Photograph of a pond, bordered by ferns and palm trees. A path runs diagonally in the foreground. In the background is a view towards the sea with ship's masts faintly visible in the background.

On July 14th HMS Bacchante with Prince's Albert Victor and George on board, anchored at Farm Cove where HMS Wolverine was also anchored. The Royal Botanic Gardens were opened in 1816 and are the oldest in Australia.  

This is a photograph from one of the nine albums compiled following Prince Albert Victor (1864-92) and Prince George of Wales' (1865-1936) world tour aboard HMS Bacchante from 1879 to 1882. The photographs were collected by their chaperon and tutor, John Neale Dalton.

The majority of the images in these albums are topographical views and architectural studies, loosely arranged according to the group’s itinerary. They include photographs of artefacts, local people and public figures, as well as portraits of the princes taken during the tour. The attempt to recreate the experience of a journey through such an assortment of images is common to many amateur travelling albums of this period. In 1886, some of the photographs in the albums were reproduced as engravings in the published accounts of the voyage, The Cruise of Her Majesty's Ship Bacchante, 1879-1882.