xiii ON THE HOMEWARD TRAIL- 285 



bring any of them back in my bag. Judging by his look of 

 surprise, he was hardly expecting this kind of a repartee from 

 one who was obviously a thick-headed Britisher, but it had 

 the effect of getting my kit through the station without any 

 inspection. 



On arrival at the Waldorf Hotel I met Mr. Niedieck and 

 also Elphinstone and Vander Byl. After dinner we paid a 

 visit to the great New York Horse Show, then in full swing 

 at Madison Square. The place was crowded with an 

 immense throng of smartly dressed men and women up till a 

 late hour at night, and the whole exhibition, from the horses 

 to the general arrangements for the convenience of the 

 competitors and spectators, was magnificent. 



As the Kaiser Wilhelm II., the finest ship of the Nord- 

 deutscher- Lloyd Line, was leaving New York early next 

 morning, and she is the most luxurious and fastest liner in 

 the world, I decided to journey home on board this boat. 

 The fact that the Oceanic was leaving one day later induced 

 Elphinstone, Vander Byl, and other Englishmen more patriotic 

 than myself, to travel by the English line. In consequence, 

 an examination of the list of passengers on board the Kaiser 

 Wilhelm revealed the fact that the Duke of Roxburghe and 

 myself were the only two Englishmen amongst the lot. 

 The former was returning home after his recent marriage in 

 New York, and previous to that event he had just completed 

 a very successful shooting trip in Wyoming, where he 

 informed me he had been fortunate enough to secure a very 

 fine wapiti and also a good head of the Rocky Mountain 

 big-horn sheep, which are now getting hard to procure in that 

 country. 



Time does not drag heavily on board the great Atlantic 

 liners of to-day, and on such a one as the Kaiser Wilhelm II., 



