THE SAVAGES AND THE GREAT "WHITE QUEEN.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXI, Issue XVIII, 29 October 1898, Page 554

THE SAVAGES AND THE GREAT "WHITE QUEEN.

At a recent banquet given at Bristol speeches were delivered by Lord Dnfferin and M. de Rougemont. The latter referred to the ‘ Amazing set of circumstances and adventures which placed me among the cannibal tribes of unexplored Australia as a kind of viceroy or ruler.’ His speech, which was much applauded, was substantially as follows :— It should be clearly understood that the savage tribes among whom he lived for nearly thirty years, far from looking on him as a mere castaway, regarded rather, and he must say he led them so to regard him, as a direct representative of the great White Queen —(applause)—who had sent him into their midst to convey some adequate idea of the majesty of her mighty Empire. (Applause.) To his dismay there was a wonderful falling off in the effect produced by his glowing descriptions of Her Majesty when it was found that the all-powerful ruler was a woman. (Laughter.) Indeed, so strongly marked was the disappointment of his natives that he had speedily to give them ocular demonstration of the Great White Queen’s wonderful powers. (Laughter.) A COLOSSAL DRAWING OF THE QUEEN. This demonstration took the form of a rude colossal drawing executed in the pigments with which the savages decorated themselves, and it adorned the precipitous side of a huge rock. (Laughter and applause.) This, he ventured to say, unique portrait of Queen Victoria was more than seven feet high, the blacks being solely impressed by physical attributes, and Her Majesty’s crown was composed of the feathers of a rare bird which only a reasonable hunter could obtain. Her Majesty, let it be confessed at once, was not overburdened with clothing, not to put too line a point on it —(laughter)— for clothing these cannibal savages knew not, and any portrayal of it would simply lead to confusion. Her Majesty’s biceps stood out in a most phenomenal manner—(laughter) and her sceptre was a mighty waddy or club such as could l>e wielded with deadly eflect upon enemies. (Laugh-

ter.) He must say that even from a civilised point of view the “ tout ensemble ” was both striking and impressive. (Hear, hear.) He then pointed out to the natives his own large and windowless house, and in order to convey to them some notion of the magnitude of the great Queen’s dwelling, he declared that her retinue was larger than the whole of his tribes put together, and that they lived in one enormous house, such as he could not build if he worked at it the whole of

his lifetime. (Laughter and applause.) He then proceeded to give his people some idea of the diverse races found in the British Empire, from the fair Saxon personilied for the nonce by himself to the jet-black inhabitant of BriQsh Africa. (Applause.) He demonstrated the various hues of skins by meansof pigments rubbed upon hisownbody —(laughter)—and he was obliged to tell his people that the Empire embraced the whole universe — (laughter and applause) — because, of course, they could not follow the distinction between Scotland and France or England and Turkey. A CLAY STATUE OF H.R.H. In order to remove any lingering disappointment there might be over this mighty

ruler being a female he pointed out that she had a much beloved, a most redoubtable son, the Prince of Wales—(applause) —and his powers he epitomised by assuring his hearers that the Prince was a very great warrior and hand-spear thrower—(laughter)—and led his tribes into battle and strange places where the great QueenMother could not venture. (Laughter.) He even made a colossal clay statue of the Prince, representing him armed with many throwing spears, but unfortunately the hot sun caused him to go to pieces more quickly than he could have wished. (Laughter.) Here, then, they had in a few words, the strange and humble past he played in the government of the British Empire. (Applause).