Read it through once

Following this function the Royal couple passed through streets lined with troops and sailors and cheering crowds and at times presenting the appearance of a net-work of colour, a canopy of bunting. In the grounds of the Provincial Building His Royal Highness laid the foundation-stone of a monument erected by the Government and people of Nova Scotia in honour of the Provincial heroes who had fallen in South Africa. The procession then passed on to a handsome arch, guarded by a detachment of Royal Engineers, where the Duke inspected the members of the British Veterans' Society who were drawn up on parade. Conspicuous amongst them was a negro holder of the V.C. Thence the parade continued to the Dockyard where the Royal couple went on board the _Ophir_, which had come up from Quebec during the long inland tour. In the afternoon a great review and massing of many thousands of soldiers and sailors, infantry, cavalry and artillery, was held on the Halifax Common in the presence of a crowd of spectators--probably twenty-five thousand in number. The troops were under the supreme command of Colonel Biscoe, and the Royal Naval Brigade included four thousand sailors from twelve of Britain's most modern cruisers. It was a sight such as had never been witnessed in Canada before and the review eclipsed in effect the previous military spectacle at Toronto; while the environment of great fortifications and a harbour full of war-ships enhanced the character of the scene. Near the Royal pavilion was a stand containing six thousand school children who sang patriotic songs.