ndled. The simple thing is to pay your money and pick the
best card, knowing you can't have a full hand. So let us have no more
beating about the bush and may we be inspired to make use of the big
boom this Expedition has given to Great Britain in the Balkans to pick
out a partner straightway.

Birdie came later and we took stock together of ways and means. We see
eye to eye now on every point. Just before lunch we heard the transport
_Manitou_ had been attacked by a Turkish torpedo boat from Smyrna. The
first wireless came in saying the enemy had made a bad shot and only a
few men had been drowned lowering the boats. Admiral Rosy Wemyss and
Hope, the Flag-Captain, of the Q.E. were my guests and naturally they
were greatly perturbed. Late in the evening we heard that the Turkish
T.B. had been chased by our destroyers and had run ashore on a Greek
Island where she was destroyed (international laws notwithstanding) by
our landing parties.

At 7.30 p.m. Hunter-Weston came along and I had the best part of an hour
with him.

_17th April, 1915. S.S. "Arcadian." Lemnos._ Hunter-Weston came over
early to finish off business left undone last night. Admiral Wemyss also
took part in our discussions over the landing. Picture puzzles are
child's play compared with this game of working an unheard of number of
craft to and fro, in and out, of little bits of beaches. At mid-day the
_Manitou_ steamed into harbour and Colonel Peel, Commander of the
troops, came on board and reported fully to me about the attack by the
Turkish torpedo boat. The Turks seem to have behaved quite decently
giving our men time to get into their boats and steaming some distance
off whilst they did so. During the interval the Turks must have got wind
of British warships, for they rushed back in a great hurry and fired
torpedoes at so short a range that they passed under the ship. Very
exciting, we were told, watching them dart beneath the keel through the
crystal clear water. I can well believe it.

Went ashore in the afternoon to watch the Australian Artillery embark.
Spoke to a lot of the men, some of whom had met me during my tour
through Australia last year.

General Paris came to see me this evening.

_18th April, 1915. S.S. "Arcadian." Lemnos._ Working all morning in
office. In the afternoon inspected embarkation of some howitzers.
D'Amade turned up later from the _Southland_. We went over the landing
at Kum Kale. He is in full sympathy and understa