From The Peninsula.
THE TRIP OF THE TOFUA. ' PLEASANT AND UNEVENTFUL. (By C.S.K.) The following notes jotted down on the return trip I'roin hospital in Egypt may be found of interest, though they are only such as would be made on an ordinary voyage:— I September 22.—Left Zeitoun well on in the morning Cor Suez. Cultivation stretched as far as the eye could see until the branch line for Suez was taken, when desert patches became somewhat frequent. Perhaps half way along the branch cultivation was conlined to one side of the line; and over the last stretch the landscape was pine and simple desert. Getting towards the pure desert is the little station of Tel-el-Kebir, with no sign of a settlement in sight. No doubt the famous battle took place somewhere in the vicinity. On this branch also is Ismalia. a biggish town a short distance from the railway, which will always be remembered as the vicinity where the Xew Zealauders first went under lire. Near Suez El Kubri is passed. Here also New Zealauders fasted lire. The landscape hereabouts (El Kuhri) is of a particularly desolate nature. Across the Canal the ground gradually rises to a good height, not a vestige of vegetation being visible. On the African side there are also high hills, which, being nearer to the traveller, display with greater distinctiveness, a degree of dry, dreary desolateness depressing in the extreme.
Arrived at Suez about six o'clock and embarked at once on the Tol'ua. September 28.—Left Suez about noon. The weather was extremely hot and most of those on board perspired freely—more freely than was pleasant. There was not a breath of wind and the sea was like glass.
September 24,—Passed a lighthouse standing on a sand-bank, which had very little water over it. The bank is interesting in being quite away,from all signs of land, none being visible iu any direction. It may be many miles in front of the mouth of a very big river, but I doubt it. More likely it, is the remnant of. a small island which has been gradually eroded, the sand resting on the rocky backbone of the land, which refuses to be eroded. Although out of sight of land, birds from land visited the ship. One I saw resembled a lark. Birds visited us in this fashion on the trip to Egypt. September 26.—Since coming on board I have spoken to very few men. or, more properly, very few men have offered remarks to me.* I suppose it 'is merely because we are strangers in a strange place and need a few days to get used to things. To-day quite a number of men have spoken to me, entirely Without provocation on my part: it is' believable'that a certain number of men have hitherto been too shy or too proud to speak, but, now, after four days afloat they find they must speak or burst, shyness or pride notwithstanding. I have formed the opinion, however, that New Zealandei's are much less talkative than Old Country men. So far I have not heard anybody holding forth in his doings on"the Peninsula; but in hospital the Old Country lads I met there were never happy unless relating their experiences, most often of a highly uninteresting nature. Some of these experiences 1 came to know by heart owing to their being repeated on every occasion when a stranger happened ,to be in the room.
A stoker informed me that a group of islands we passed in the early evening was called The Twelve Apostles, there being about twelve steepsided, arid-looking islets. Regarding the speed of the ship, he said she was going very well "considering the heat." This set me thinking what the heat had to do with the matter, and he explained that when the weather was so very hot the stokers could not work as hard as usual and keep the iircs up to standard. He said the men in the coal-bunkers were worse oil: than the men in the stokehold. In the latter there was ventilation, but the bunkers were unventilated. Running a ship, therefore, is very much like anything else—at some point or other success depends upon the personal exertions of human beings. The ship has a lovely-looking set of turbine engines, but they alone cannot make her go fast. The deciding factor is the exertions of the stokers and trimmers, and if the weather is so hot that the stokers and trimmers cannot stand up to the work of keeping the tires "just so" all the machinery in the world cannot give the ship the hurry-up feeling. We gentlemen of the infantry were instructed on similar lines—alter all the latest things in the way ol artillery, bombs, grenades, etc., have been played on the enemy, the essential finishing touch has to lie applied by hand, per medium of the bayonet. September 27.—Arrived at Aden about noon and at once set about coaling. We were anchored in the stream and the coal was brought alongside in sacks in barges and put on the steamer entirely by manual labor, as at Colombo. Before the first coal-barge
arrived, however, a score of more of bum-boats had gathered round and very soon there was a babel of voices in the process of beating down the natives, who had every conceivable article for sale. Aden is a place well worth seeing, and, having been seen 3 leaving under the horizon as early as possible. Egypt is a dry counrty. During the three more or less pleasant months 1 spent in it I never saw rain once, and I believe that the rain showers during a>year are few and far between. But in Aden, we are told (perhaps it is a. tale for travellers), that sometimes there is a spell of seven years-between showers. Aden ,therefore, can be no place for a man from Taranaki. The harbor has high hills on both sides—not "rolling hills, parts ploughable," not "unimproved sheep country," capable of carrying at sheep and a half to 29| acres, not "country" in any farming sense, but steep hills of pure unadulterated rock, on which a fly could not find food. The country at the back seems arid, for the low plain vanishes under the horizon without showing any hills capable of furnishing a water supply. Where we were anchored, no doubt, was opposite the British military portion of the town, which is situated on a small flat, running also up a spur somewhat Less steep than the others in the vicinity. The high hills here show indications of roads, but the naked eye cannot detect any sign of the fortifications which must surely exist. 1 pity the poor infantry who are ever called upon to fight up these slopes—the Peninsula would be a picnic compared to that operation. We were told that on the day previously there had been a brush with Turks, about three miles away from the town.
A number of officials visited us soon after arrival, easily the most imposing being a British naval officer. Included in the visitors were two members of the crew of H.M.S. Philomel. September .28.—Continued coaling throughout the day. This morning a member of the Ofcago Battalion died and was taken ashore for burial. In the early evening there was an "electrical display" in the eastern sky. It was, no doubt, supposed to bo lightning, but it was of such a wishywashy description that "an electrical display" is all the name it deserved. There was a great deal of electrical energy let loose, but there was nothing of the sharp and sudden nippiness that makes one sit up with a start which is characteristic of New Zealand lightning. Whereas New Zealand lightning acts as if it had been shot out of a gun, this Aden stuff looked as if it had been slowly tipped out of a bucket. Of course there was no thunder or rain accompanying the performance, which thus lost a lot of its force. Further, it took place in a hunch of clouds, which might have been fifty miles away, and the sky for the, most part was entirely clear. Before "Lights Out" anchor was weighed, and Aden was bidden adieu. (To lie Continued).
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Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVIII, Issue 55, 3 November 1915, Page 5
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1,377From The Peninsula. Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVIII, Issue 55, 3 November 1915, Page 5
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