Item 01: Irene Victoria Read letters from her husband, 27 November 1914-1 November 1915 - Page 95

[Page 95]

Just before lunch we passed Mocha – we were a good distance away from the town but with the aid of glasses could make out the curious flat topped houses, the semicircular domes of some of the buildings & the tall lighthouse looking like a big barber's pole with its alternate bands of red & white. In the afternoon a deck hockey match between the Nos 1 & 2 General Hospitals took place, our hospital being victorious.
On Sunday 10th January we passed the lonely Daedalus lighthouse marking a small shoal in the middle of the Red Sea. In the early morning of the next day we entered the Gulf of Suez – land in sight on both sides – barren & rugged mountain country. On the starboard side there was a wide stretch of gradually rising sand between the shore & the foot of the mountains. Each prominent mountain peak that we passed was reckoned by some one or other to be Mount Sinai – as a matter of fact it is some considerable distance inland & has probably never been seen from the deck of a ship. At breakfast time the "Maliva" bound for London passed us – the family of one of our officers was on board her. I felt quite jealous of him that it was not my folk that were so close instead of his. We heard that she had mail aboard for us but I do not hope to get any as any letters she may be carrying for me will probably be addressed to London.