THE PRINCE AND PRINCESS OF WALES AT ALDERSHOTT.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XIX, Issue 1945, 10 October 1863, Page 5

THE PRINCE AND PRINCESS OF WALES AT ALDERSHOTT.

The grand day of the season at Aldenhott was on Tuesday, when the Prince and Princess of Wales, accompanied l>y the Duke of Cambridge and the Princess Mary, were present at a review of about ]2,000 men of all arms, under the command of Lieutenant-General Sir J. L. Peunefather, X.0.8. The Prinoo of Wales, who wore his uniform as colonel of the JOfch Hussaps, took Ipayo of \\\a Royal oonsorfc after the march past, and mounting his charger, rode away with General Pennefather to witness the evolutions of the troops, with whom he remained during tho entire day. The Princess of Wales and the Princess Mary left their carnage and took shelter from the gcorohinf, rays of the sun under a friendly bank, where, jeajousjy guarded by a party of the garrison military police, and under the ehayge of the Duke of Cambridge, they witnessed tl>o opeuing of tjic mimic battle. As the tide of war rolled away fram the position they occupied their Royal Highnesses prooeadod to the round reservoir, and, ascending the slopes leading to the basin, they enjoyed the view from this ipofc, and could Jiofc have failed to be highly delighted with the magnificent spectacle before them. Tho Princess of Wale' was conducted by the Duke of Cambridge, who repeatedly pointed out to her Royal Highness the progress made bjr the, troops in repelling their imaginary foe. In about a quarter of a.n hour it was necessary to take up another position, and to do this the •lope/was to be descended. There was a short hurried consultation on the 'edge of the bank, which the Princess settled by at last running down it. It wm a veryeteep elope, and slippery as glass, but when once her Royal Highnesa.had begun to descend it, there was no resonrce but to go on, and in little quick steps, whioh showed she Knew her risk and was quit* equal to it, she kept her feet>nd like, an arrow. The Duke of Cambridge dar«t do all that .e'er became a man, and he fyred. fais d,e»cens after fe>o ? .but ft

is no - discredit , to one v of his inches to say that he accomplished the task, with much more difficulty aud far less grace 'than the young Princess who had set him the example. Of course, after this, etiquette expooted the rest to follow, and the Prince stood on ,the edge of the slope,* and Bought to induce tlie Prinoess Mary, who at once declined. His Royal Highness was in a manner more successful with the Marchioness of Carmarthen and the Countess of Macclesfield, whom he pommeled to come to the edge of the bank twice, out no further. The more they looked at the descent the less they seemed to like it; aud at length, with laughter, they, too, refused, and the Pnuco, liko a preux chevalier, accompanied them back to where the steps afforded them a tolerablo certainty of alighting on their feet. In the meantime the Princess had gathered np her dress, and was hurrying across the furze and heather to another hill at a fast paee — too fast, indeed, to last, for the heat was fearful, and the sultry air came up from the plain liko the bl-ists of a young simoom. With the Duke of Cambridge, however, she traversed a wide space of thick, stunted gorse, until the hill she wished to gain rose steep bofoio her, and then a halt was called, and the carriages were waited foi\ In these the party gained the hill commanding the Long Valley, "happy once, now stormy," along which there was such an upheaving of dust and roar of gun 1 ? and rifles, as b.vffled all military penetration to know what was going on within it. At three o'clock, almost as suddenly as the fight began, it ceased, when close on camp, and the I'linco aud Princess, with the Duke and the Princess Mary, piocecded to head-quarters— to the house of Sir John Peunefather. HeieLadyPenefatherhadtho honour of entertaining the whole party at lunch, and at four o'clock the Prince and Princess drove through the camp, and returned to Frogmore, after one of the most brilliant field-days which Alder^hott has seen for two years past. Mr. Coxwell's small balloon was inflated, and kept in mid air during the whole day, in order to allow of sketches being taken by two office* from this clevalcd position, and also to test the real advantage to bo derived from aerostatic aid on the battle-lield. Unfortunately wo arc obliged to clo^e this account by stating that some casualties occuncd during the day, aud that an unfortunate sergeant, named Casoy, of the 87th Keghnent, fell dead while advancing with his regiment in the morning to take np their allotted giound. — Weekly Digpatch.