On June 6th, after a very cordial "send-off" from the people, the Royal party boarded the _Ophir_ and started for Auckland, New Zealand. Five days later they found that loyal city alive with enthusiasm, crowded with people and decorated to the extreme limit. They were welcomed by the Governor, Lord Ranfurly and the Premier, Mr. R. J. Seddon. The latter presented an address in a superb casket made of New Zealand wood and gold, silver, and enamel, in the shape of a Maori war canoe. The ceremony of presentation and the reply occurred on board ship. Immediately upon landing the Duchess touched the key of a telegraph instrument, and flags waved and guns roared a welcome in every city and town of New Zealand. The popular welcome in the streets was tumultuous and the arches particularly impressive, while one of the incidents of the Royal progress to Government House was a living Union Jack composed of two thousand children dressed to fit the design. In the afternoon eleven addresses were received, and during his reply the Duke said: "I look forward to making known to His Majesty how strong I have found the feeling of common brotherhood and readiness to share in the responsibilities of the Empire, and earnestly trust that the results of the journey maybe to stimulate the interest of the different countries in each other, and so draw even closer the bonds which now unite them." ROYAL WELCOME IN NEW ZEALAND A state dinner followed this event and an evening Reception. The succeeding day a Royal review of forty-three hundred troops occurred, with twelve thousand spectators, and was followed by a luncheon to four hundred veterans of the South African and Maori wars, at which the Duke of Cornwall and York made one of the several _impromptu_ speeches delivered during his tour. Speaking of the combination of old veterans and young soldiers he said: "There is nothing like a chip of the old block"--to which some one responded with "You're one yourself"--"when one knows that the old block was hard, of good grain and sound to the core, and if, in the future, whenever and wherever the Mother-hand is stretched across the sea, it can reckon on a grasp such as New Zealand has given in the present." This speech evoked tremendous cheering. Later, the foundation-stone of the Queen Victoria School for Maori Girls was laid, and in the evening, after a state dinner at Government House, the Royal visitors attended a Reception given by the Mayor, and drove through splendidly illuminated streets. The next few days were spent amongst that most picturesque, gallant and chivalrous of native peoples--the Maoris. Expressions of the most intense and unaffected loyalty and contentment with British rule were universal. Most interesting sights were witnessed and Maori customs studied--including war and other dances, songs of welcome and of challenge to enemies, and mimic battles fought with native skill and zest.