Bristol "lethargic" was for years the general idea of the place. Bristol "awakening" followed, and it is now realised that Bristol has fully awakened to her vast potentialities. The eyes of the populace of Great Britain, and, it may be, of many of the dwellers in the King's dominions beyond the seas, were in March, 1902, cast in the direction of the ancient city of Bristol, erstwhile the second port in importance in the British Isles. This national looking to what Bristolians proudly call the "metropolis of Western England" was occasioned by the visit of the Prince of Wales, with H.R.H. the Princess, to turn the first sod in connection with the great works then about to be undertaken for the extension of the docks at Avonmouth, so as to render them capable of accommodating and berthing steamers of a magnitude greater than any yet built--a work then expected to be completed in four or five years. The function was a notable one, and the occasion may be briefly summed up as "a grand day for Bristol." Two millions are being spent on the dock, which will have a water space of thirty acres, with room for further extension. The lock will be 875 feet long and 100 feet wide. There will be 5,000 feet of quay space, with abundant railway sidings and other appointments of a first-class port. [Illustration: (signed) Yours faithfully Alfred Jones] [Illustration: R.M.S. "PORT KINGSTON" (7,584 TONS), _of the Imperial Direct West Indian Mail Fleet_.] In Feb., 1902, Sir Alfred Jones, K.C.M.G., the chief of the Elder Dempster steamship line, set out from Avonmouth in the "Port Antonio" for Jamaica, with the object of promoting further developments between Bristol and the West Indies by means of the Imperial Direct West India mail service. The occasion of his departure was unusually interesting, as it took place on the first anniversary of the sailing of the first boat of the direct service carrying H. Majesty's mails to the Island of Jamaica from Avonmouth. The picture portrays the mails being embarked on the "Antonio's" sister ship, the "Port Royal," which arrived at Avonmouth on the day before the royal visit, and was inspected by Their Royal Highnesses, who were much interested in her banana cargo. The "Port Kingston," a steamer of larger size and splendid construction, has now been added to the Jamaican fleet, and she makes the passage from Kingston to Bristol in ten-and-a-half days. By a coincidence, when Bristol was "feasting" on the 5th March, 1902--the Red Letter Day--and its senior Burgess, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the other Members of Parliament for the city were felicitating with a goodly array of Bristol Fathers over the great event likely to be fraught with untold benefit to the historic port from which Sebastian Cabot set forth years and years ago to seek and find the continent of America, the feast of "St. Martin's" was being held at the Criterion, in London, and the Post