Typical thatch buildings on Queen Salote's estate form background to traditional entertainment (NPS Photograph). almost as a mother would alongside her daughter. It had been Queen Salote's intention that Queen Elizabeth's visit to one of the smallest British protectorates should as far as possible give her guests an opportunity to relax, and in spite of the damp heat, that intention was largely fulfilled. The Queen and the Duke, it can be said, enjoyed extremely and even looked forward to the air of the improbable which surrounded the programme for their entertainment. On their first night in Nukualofa—Queen Salote's wooden Palace was given over entirely to her guests—the Royal party watched and enthused over a series of hula dances given in their honour at the residence of the British agent and consul, Mr J. E. Windrum. Here Her Majesty bestowed on Queen Salote the Grand Cross of the Victorian Order. The failure of the electric lighting system at this party amused the Royal guests, and the fact that the Minister of Police, who lived next door, felt sufficiently satisfied about his security arrangements to give a party of his own, was rather typical of life in the Friendly Isles. And at some time during that night, under a lovely tropical moon, as near full as it could be, Queen Salote's silver band marched through Nukualofa and played ‘Rule Britannia’ until nigh on the point of exhaustion. Only the reappearance of Queen Elizabeth and the Duke prevented more repetition and the cheers from the crowd of waiting people drowned and submerged the by now really plaintive music. Queen Elizabeth and the Duke might well have likened their visit to the kingdom of Tonga to a modern fairy tale—just as many actually did. They slept in a palace which had been built by New Zealand contractors, and they saw in the grounds a tortoise authentically said to have been brought to Tonga by Captain Cook. In any event it looked its age, and it and its keepers were much photographed by the visiting Queen. Moonlight bathed the island and clad the sea in shimmering silver, and around the palace, which has as its only normal protection a coral wall 3ft. high, a night vigil was mounted by voluntary guards, who sat in groups of four over little flickering camp fires. At dawn, four nose flautists—amid other noises of the morning—began their gentle wailing. To play a primitive flute with the nose is a fast-dying art in Tonga, and Queen Salote's secretary, who is also keeper of the records, had the utmost difficulty in finding three other enthusiasts to join him. The visiting Queen watched a programme of posture and action dances of exceptional vigour, quality and grace. These followed more the Fijian style with the exception of one importation from Samoa, in which women and young maidens sat on the ground and moved from position to position with hand actions and song. But the beaters found a hollow log drum in-