April 26th, 1873. Fine.

At ten o'clock we were taken to the naval dockyards at the express wish of the king. The dockyards are on the coast in the east, and we went first to the docks themselves, which are on the seashore and very basic in construction, for the ships are simply moored directly to the bank. Here we were shown three iron-clads with turrets.

Next we went to the training facilities, where we watched a company of the royal Norwegian guards, more than one hundred men, being drilled. There is only one company of these Norwegian royal guards, and they are apparently accommodated here. The king himself was already present; he took Ambassador Iwakura by the hand, and they observed the proceedings together. Soon after the king's departure we boarded our carriages and returned along the route taken by His Majesty, following on the heels of his carriage, so we saw his military escort. His coach was protected by two platoons of guardsmen at the front and back, and his roofed one-man vehicle was surrounded by guns and helmets moving in a dignified manner. It is a great mistake to suppose that European monarchs are but lightly protected and do not travel in ceremonial procession.

At two o'clock in the afternoon we went to the museum of antiquities [now the National Museum]. The collection of old bronze artefacts from three thousand years ago includes a kind of sword in use at that time which had been found in excavations at various sites in Sweden, Norway and Denmark.