entertained us before his act by taking a left hand corner too fast and falling down, unshipping his riders rather only those shot by Sub-Lieutenant McQueen and Chief heavily in the process. Petty Officer Hunter were recovered and brought back It was evident that the crowds in Gambia were not on board. Unless a crocodile is killed instantly on the used to being regimented for, despite the efforts of the bank by a shot behind the eye, it will take to the water in a flash, sink and die at the bottom of the creek where enthusiastic topee-wearing assistants, the ranks were con- it cannot be recovered. It is said that it will refloat after tinually being broken by laughing Africans. Finding about six hours provided it has not been devoured by its his view obscured by the throng, the Duke of Edinburgh relations and friends. left his seat to get a better view from inside the much The Duke of Edinburgh invited the local Chiefs on diminished space encircled by the crowd. board to a reception on the Wednesday evening and the While this was going on, the cricket team were being next morning attended the 14th conference of Chiefs of badly shaken by the presence of a county cricketer in the the Gambia Protectorate. The Protectorate is a strip opposing side; later, they repaired to the one and only of land, no more than fifteen miles wide in places, running hotel, the Atlantic, to drown their sorrows. along both banks of the river with a very loosely defined After dinner that evening, his Royal Highness landed frontier where the jungle is almost impenetrable. Some to watch the procession in the main street, a colourful of the Chiefs who attend these conferences are likely to torchlight procession headed by models of ships of all come from adjoining French territory since they are not eras, illuminated from the inside. always sure to whom they owe allegiance. With the Governor and Lady Wyn-Harris on board, At the conference, which was watched by a number we slipped at 6 a.m. and proceeded 75 miles up-river to of officers and Yachtsmen, his Royal Highness sat on a Sankwia. We stopped on the way for part of the fore dais facing a space on the other side of which the Chiefs noon at Salekeni for the Duke of Edinburgh to be taken sat in a semi-circle. They were called forward to be up a long creek in the mangrove swamps on a crocodile presented by their respective District Commissioners, and moved to greet his Royal Highness with great dignity. shoot. The party returned with two dead crocodiles lashed across the bows of the shark boat, one of which After his Royal Highness had lunched on board had caused considerable consternation by coming to life the Governor's yacht, we proceeded down-river and, at again an hour after it had been assumed to be dead. tea-time, anchored off Tendaba Creek. The Royal party went off after crocodiles once more for about two hours, The journey up the mile-wide river was very peaceful but were not so fortunate on this occasion for they were for everyone except Commander (N). We steamed slowly past forests of green mangroves, which crowded unable to recover the two which they shot. While trying to turn the Yacht in midstream after muddy breaks in the banks, crocodiles basking in the the Duke of Edinburgh had re-embarked, we found our- selves stuck in the mud by the bows. Fortunately the sunlight. Further up near Sankwia there were clearings where rice was being cultivated, the mangrove trees having been ringed to be destroyed later by the toledo astern into deeper water and complete the turn. The worm. river was very shallow and in places there was no more We anchored off Sankwia at 5 p.m. That evening than three or four feet of water under the keel. and the next morning, several boat loads of officers and We steamed down-river to arrive off Bathurst at 11 p.m. and found the S.S. Apappa alongside, decorated river to shoot crocodiles. Of the many which were hit, with a string of coloured lights and displaying a magni- ficent crown made up also with coloured lights. 68 69 Before he left, the Governor had very generously provided each officer and Yachtsman with a unique memento of our visit. It consisted of a copy of the Gibraltar Interlude programme of the Chiefs' conference enclosed in an envelope on which were a set of Gambia stamps franked Wednesday, 6th - Friday, 15th February with the stamp of the travelling post office which plies Although Bathurst was the end of the Duke of up and down the river. With an added kind thought, Edinburgh's tour proper, his Royal Highness remained he had arranged for each of our names to be typed on on board until the State Visit to Lisbon began. the envelope. We sailed from Bathurst to Gibraltar with our accus- We remained hove to off Bathurst while the Gover- tomed wonderful weather, arriving at Gibraltar on Wednesday, 6th February. The finals of the various nor went ashore by boat. He must have raced to Government House by car because, when we passed it deck competitions were completed on this passage and on our way out to sea, the house was lit up and the the final touches to our tanned torsos were also added. Governor was personally lighting a barrage of fireworks Two very fine exhibitions were held before arrival in a farewell salute to the Duke of Edinburgh. in Gibraltar. The first was an exhibition of handicraft completed during the voyage; the range and quality The rockets which soared from BRITANNIA'S flag deck were not only a fitting reply but, as they burst in the of exhibits was completely unexpected and very impress- sky and dazzled the eye with descending stars, were also symbolic of the close of a most colourful voyage. Edward Seago's oil paintings and it was a delight to So ended a chapter of our lives which we shall never be able to recall, by casting one's eye around the Rec. Space, so many of the scenes we had enjoyed over the forget. A fabulous voyage of discovery was over: a voyage of discovery in that we had looked into the lives previous six weeks. At 9 a.m., Wednesday, 6th February, his Royal High- richer for the experience; a fabulous voyage in that we ness conned us into No. 1 Dock at Gibraltar where we had accompanied a Royal Prince to the far corners of the earth and had seen from his example how men of integ- our side and re-varnish the bulwark cappings in prepara- rity and understanding will always be accepted into the tion for Lisbon. All hands were very busy, the seamen hearts of people wherever they may live and whatever working hard to give the Yacht a face-lift, the engineering their colour or creed may be. and electrical departments catching up on maintenance routines and the supply department preparing for the next stage of the voyage. Lieutenant-Commander Parker flew home on the day of arrival followed by Sir Raymond Priestley and Mr Edward Seago on the next day. Viscount Cilcennin left the day before we sailed from Gibraltar. We were sorry to see them go since all four had contributed so much to our lives on board during those long days at sea. We found time to complete our shopping lists, to see if La Linea and Algeciras were still the same, to visit our friends in the Home Fleet who were there in force and to play them at various games out of working hours. 70 71 The Duke of Edinburgh's visit was informal and the Yacht therefore wore the union flag of an Admiral of the Fleet at the main instead of his Royal Highness's H.M. The Queen's State Visit to Portugal personal standard. His Royal Highness visited several units of the fleet, much to their pleasure, and the good ITINERARY weather allowed him to enjoy sailing his yachts. ARRIVE PLACE DEPART DISTANCE We steamed out of the dock at 8 a.m. on Friday, 15th GIBRALTAR . 0800 15th February 0810 16th February SETUBAL . 0445 18th February 296 February, the Duke of Edinburgh taking over on the 1030 18th February LISBON . 1430 21st February.. 57 bridge to guide us in making a sternboard out through 1400 24th February PORTSMOUTH - 876 the southern entrance of the harbour. 1,229 Although we had enjoyed seeing Gib. once more, we all felt that the visit was nothing more than a neces- After leaving Gibraltar at 8 a.m. on Friday, 15th sary interlude and we were glad to be on the move again. February, the wind and sea increased throughout the day and on Friday night until it was blowing force 7 to 8 during the middle watch. The Yacht, with her stabilisers out, rode the weather very comfortably but the escorting destroyers, Chieftan, Chevron and Chaplet had rather a rough time. Our only complaint was that the spray took the shine off our newly polished paint. We sighted the entrance to the Rio Sando during the morning watch on Saturday and as we crossed over there was very little wind and the day promised to be fine. Keeping close to the rugged hillside on the port hand, to avoid the sandbanks to starboard, we passed a headland with a formidable looking fort, at the back of which was built a large hospital for those suffering from bone tuberculosis.