From his childhood the Emperor has been fond of the sea. Most of his vacations have been taken aboard his famous yacht _Hohenzollern_, and almost every year he has been an enthusiastic spectator, and occasionally participant, in the regattas on the Elbe. On this occasion the steam-yacht _Prinzessin Victoria Luise_ was placed at his disposition by the directors of the Hamburg-American Line. He is using his famous phrase, "a place in the sun" with reference to the happy outcome of events in China, for on May 27 of this year China had finally accepted the terms of the powers. Of the 90,000 men sent by the powers, Germany had furnished 22,000, and the general direction of the expedition had been intrusted to the German general Von Waldersee. Ballin, of the Hamburg-American Line, had acquired 3,000 feet of water-front and had leased for twenty-five years most of the landings of a Chinese navigation company. The Emperor's speech was delivered in reply to one by Burgomaster Mönckeberg of Hamburg. I offer my heartiest thanks for the eloquent address of your Magnificence. I express to you and all comrades on the water the pleasure which I feel that I should once more be allowed to appear among you and take part in the races of the North German Regatta Association. His Magnificence, in his short and pregnant speech, gave us as good and beautiful a picture as possible of the development of our Fatherland during recent years in the field of water sports and of our relations to foreign countries. It will be my sole task for the future to see to it that the seeds which have been sown may develop in peace and security.