ine of the days was deadly monotonous with a break of a concert
on Saturday and church on Sunday. Unfortunately, we had on board only
two who could sing and one who thought he could recite. And even of
those whose performance exceeded their own opinion we got tired before
the journey ended. There were others who attempted to entertain us who
afflicted us so much that after three performances we gave them the
choice of suicide or having their tonsils cut, so the concerts petered
out and the audience at the last one did not pay for the moving of the
piano.

The shipping company who had transferred the ship to the Admiralty for
the duration of the war still kept on the catering, and retained the
same bill of fare as on their passenger trade. There was a good deal
of variety and we always were able to get enjoyment with wondering what
we would have for the next meal. They even helped us out a bit by
calling the same dish by different names on different days and the same
curry tasted differently under the names of "Madras," "Bengal,"
"Simla," "Ceylon," "Indian," and "Budgeree," and the cooking would even
have satisfied Americans. The nurses were seated at one long table in
the saloon and formed an island completely surrounded by officers. The
twins were on opposite sides of the table, and of course we always
found after dinner that we had been signalling to the wrong one. We
observed a good deal of ceremony and always stood to attention until
the nurses were seated, but the nurse who came in late and made us
interrupt an interesting conversation with a tender chicken got plenty
of black looks. When the matron rose we stood to attention again while
they filed out and then "carried on" with the meal.

One morning there was great excitement. Up from the lower decks the
electric current of expectancy ran until every one's steps quickened
and those of us who were on wooden legs beat a constant tattoo on the
decks. What means this eager, anxious thrill? To-morrow we would
sight Australia! Only 43,200 seconds--720 minutes--or 12 hours, and
once again we would view the fairest continent planted by God in the
seas. Mind you, the first sight of Australia (going that way) is not
very attractive. Rottenest Island, outside Fremantle, is sandy and
barren and really not much to boast about, yet had you spread before us
a scene from the Garden of Eden it had not charmed us half so much.
For this was part of Australia, the la