sight. She was either the H.M.S. Bristol or the H.M.S.
Essex; her name was painted The bluejackets were massed on the decks
forward and as she went by the marines' band played "The Maple Leaf
Forever." We returned cheers with the sailors. It gives you a great thrill
to see a British ship and to have the knowledge of what it represents. To
be British is a great thing, and I'm proud to think that I'm going to
fight for my country. When this war is over and men are talking round a
table, it will be, "Where were you fighting during the war?" not "Did you
fight during the war?"

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I'm in a gun-cleaning squad every afternoon. To-day I cleaned the machine
gun on which I'm second gunner. We treat our machine guns as if they were
pets. No one will ever be able to say that my gun is dirty. It will
probably be my best friend some day.

The finding of the court-martial was read out to us on full parade this
afternoon. First the "Heavies" were lined up on all sides of the deck,
then the "Mosquitos," as the Machine Gunners are called, lined up inside;
the prisoner between an escort was led up in the center. It was
wonderfully impressive. I felt that I was to witness the condemning of a
fellow soldier to a number of years of hard labor. Over the whole assembly
there came a deathlike silence and the finding of the court was read to us
by an officer, the sentence being thirty-six days!

The second steward told me that it took two hundred carpenters twelve
hours to tear down the cabins and fix up horse fittings. First the
authorities made arrangements to ship a thousand troops on this ship.
We're crowded as we are now with only three hundred odd. I hate to think
what it would have been like with a thousand.

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Early this morning a large man-o'-war came up on the port at a speed that
made everything else seem to stop. We have now battleships on all sides.
This ship, although a long way off, looks tremendous. She is one of the
latest super-dreadnaughts.

I was on guard last night when one of the cruisers came alongside to TALK
to the captain about having lights showing in some of the ports. I enjoyed
it immensely, for I discovered that the British Navy, true to tradition,
was still able to maintain its high level of profanity. The ship is in
pitch darkness and there is no moon. On deck it's almost impossible to
walk it's so