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and about ½ an hour trying to get the men settled & was glad to find where my cabin was & get my equipment off. The cabin is one of the 1st Class, & opens onto one of the decks: two-berth, Vine Hall being my travelling companion. At the time it was full up of gear, chiefly company stuff addressed to Vine Hall as O.C. but it was a relief to have some place to go to to unharness.
Meantime the artillery unit, - reinforcements numbering abt. 400, & under Lieut Roche who was a contemporary at H.A.C. [Hawkesbury Agricultural College], - had reached the wharf & were having their roll called.
Went below & again & found they were just commencing to pay the men; had to give a hand, in one lull running up on deck to find that Jocelyn was waiting on the wharf. The next time I came up the wharf gates had been opened & the wharf below was one seething mass of people, while the decks were similarly occupied by the men. Streamers were soon linking both parties up, making a very pretty sight. When at last I caught sight of Harry near the gangway, I at once went down to the entrance but found that the gangway was just about to be lowered & consequently could not get permission to go down & shake hands. It was nice to have one friend in the big crowd, & thanks to Father's glasses & Harry's somewhat unique helmet I was able to keep him in sight as the ship moved from the wharf & made down stream to the anchorage.
From Fort Macquarie until 11.30 was busy seeing abt the arrangements for the men's mess. It took another hour to see them properly fed, then came a wait of another hour before our lunch was ready: menu was excellent, but we were so hungry that anything would have done. While sitting down to it the ship began to move, & going up on deck we