... overheard by the officers and singers of the ship, stated that such arrangement could not be permitted, that His Majesty must go to Government House at once, he would not be received there at all, that the state of the relations existing between the Governor and myself rendered it out of the question that the King should go to East Point, and that if he did go, the consequences would be serious. He further asserted that the unsatisfactory relations between His Excellency and myself were brought about by hostility on my part and made capital reference to the public meeting of October 1878, having been got up against the Governor.
I endeavoured to explain to Dr. Eitel that the King had accepted the invitation for the night only, and in consequence of the lateness of the hour, which induced His Majesty to prefer going to the Consulate until the morning, when a public landing could take place and an official reception be given at Government House.