ips from which words of farewell and waves of good-bye wafted across
to the Morvada. The sky-line of Brotherly Love, guarded over by
William Penn on City Hall, gradually faded from view and the Sunday
afternoon wore on, as the boys spent most of their first day aboard a
transport on deck, watching the waves and admiring the beauties of
nature, revealed in all splendor as the ever-fading shore line, viewed
from the promenade deck, lost itself into the mist-like horizon of sky
and water, richly enhanced by the brilliancy of a superb sunset.

The S. S. Morvada skirted the shore for some time and for the first
few hours all was calm on deck. By night, however, sea-sickness began
to manifest itself and there was considerable coughing up over the
rail.

Besides watching the waves and the various-sized and colored fishes of
the deep make occasional bounds over the crest of the foam, the
soldiers spent their time trying to get something to eat, which was a
big job in itself.

The Morvada was an English boat, of small type, that was built in 1914
to ply between England and India, carrying war materials. The voyage
of the 311th was the second time the Morvada was used as a transport.
Except for officer personnel the ship was manned by a crew of East
Indians, whose main article of wearing apparel was a towel and whose
main occupation was scrubbing and flushing the decks with a hose, just
about the time mess call found the soldiers looking for a nice spot to
settle down with mess-kit and eating-irons. Up forward were batteries
B, D, E, and F, and the Supply Company, and aft were Headquarters
Company, Battery C, and the Medical Detachment. Each end of the ship
had its galley along which the mess lines formed three times a day.
The khaki-clad soldiers could not get used to the English system of
food rationing with the result that food riots almost occurred until
the officers of the regiment intervened and secured an improvement in
the mess system.

The first night in Halifax harbor was a pleasant relief from the
strain of suspense that attended the journey to Canadian waters. Deck
lights were lighted for the first time and vied for brilliancy in the
night with the other ocean-going craft assembled in the harbor. The
Morvada did not dock, but remained anchored in the harbor, from where
the soldiers on board could view the city and port of entry that was
the capital of the Province of Nova Scotia.

To the Southeast the city of Ha