this beautiful place. Very busy; rather a worrying morning; so much to
settle and arrange. Did some final shopping with the children. Met
Lord Shaftesbury at lunch. Went off to the 'Sunbeam,' feeling quite
sad that the moment of departure had at last arrived. The Admiral came
on board 'Sunbeam' at the last moment, bringing some violets as a
farewell offering. Sailed slowly away, and gradually lost sight of the
Heads in the darkness.

_Tuesday, July 19th._--At half-past twelve Tom came below to announce
our arrival off the port of Newcastle. The wind had been so fresh and
fair that we made a smart run of seven hours, sighting the lights at
Nobby Head at about half-past ten. Our head was then put off the land,
and we hove to, to wait for the tug. This is a process which to the
old salt seems a pleasure nearly equal to that of going ashore, at all
events to dropping anchor in a well-sheltered harbour. Though I
certainty cannot call myself an inexperienced sailor, it appears to me
to be the acme of discomfort. Even in a heavy gale it affords but
slight relief from the storm-tossed motion of the ship. On the present
occasion it was a change from pleasantly gliding along through the
water at a speed of nine or ten knots an hour to a nasty pitching
motion which made us all very wretched. Everything began to roll and
tumble about in a most tiresome manner; doors commenced to bang,
glasses to smash, books to tumble out of their shelves, and there was
a general upset of the usually peaceful equilibrium of the yacht. So
unpleasant was this, that I suggested to Tom that, instead of waiting
outside for the reception tug, we should get up steam and go into
harbour at daylight so as to have a few hours' rest. This we did, and
glided into the harbour precisely at 5.30 A.M., anchoring just off the
railway-pier, and quite taking the good people of Newcastle by
surprise. The town presented a great contrast to its namesake at home,
for the morning dawned bright and lovely, with hardly a smoke-wreath
to intercept the charming view. We looked out on a noble river with a
busy town on its banks and low hills in the background.

About eight o'clock the chairman of the reception committee,
Lieutenant Gardner, of the Royal Naval Brigade, came on board to
arrange the order of the proceedings. Everybody was most kindly
anxious to show us everything there was to be seen, but Tom thought
the lengthy programme would be too much for my strength, and