Item 01: George R. Faulkner war diary, 1 February-14 March 1916 - Page 26

[Page 26]

Authoritys on shore – both military & Medical, the first batch of about 600 were allowed ashore, in a body in barges & had to do a Route March thro the City to the Military Barrack where we halted & all sorts of things are to be purchased. One very soon realizes the Cingalese as a race are born money grabbers & keen bargainers – they generally start off at a price 5 or 6 times its real value & one soon realizes he is foolish to give the price asked.
We were allowed (my 20 men) an hours liberty to do the City & of course indulged in the oft heard of Rickshaw, some of these nigs would keep up if not exceed the average horse for a couple of miles, we were backing our nigs to race others & so on, some of them would bite & go like fury. The absence of horses is very noticeable, bullocks take their places – seems to be