ed by the number of empty
ale and stout bottles cleared from their quarters.

In all that was done for the comfort and welfare of the troops, great
assistance was rendered by the Master of the ship and his officers.
Perhaps the Chief Officer was more concerned in protecting the interests
of his owners than of giving much latitude to the men who were in
transit. At times in early morn, and again late at night, his voice
could be heard in altercation with some unfortunate Australian, who had
surreptitiously made his bed in a forbidden area, or had violated some
other rule of the ship. He and his myrmidons were suspected of undue
zeal in impounding and placing in the ship's store any hammock, blanket,
or mess utensil, whose owner had momentarily left them unguarded on deck
or in some other open space. Later on, the articles so impounded were
shown as shortages in the ship's stores returned by the troops and had
to be paid for from the Battalion's funds. That Chief Officer was not
popular, but he was a good manager of his crew and kept the ship in
excellent condition.

The Master, Captain F. Chrimes, was a Lancashire man, of rather striking
personality and appearance. Some writer, who had travelled on the ship
as a passenger, has already portrayed him in one of his published books.
Captain Chrimes admired the men and, although in his official and daily
inspections he assumed an air almost of indifference to what he saw, he
was really closely observant and suggested much--and did more--to make
the conditions of life on board less uncomfortable. In quiet hours he
chatted deferentially with the Brigadier, played chess with the doctors,
or gently "pulled the legs" of the young officers. Of stories, he had a
fund. These ranged from stirring personal experiences with lions in the
East African jungles to a pathetic incident connected with the death of
his family's favourite cat. As a mark of affection, the corpse of this
cat was buried in the garden at the foot of an old grape vine. In the
first subsequent crop of fruit--so the Captain related--each grape
appeared with a slight coat of fur!

On the whole the voyage was pleasant enough and almost without unusual
incident, bar an accident or two to individuals. Perfect good feeling
existed amongst the different units during the whole of the journey.
Many friendships were made, and these early associations proved of great
value later on during the stress of work in the field. For t