was, apparently, a congenial
spirit in this connection and from both Prince and King he received a
good deal of favour. It was while cruising with him on board _Shamrock
II._, off Southampton, (May 22, 1901) that a heavy wind unexpectedly
strained the spars and gear too much and brought down the top-mast and
mainmast in a sudden wreck which crashed over the side of the frail
yacht. The danger to the King was very great and a difference of ten
seconds in his position would probably have given fatal results. The
visit to the yacht was, of course, a private one, but such an incident
as this made the affair very widely commented upon. The London _Daily
Express_ of the succeeding day embodied a good deal of public opinion in
the following remarks:

"King though he be, he is resolute to live the frank and free life
of an English gentleman, taking the chances of sport by land and
sea as gaily as any undistinguished son of the people, whose life
is of no smallest national import. That is the sort of King we
want, the sort of King we will die for if need be--a King who holds
his own in every manly exercise, loving sport all the more because
it contains the element of danger that possesses such a subtle
attraction for men of Anglo-Saxon blood."

Shooting was probably the favourite all-round sport of the Prince of
Wales and in this he heartily embodied one more characteristic of the
typical English gentleman. It has been described as a positive passion
with him and as being "the love of his life." His father had been a
thorough sportsman, though not a very good shot; the son became not only
a thorough sportsman but perhaps the best shot in the United Kingdom. At
seven years of age he was taught deer-stalking, at Oxford he frequently
did a day's shooting on neighbouring estates, and, in his American and
Canadian tour, a great pleasure to the young man was an occasional day's
sport. At Sandringham he early mapped out his estate into a series of
drives and soon combined with other famous shots to create and make
popular the big _battues_ which were afterwards so well known and which
came to constitute so important an event in the shooting seasons at his
Norfolk home. But His Royal Highness never confined himself to shooting
pheasants, hares, or rabbits. Deer-stalking and shooting grouse were
favourite pursuits, and he knew no greater pleasure than to spend a day,
or days, upon the moors, accom