Royal Highness departed
for Lisbon, where, on the following day, he was formally welcomed by
King Louis of Portugal, his Court, the Foreign Ministers and the British
Admirals of the fleet in the Tagus. There were no flags, or arches, or
decorations, or tokens of welcome in the streets of Lisbon, but there
was a vast mass of silent and respectful people. Many functions followed
during the next few days and on May 7th the _Serapis_ started once more
for England. Four days later the ship was met by a yacht bearing the
Princess of Wales and the Royal children and, in a few hours, the Heir
Apparent was again at home from his famous journey and receiving a
welcome at Portsmouth which was a fitting prelude to similar greetings
in London and elsewhere.

Such a tremendous experience as this tour had proved could not but have
a pronounced and important effect. The burden of a continuous succession
of events in which he was the central figure; the strain of a steady
succession of brilliant spectacles presenting a kaleidoscopic variety of
sight and sound and splendour and incident; the weight of a constant
burden of ceremonial and state observances in a land where the slightest
carelessness, or indifference, or cordiality--at the wrong moment--meant
mortal offense to some important dignitary, caste, or interest; the
physical trial of innumerable functions to a man clad in European
costumes in a tropical climate; the infinite variety of his duties, the
peculiar character of the hours maintained, the lack of sleep and the
continuous round of banquets; must have tried the mind and heart and
body about equally. In the end the experience must have broadened the
conceptions and ideas of the Prince; educated him in a better perception
of his immense responsibilities; trained him in an iron school of
etiquette and helped to teach him that inflexible routine of duty which
must ever face a British Sovereign.

To the people of India the tour brought home a clearer perception of the
personal power presiding over their destinies and a vivid picture of the
greatness of the authority before which all their greatest dignitaries
with the traditions of many thousand years, bowed in loyal obeisance. To
the imaginative Indian mind nothing more effective could have been
presented than the scenes of that brilliant and triumphal passage
through the stamping ground of ancient conquerors. To the people of
Great Britain it brought home a more realizable se