THE PRINCE'S VISIT TO MR. MOFFATT, OF HOPKINS HILL.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 12, Issue 912, 28 January 1868, Page 4

THE PRINCE'S VISIT TO MR. MOFFATT, OF HOPKINS HILL.

(Abridged from the special report of the ' Hamilton Spectator.) His Royal Highness Prince . Alfred and party reached Hopkins Hill on Friday, December 6th. Not having taken notes of the proceedings, I may be excused if the names of some of those gentlemen are V omitted whom I found on the verandah, awaiting the arrival of. the Prince. But I noticed, among others, Mr. R. Hood, Mr. Routledge, Mr. M'Znight, Mr. E. Henty, Mr. F. Henty, Mr. Richmond Henty, Mr. Onslow (midshipman of the Galatea), Mr. Ibbetson, Mr. J. W. M. Larnaeh (Colonial Manager of the Bank of Otago, Dunedin), Mr. Sanderson, Mr. Bree, and Mr. Fox. The time originally fixed for the arrival of the Duke was 6 p.m., but it was thought by some that he might reach the station an hour or two earlier, and Mr. Moffat was fully prepared for his reception by four o'clock. A scout, mounted on a . splendid horse belonging to Mr. R. Hood, was sent out. Men were stationed on the roof as a lookout,, and charged with the duty of hoisting the Royal Standard as soon as the Prince had entered the house. . Crowds of persons on horseback, on foot, arid in vehicles, who had assembled from all. quarters, were riding down the road, . anxious to obtain a view of the Prince. The first vehicle that drove up was one of Meigs and Anderson's coaches, containing : the: luggage, and the waiters having taken this into the house, the gentlemen present ranged themselves on either side of the flight of steps at the chief entrance. Then, shortly after, a very unpretending-look-ing buggy, drawn by two horses, pulled up, and before we had time to. speculate on who the occupants might be, a handsome well-knit young gentleman, dressed in a brown tweed suit, with leather leggings, sprang nimbly to the steps, and was met by Mr. Moffatt. The Prince was accompanied by Captain M'Mahon and Mr. Paget (midshipman of the Galatea). The rest of the party, consisting of Mr. Brierly, Captain Campbell (commander of the Galatea), Lieutenant Haig, R.E., Mr. M'Culloch (Chief Secretay), Captain Standish, Captain Scott, Colonel A. Anderson, Mr. W. Robertson (of Colae), and Mr. Manners-Sutton, arrived at intervals, and at eight o'clock dinner was served, Mr. Moffat presiding at the head of the table. : I don't think I mentioned yet that the Prince brought his Highland piper with him. He is a fine-looking young man, and a proficient in the use of the Scottish instrument. Mr. Chevalier, the well known artist of Melbourne, was of the party, and I hear that it is Mr. Moffatt's intention to have three pictures painted in commemoration of the honor done him by the Royal visit. Mr. Moffatfc and his friends were determined to do their best to indulge the Prince's predilection for sport, and accordingly it was arranged that on Saturday afternoon a battue of kankaroos, on a small scale, should take place. His Royal Highness having been consulted, declared in favor of the kangaroos being yarded in order to enable him to shoot them. On Saturday morning the Duke went out with his gun to shoot parrots, attended only by his midshipman Mr. Paget, and I thick some one other of the party. The good sense of the people induced them to leave him to himself, and he was not followed, so that he enjoyed a good ramble over the hills without being bored by any impertinent curiosity. Mr. Moffatt had originally intended to have extensive yards erected on his run, for a grand buttm ; but as the notice given him was too short, he was necessarily compelled to abandon the idea. It was arranged that the start from Hopkins Hill should take place at 1.30 p.m., and I think it scarcely necessary to say that in the mean time horses and saddles and bridles were at a premium. . I was quite surprised to see the crowd that had collected outside the home-paddock, waiting the approach of the Duke. There could not have been fewer than two hundred and fifty horsemen, many of them splendidly mounted ; and I counted upwards of twenty vehicles, from the four-in-hand drag to the " onehore shay " in which I went to the scene of the shooting. The Prince was driven by Mr. Richmond Henty, and Mr. Moffatt's overseer, Mr. M'lntyre, shewed the way 6n a magnificent roan horse belonging to the same gentleman. The destination' of the party was Mr. De Little's yards at Caramut, and I can assure you we had a rough drive of it, over about a dozen miles of horrible crab-hole ground. The sight, however, fully compensated for the jolting. Although the pace was pretty strong, the whole cavalcade kept '.;,. . well together ; and the effect of so many horsemen riding in a compact body across . the -plains arid up the hills was very . * pleasing, not to say imposing. We came : to a'halt at a spot about two miles from the . yards', and here, the Prince alighted from •V the carriage and mounted a splendid black horse "belonging to Mr. R. Hood, and accompanied by a few gentlemen, in- j \ eluding Mr. Moffat, set out at once to round up the kangaroo, it being arranged _.;•;- -jthat-%hen;vsnfficient had been yarded a Z -signal- would be given for the rest of the party^tb approach anxl witness the sport. fv :^b"y'oe; not kept waiting- very long, and ; ;^h;e^ j^reachea the- yards we found that r ;pf the marsupials had been [j g|dj^^^jnj^,qthe r^ snared to - await certain "pairriages and horsemen drew St;iSp^|^vi<fie;||id : e- x>f the > fence, and the |S^rm|iepstten^ed; by Lieut; Haig, Capt. | ? |®fi^anduih7^p&iXPaget, Mr. Onslow, Capt. to :i - -■"■- -■■-"--"■■■ ' ■■'

show his skill with the rifle. The kangaroo were driven . past on tho opposite side of the yard to that on which the spectators were ranged, and one by one fell victims to the skill of their royal executioner. Several of the gentlemen surrounding the Prince tried their hands at the work of slaughter, but by far the greater number of kangaroos was knocked over by the Duke himself, who is an excellent shot. Two or three of the beasts succeeded in jumping the fence and getting away, but all that remained were very quickly disposed of, and then, at the Duke's command, collected for inspection. There were no very large kangaroos in the lot, but some few of tolerable size, and the Duke having expressed a wish to preserve some of the skins and claws, Mr. Moffatt himself, assisted by one or two others, remained behind to satisfy His Royal Highness's desire. Whilst this skinning process was going on, the Duke left the yards, immediately followed by the whole of the pai'ty. His intention was to ride back to Hopkins Hill across country, and as Mr. Richmond Henty's roan horse to which we have referred was regarded as the surest jumper on the ground, he was selected for the honour of carrying the Duke. One gentleman, very well mounted, was charged with showing the way ; but the Duke very soon put him out of conceit of his position by taking the lead, and dashing his horse at the fences in gallant style, and at a pace which soon left the field behind him. He is an excellent rider, and the courage with which he led the way was the subject of much admiration. It took very little time for him to get over the ground, and he was safely within tho walls of Mr. Mofiatt's house long before most of thestragglershad sighted the fence. Impromptu as this quasi hunt necessarily was, the sport was excellent, and I am gratified to learn that Prince Alfred thoroughly enjoyed it. As for those who accompanied him, I am sure that they will remember the shooting in the Caramut Yards. It was about six o'clock when the Prince reached home, and in the evening the usual dinner-party took place, a fresh lot of visitors being invited as guests.