EN ROUTE TO EGYPT.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVII, Issue 23, 27 May 1915, Page 6

EN ROUTE TO EGYPT.

WITH THE NEW ZEALAND MEN. SOME RANDOM NOTES. (From H.M.N.Z.T. "Aparima.") Qn Sunday, March 14th, one day out from Colombo, we were called upon to attend another funeral, a-"man on ■the Tahiti' haying died since leaving .Colombo. We d,id not hear the cause of either death, but "rumor hath it" that neither was due to lever or anything causable by a dirty ship. This is something to be thankful for., ,A shipful of Ghurkas left Colombo just before us. We gave them a cheer as they .p.asesd us, and a young gentleman \\ho had taken a part in the cheering came,down below and told the company that he had just been "seeuig the Jerkers .going out." The following humorous notice appears on the door of the hospital: "Please keep, out of the hospital. ' Quite superfluous advice, one would think.

-On.March 19th D Squadron were doing some shooting at a towed target when a large school of porpoises passed very close to the ship. An officer wishto to have, a shot at them and shouted: "Hand up a rifle." The rifle was slow of coming and he became excited and shouted: "Hurry irp with that Lee-Enfield .Two-Star rifle" (or words to that effect). Getting the rifle, he sent off sonle nice shots, getting well among the fish, even when the range was about a thousand yards.

The trip up the R«d Sea was uneventful, and on March 26tli" we lay at the wharf at Suez. Disembarkation proceeded at once and the soldiers went by train tti Zeitoun, about seven miles outside Cairo.

Under date April 14th a Stratford man ''"With "the third ' ■•re'tivforcenients writes .a-s follows:—,We arrived at Zeitbun towards the end of March and are now properly settled down, the main force leaving the camp a fewdays ago. All the Stratford men are doing" well.' Corporal Schwieters lias left the infantry and is now with the divisional train, that is, the transport department. The thirds, naturally, .looked up their friends in the main body, and there was much swapping of. gossip. The weather here inclines to be warmish. The sand has characteristics of its own, hut one gets useu to it. We have not yet started hard work, though a few days .'after arrival we were turned out for review by Sir lan Hamilton. We were strange to some of the necessary drill, but came through very well.