Photograph of a fountain which has an octagonal base, alternating lions' heads and bowls. The second tier has a hexagonal second tier adorned with fruit, scallops and fish spouts. The fountain is topped by an urn featuring cherubs. Behind (left) is the beginning of an avenue flanked by trees. In the background is the Garden Palace and Art Gallery that Princes Albert Victor and George visited during their stay in Sydney.

On July 18th Prince's Albert Victor and George were met by the Premier of New South Wales, Sir Patrick Jennings who took them to see the Garden Palace or the Great Exhibition building. In their written account of their travels on board HMS Bacchante, the Prince's recalled how they walked around the then, empty building and how it was chiefly constructed from wood and glass, covering an area of seven and a half acres. The nave stood at a height of 60 feet and the width is 50 feet and the outline of the whole building was cruciform. Shortly after the Prince's visited the Exhibition building, it was destroyed by fire on September 22nd 1882.   

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.