Item 02: John Duncan McRae diary, 11 December 1916-9 February 1917 - Page 82

[Page 82]

many of them the trees also looked very nice and promised to present a picturesque scene in springtime. Everything looked extremely homely & inviting. The old-time houses, the occasional ruin, the unpretentious structures of every kind all seemed quite familiar to us although we had never seen them before. The whole place seemed very quiet. Very few people were seen at all, beyond the officials etc who came aboard. After staying in the outer approach to Dartmouth harbour for a few hours we steamed into the inner harbour & there tied up to a buoy. This harbour is most commodious & the entrance is long, narrow & circuitous & in fact the general shape is not unlike that of Port Jackson although it is not so big. There were many ships of all classes to be seen. We passed small torpedo boats, destroyers etc, and later, a number of old-timers one of which, the "Impregnable" was very much after the style of Nelson's "Victory" which is at Portsmouth. We did not see enough of the city to say anything about it.