When the Lieutenant-Governor’s yacht arrives at a civil station or large town, it is a day of great excitement for the inhabitants of all classes and degrees. The principal officials present themselves on board the yacht, and take the Lieutenant-Governor’s orders on the programme which they have devised for his entertainment. It is the correct thing for the Lieutenant-Governor to go and inspect all the Government offices and the local jail. There is a sort of mania for inspecting jails, and if there is a local lunatic asylum it is sure to hold a high place in the programme. The inspection of the Government offices is usually a solemn mockery. Most officers of any tact understand the meaning of eye-wash, and everything is externally furbished up so as to look its best. The Lieutenant-Governor is only human, and in reality sees very little below the surface of that which is exhibited to him. If the Lieutenant-Governor is known to be of a cantankerous disposition, as has, unfortunately, been the case sometimes, the proper thing to be done is to lay traps for him, and to present to his eyes something which will at once give him offence; such, for instance, as a treasure-chest with a broken hinge, or a large bundle of old papers all worm-eaten and almost illegible. He will at once fly at these objects, so shocking to his sense of official propriety, and whilst he is fiercely hunting the foxes which have been thus turned out, he will pass blindly by a dozen other things which might really have been worthy of his notice. With an intelligent and kindly Lieutenant-Governor, who understands his business, it is equally safe to proceed on an entirely different plan, and to point out to him the defects and the wants of the place with the full knowledge that he will make due allowance for them. No sensible Lieutenant-Governor is over-anxious to find fault, or to bring discredit on the local officers, who are obviously doing their little best, as he well knows by the recollection of his own experiences in a similar position. It is often a matter of great convenience if the occasion of the Lieutenant-Governor’s visit can be seized, either to lay the foundation stone of some new public building, or to celebrate the completion and opening of some new institution or work of public utility, such as water-works, or a new bridge or hospital. This affords an opportunity for the presentation of an appropriate address, in which the usual platitudes about the development of municipal institutions and the recognition of the capacity of natives for self-government must find their proper place and expression. The richest and most influential native subscribers to the work are then introduced, and on receiving a few kindly words from the Lieutenant-Governor’s lips they feel at once certain that they will shortly find themselves authorised in the _Government Gazette_ to style themselves C.S.I. or C.I.E., unless a native title is more consonant to their feelings.