Royal Chore Well Done

Australia was "discovered" a score of times before the landing of Captain James Cook in 1770, but the discoverers always sailed quickly away from what they thought to be a barren, blasted land populated by brutes. This autumn Australia has played lavish host to George V's third son, Henry, Duke of Gloucester, who sailed home last week after his most exhausting royal chore since Abyssinia (TIME, Nov. io; 1930). From one end of the Commonwealth to the other, H. R. H. has helped celebrate the 100th anniversary of the day when one Edward Henty landed a stake of cattle, poultry and ploughs in what is now Victoria. Since then Victoria has become the most thickly populated corner (1,818,080) of a Commonwealth that Britain wants to bind to herself by every possible tie of sentiment and advantage. Last week Gloucester finished a fine two-month job of binding, by sending off the first plane on the new Australia-London mail service. Aboard the plane were Gloucester's own Christmas cards to family and friends, due to reach London the day before Christmas.

Gloucester arrived in Australian waters early in October on H. M. S. Sussex, which dropped him off at Perth, capital of Western Australia. Climbing into a private car, he rolled for days through the vast desolation of the Yilgarn Goldfields, the Hampton Tableland and the red-soiled Nullarbor Plain to Adelaide (1.600 miles). There the Sussex picked him up. carried him 500 more miles to Melbourne. Six bay horses with postilion riders bore H. R. H. in the Victorian State carriage to Parliament House where he read a message from his father: "A country so richly endowed by Nature and with such great traditions can look to the future with confidence. The Queen joins in my prayer that Vic- toria will continue to advance in strength and enjoy the blessings of everlasting peace, ever increasing prosperity and happiness."

At Canberra, the bleak inland capital that has already cost Australia more than $50,000,000, a "southerly burster" caught up with Gloucester, raised floods that temporarily marooned him in Great House, gave him a case of catarrh. He had to cancel a few engagements with the "outback country."

Back in Melbourne for Armistice Day, Gloucester dedicated its great new Shrine of Remembrance to more than 60,000 Australians killed in the War, watched a beam of sunlight slant through a slit in the wall at exactly 11 a. m. and search out the Biblical inscription, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." Day before he presented the prizes to the winners of the Centenary's biggest event, the London-to-Melbourne air races (TIME, Oct. 29).

On the home stretch, he praised Tasmanian woodsmen for sawing through a 6 ft. 4 in. block of wood in 31 sec., beamed at Sydney's effort to outdo Melbourne's hospitality with a portrait of himself in fireworks 70 ft. high, and helped New South Walesmen round up 300 kangaroos.

The kind of thing that makes reception committees sweat in their sleep happened at Toowoomba, Queensland. There a fireman went up to Gloucester at a citizens' ball, ordered him to put out his cigaret. Toowoomba's Mayor threw the fireman out bodily. When the fireman returned with reinforcements, the Mayor had his police put all firemen out of the building. Then everybody made believe nothing had happened.

Last week in Brisbane, his Australian job well done, Gloucester sailed for home by way of New Zealand and the Panama Canal on the Australian cruiser, H.M.A.S. Australia, which the British Admiralty will keep for a while. It pleased Australians to think that as an officer of the Australia, the King's son is working for Australia.

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