Greeting of the Russian Fleet

“[The boat] and her neighbors were evidently in festive mood, for the sounds of gay dancing music came over the waters from their decks, and barge-loads of gaily-dressed ladies were clambering up their gangways.  After taking Mayor Opdyke aboard, the cutter made directly for the Russian flagship, the Alexander Nevsky, where she was received with much apparent satisfaction, the Admiral’s band striking up ‘Yankee Doodle’ with immense vigor as she came within earshot.  The full-manned barges of the Nevsky quickly came alongside to transfer the party to the brigade, and for a few minutes the neighborhood of the latter vessel was alive with the dancing boats and their white-capped, blue-shirted oarsmen, the gay flags of the Andrews, and the white pennon of the Russians at the stern of every barge, fluttering wildly in the fresh breeze.”