Mr. Shaw Lefevre's amendment was negatived on a division, but only by 41 in a house of 301; showing thereby that competition had a goodly number of supporters. In January, 1877, the Prince of Wales's two sons, Prince Edward--then known as Prince Albert Victor--and Prince George, joined the _Britannia_. They had special quarters allotted to them, but in other respects they were "in the same boat" with the remainder of the cadets, to whom they were a source of much interest. The "divinity that doth hedge a king," or its equivalent in the case of a prince, is considerably discounted among a lot of boys, and the two Royal cadets often found themselves the target of endless interrogations, resulting from the curiosity of their shipmates. "I say, how do you like being a Prince?" "What do you do when you're at home?" "Do you ever get licked?" and so on. Prince Edward, having recently recovered from a severe illness, and not being really intended for the Navy, was left to do pretty much as he pleased in the matter of study, etc. He was sent to the _Britannia_ principally with the object of benefiting by the change and healthy outdoor life. Prince George, however, went through all the work, and the impression he produced was that he was a sharp lad, and, though very backward on joining, turned to with a will, and passed out very creditably. He used to tell the seamanship instructors not to bother about his brother, who was not going to sea, but to devote their attention to him. [Illustration: PRINCE GEORGE. _Photo: Smale & Son, Dartmouth._] In the summer of 1878 the Prince and Princess of Wales visited the _Britannia_, and distributed the prizes. During the last year or two of the 'seventies the _Britannia_ owed a good deal to Lieutenant (now Captain, retired) Guy Mainwaring, who joined as first lieutenant in 1878. It was at his suggestion that the custom was inaugurated of having two photographs taken of each term, on leaving the ship: one of the captains, and the other of the remainder of the term, to be framed and kept on board as a record. This practice has been continued ever since, and an interesting series of groups has now accumulated, some of which are reproduced in this book. In the pioneer group, taken at his instigation, Lieutenant Mainwaring himself figures, seated on the gunwale of one of the gigs, with the passing-out cadet captains round him. [Illustration: "JIM THE PIONEER'S" GRAVE. _Photo: Smale & Son, Dartmouth._] A far more important institution, of which he was the founder, is the pack of beagles. Being blessed with a good deal of energy and of sporting instinct, Lieutenant Mainwaring was the first to make any effort in this direction. It is astonishing how keen naval men are on following beagles when they get the chance.