins, Ryde_] [Illustration: QUEEN ALEXANDRA ABOUT THE YEAR 1865 _From a Photograph by Hughes and Mullins_] Queen Alexandra’s birthday, 1st December, was spent in Denmark. After a short stay there the travellers went to Berlin, where a large family party was assembled to meet them, and on 18th January, which is, curiously enough, one of the only two days of the year in which it can be held, a Chapter of the Order of the Black Eagle was convened, and King Edward was formally invested with the insignia of this, the highest Order in Germany, by the King of Prussia, to whom he was introduced by his brother-in-law, the Crown Prince, and by Prince Albert of Prussia. Then followed an interesting sojourn in Vienna, where the Royal party were splendidly entertained by the Emperor and Empress of Austria, a suite of apartments in the Burg having been specially prepared for them. These Continental visits, however, were all preliminary to a prolonged tour in Egypt and the Mediterranean, which must be described in a separate chapter. CHAPTER IX THEIR MAJESTIES’ TOUR IN EGYPT AND THE MEDITERRANEAN