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day, in order to wait for Lawrence, who could not get his kit ready in time. We left Victoria at 8.30 a.m. intending to cross by Boulogne, but at arriving at the boat, we were not allowed on board, because of some absurd new regulation about passports, which we had not complied with. We rushed up to the French Consulate, had the necessary changes made, but on our return the boat had already left, and we had to wait for the 12 o'clock boat to cross via Dieppe. On the boat I met Will Irwin. Fortunately we reached Paris in time to catch the 9 o'clock train to Milan.
Friday March 26th
We spent all day in the train arriving in Milan at 3 p.m. and as we did not leave until 9.30 p.m. we had time to visit the Cathedral and other sights.
Saturday March 27th
We arrived in Rome at 10 a.m. and went to the Grand Hotel. I then found that it would be impossible to cross from Syracuse to Malta until Wednesday evening, so that I might just as well have stayed in London another two days. At this time, we knew nothing of what was happening at the Dardanelles, except from unofficial reports written from the Island or from Athens, and the short official statements occasionally appeared. All I knew was that there was to be a landing on the Gallipoli Peninsular, on a large scale, and that I understood the Expedition was almost ready to start and this made me extremely keen to reach my destination without delay. I took Lawrence for a long drive around Rome, and we visited all the usual historic spots with the inevitable guide. My heart being at the Dardanelles