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that we transport officers were well looked after on board each day.
Everything in connection with this Line seemed to me during my time at
Southampton to be very well done, and so our work went swimmingly.

Besides myself were Lieutenants McDonald, Nelson, and Crawford, R.N.,
as Transport Officers, and we co-operated with a staff of military
officers under Colonel Stacpole, D.A.A.G., with whom we got on very
well, so that we ran the work through quickly and without a hitch. Sir
Redvers Buller left Southampton in the _Dunottar Castle_ on the 15th
October, and we all saw him off; in fact, McDonald and I represented
the Admiralty at the final inspection of the ship before sailing.
There was, of course, a scene of great enthusiasm, and many people
were there, among whom were Sir Michael Culme Seymour, Alexander
Sinclair his Flag-Lieutenant, and Lady and Miss Fullerton. All this
time we were more than busy inspecting and getting ships ready up to
the 22nd, when the departure of the First Army Corps commenced; we got
away five transports that day within half an hour of each other, all
taking some 1,500 men; they were, if my memory serves me, the _Malta_,
_Pavonia_, _Hawarden Castle_, _Roslin Castle_, and _Yorkshire_; the
next few days we did similar work from 8 a.m. till dark, getting away
about three ships a day on an average.

During the week Commander Heriz, R.N., and myself, representing the
Admiralty, inspected the hospital ships _Spartan_ and _Trojan_ before
their start; they had been fitted out under the Commander's
superintendence, and were perfect; in fact, one almost wished to be a
sick man to try them! All these continued departures aroused great
public interest; on one day we had the Commander-in-Chief (Lord
Wolseley), Lord Methuen, Sir William Gatacre, and many other Generals;
and on another the Duke of Connaught came to see the 1st Bn. Scots
Guards off in the _Nubia_ and gave them a message from the Queen; he
came again a few days later to see his old regiment, the Rifle
Brigade, off in the _German_, and he and the Transport Officers were
photographed many times. I was told afterwards that my own portrait
appeared very often in the cinematographs of these scenes, which were
then very popular and were exhibited to crowded audiences in all the
London and Provincial Music Halls and elsewhere. I was very pleased on
this occasion to meet my old First Lieutenant of the _Cambrian_, now
Commander Mark Kerr, R.N., w