EN ROUTE TO EGYPT.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXV, Issue 80, 8 April 1915, Page 7

EN ROUTE TO EGYPT.

A CALL AT ALBANY. ON THE EDGE OF NOWHERE. A Stratford man with the third reinforcements writes as follows to a friend in Stratford : "I promised to write and tell yon of the strange countries I might strike on my travels; and, truly, the first piece of land which got in our way, at Albany, W.A., was a strange country. When the ship got up and washed itself at reveille on February 25th land was in sight. The harbor starts, roughly, with a wide bay. Then comes a wide channel, with the mainland on one side and a strin gof islands on the other. Lastly comes the harbor proper, a largo basin, completely land-locked, entered by a channel barely a quarter of a mile across. In the basin the' water inclines to be shallow. Apparently the larger ships berth near the entrance to the basin,' which is about two miles from the town of Albany. All the wharves and jetties are very long, and walking along them one can sec the very gradual shallowing of the water. Soon after sighting land two features became prominent —sanodrifts, and masses of stone. The stone is volcanic and outcrops frequently in large smooth patches. In appearance it much resembles the water-worn rockbed seen in the Manganui Gorge on .Mount Eginont, and, low and small as the locality is, the rock masses are on the grand scale of the Manganui Gorge. It is not impossible of belief that the two stones are identical in formation. 1 cannot answer for all the sand-drifts, but there was one T noticed especially, from the fact that the drift was down to the sea and not from the sea up the hill as is usual and natural. Roughly, all the coast facing the sea is composed of the volcanic rock spoken of. I would not wonder if a river emptied into the harbor. At any rate the inner basin is plentifully supplied with sand. (■Joining towards the wharf near the entrance to the inner basin one is struck by the number of guiding marks, to enable ships either to anchor or berth. I think there were three of each mark on the hill beyond the wharf—say three triangles one behind each other, which got in line would, presumably, put a ship in the true course. As there were about a dozen of these marks, the hill looked a little like a graveyard or a rifle range. Coming off the wharf at the town the first thing noticed is the Custom House, a

large brick building. On the balcony a bluejacket Iron. 1 1. M.S. Cerberus stood at ease : he probably moves away for meals and in wet weather. All round this wharf there are guards, ! consisting of piles topped with a cross girder, for the purpose of keeping ships From bumping the wharf. As we lett the wharf 1 noticed a young gentleman and a young lady seated on the girder (on the far side) intent on catching sprats. No doubt the young idea in Albany goes catching sprats when it I has sweet nothings to swap. At any rate, the situation is a good one. The town lies on a saddle between two [low hills. Rising up from the Custom IHouse the main street is entered. It is noticeable that the buildings are all of substantial make—nothing seems jerry-built. There is quite a good show of shops in the main street facing the sea, including three hotels, one of which, the Freemason's, has some pretensions to grandeur. Turning ofl to the right, still uphill, the business part of tlie town is continued, but the buildings are not quite so new or ornamental. There are a good string of hotels in this part, probably half a dozen. The Town Hall was built in 1887, and has a good appearance outside. I think the whole of these, two streets were tarred. Passing onwards (and upwards) the backyard of tbe town is quickly reached, and while there are a good number of nice cottages, there are also many relics oi the past in the shape of cottages which look as if they had been in use ever since the town started. (At the same time there are houses in the Hutt Valley, near Trentham, which can easily beat anything Albany can produce, being built in the very oldest of old styles). The road hereabouts was very good, being gravelled with a thick sea sand or gravel. Beside the road is a grejk knob of volcanic stone. 1 saw a lad go up to the top of it and slide down again on his hands and toes. He had a large patch let into the part of his trousseau which takes the most of the wear, seeming to suggest that previously he had been in the habit of taking a slide with his lace outwards. At one point this road is cut right through a slab of the volcanic stone, which has a pretty white figure on a blue ground, and a look in general somewhat resembling marble. Emerging into the suburbs, the hills are covered with stunted scrub and very low trees of the gum variety, probably stingy bark. Hereabouts (about a mile from the wharf) the ground seems to consist of sand with a thin surface of volcanic black earth. The surface soil seems to be just a coloring—one would not like to lay down a sixteenth of an inch as its general thickness. But two market gardens (kept by Chinese) are passed, and they bore every evidence of being highly fruitful. This trip only covers about two miles from the wharf in one direction, but as far as the eye reaches there is no indication of a change of soil or general formation of the country. Tbe fruit one buys, however, indicates that, poor as the land may appear, it is good for fruit-growing. One a cursory glance there do not seem to be any industries or manufactures, though there is a brewery. Therefore, ono whose geography is not a strong point, is prono to inquire what the town lives on and what it exists for. It is probable that the whole of the residents (of whom there seem to be not over-many) live on what is spent by visiting ships. The next question that arises is, why ships should wish to go to such a place? It may be found on investigation that Albany is on tho direct route from London to Australia via Suez, and is a, half-way house between Colombo and Sydney. If so, tho planting of a settlement on the far edge of nowhere would be explained. It is probably a town merely catering for ships and sailors. The sailors are well catered for. Soon after leaving the wharf the. first hotel is met with, and they follow each other at short intervals, so that a droughty sailor-man can stroll along about a furlong and on the stroll visit somewhere up to ten houses designed to purvey refreshment for man and beast. There are rails on all the wharves, and no doubt the railway runs to somewhere. The troopships took on large quantities of fruit, of which there has been no dearth on board. The soldiers bought a good many cigarettes, prices for which are much below those ruling in New Zealand. An amusing circumstance was a certain brand of ginger-beer. It was not described as non-alcoholic, but as "non-excisable"—the plain meaning of which is that it was as strong in alcohol as it could be without being taxed. It was good stuff. While lying in the harbor some of the soldiers busied themselves catching fish, and I the result was a meal for all hands of j nice tasty mackerel. . . The police shako is a queer-looking thing, which looks very shabby, compared to the old New Zealand shako. The Post Office uniform is blue,with dark rod cloth cuffs. Near the town wharf is a nice municipal bath, which runs out into the harbor, in the style of the is good for fruit-growing. On a cursoldiers were taken for Australians. They had their greatcoats on and the letters on heir shoulder-straps could not, therefore, be seen. Mem: The local beer has a peculiar taste. For the benefit of readers who may be interested the following facts regarding Albany and appended:—Albany is a seaport town of West Australia, built on the western shore of King George's Sound, has a fine harbour, named Princess Royal, and is a, cooling station of the Peninsular and Oriental Company's steamers. Tho town was founded in 1826, and was previously a convict station. Population 4000.