WARRIORS GREET PRINCE

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 547, 27 December 1928, Page 14

WARRIORS GREET PRINCE

CANOE FLEET ON LAKE VICTORIA BLACK. QUEEN IN BLUE SILK T War canoes of the Uganda wN’avy,. which have not changed in type for 1.000 years, nianuetl by ! Sese Islanders, whose people have provided the country’s ■ mariners for generations, sailed out into Lake Vivto'rla (Africa) to -welcome the Prince of -Wales to their shores. After the greeting they escorted the Clement Hill, the ' vessel on which his Royal Highness made the journey from Kisumu, on the last two miles of the journey, to Entebbe, says the London “Daily Chronicle.” Fifteen hundred men from eight of the inhabited islands formed the crews of 250 canoes of all sizes, from small vessels with four ■ paddlers to huge affairs seating 20 men. The - welcome took the form of a sham attack. The men took up their stations, and. when the Clement Hill came abreast, with deafening clamour darted out to intercept her. In a moment they had surrounded the Prince's ship, singing their traditional war song- Then they swarmed around the steamer while the Prince, wearing the uniform of the Welsh Guards, watched the manoeuvres from the bows. But Instead of an actual attack, came a vociferous shout of welcome, the crews in the canoes. adding to the noise by heating their paddles against the sides of the boats, and blowing into the hollowed horns of animals. Then the escort settled down to paddle to keep level with the steamer. Horns On the Prows The canoes of the chiefs carried horns of Sititunga mounted high on the prows, but one was further embellished with a bunch of red par-rot-feathers between the horns. They provided a most impressive spectacle when escorting the Clement Hill to the landing stage, the naked backs of the paddlers glistening in the bright sunshine as they bent to the paddles in perfect unison. While the Clement Hill was being made fast the canoes ranged alongside the jetty, and as the Prince stepped ashore the deafening noise of paddles striking against the sides of the canoes again broke out, yelling voices and blaring horns adding to the din. The Governor of Uganda, Sir William Gowers, wearing a white uniform, went aboard to greet the Prince, and afterwards escorted him along the jetty, where the Prince inspected a number of ex-soldiers before proceeding to the end of the pier, where Government officials and nafive notabilities were awaiting him. Among those presented were Kabaka 1., King of Uganda, and his wife. Kabaka wore a long scarlet robe, enriched with hand-embroidered gold thread, over a long white robe, and a white fez-shaped hat. Around his neck was the highly-prized star of the K.C.M.G. “Toto Ya Georgie” His wife was in a European costume of blue silk, with a picture hat and sunshade. With Kabaka were a number of chiefs, forming a picturesque group in their ceremonial costumes of bright blues and reds. Among others presented were the chiefs of the Western Provinces which the Prince will be unable to visit. “Toto ya Kingie” ("The Son of the King”) had been decided upon originally as the form of greeting by the natives, but finding It too formal, they adopted the more intimate “Toto ya Georgie” (“Son of George”). The people spared no pains to show their pleasure at the visit. They spent much time gathering and drying elephant grass for use in building the native triumphal arches, carrying small flags, while the in- j habitants decked themselves in finery for the occasion. All through the journey through Entebbe—on leaving the landing- j stage, on the drive to Government j House—the crowds cheered the i Prince as he has rarely been cheered i befor*.

Madame Scotney’* Tour Madame Evelyn Scotney, the famous Australian prima donna, arrived in Melbourne on Monday last by the Oronsay with her little son, who is aged 17 months. It is five years since Madame Scotney was in Australia, and, during that time, she has been touring England and Europe, and last season gave 22 concerts in London, the last being at Queen’s Hall with Sir Henry Wood’s orchestra. | Prior to her Continental tour she was j associated with Mr. Joseph Hislop. the English tenor, who achieved such a popular success in Australia and j New Zealand last year. While abroad I she married Mr. Ben Russell, manager !of the Cunard Line in London. After a holiday, Madame Scotney will tour Australia under the direction of J. and N. Tait. • • • A Cool Audience “I can claim to have sung before the (physically) coldest audience in the world.” remarked Miss Barbara Austen, the Welsh prima donna, who returned recently to England after 10 years in Canada and the U.S.A. The particular concert she was referring to was held in a hall at Prince Rupert, iu the Arctic Circle. “It was the nearest-to-the-North-Pole entertainment ever given,” she told an interviewer. “The temperature was 60 below zero, and I walked to it two miles over a frozen sea.” •» • * Eaglefield Hull's Death A. Eaglefield Hull. British musician and editor of the International Dic- ; tionary of Modern Music and Musicians, died early last month. He figured in a remarkable controversy j this year when he was accused of plagiarism in a new book in which lie quoted international authors without ' formal credit. His good faith was reestablished, although he admitted a, [ mistake in policy. [Too Much “Sob-stuff”, Referring to a recent performance by Signor Angelo Minghetti, an Australian critic harshly criticises the eternal "sob-stuff” of Italian singers, even when singing English songs. He states that “the Italian singer might please many audiences in the sobful material of the passionate Latin race, but iu his English songs he may find it desirable to make a choice of more robust material. There are abundant opportunities for the thrills that he appears to love in the song literature of the English language, without the sob, the eternal sob, of popular tenor singers. Besides, the sob is not natural with the Englishman when making love, whether in the mellifluous tones of the lyric tenor or in the speaking voice; and there is enough in English music without this inartistic artificiality.