Item 02: John Duncan McRae diary, 11 December 1916-9 February 1917 - Page 16

[Page 16]

leads into one of the forbidden areas & had to stop all soldiers who attempted to pass. We had an easy and pleasant time, especially with the little dark children who came round to talk to us, I had three of them with me all the time and they proved themselves real little "birds". The eldest was 13 and his signature is on the next page. He works in a wine factory & goes to night school and is remarkably smart & cute. Like lots of others he speaks English & Dutch well & has a fair idea of the Kaffir tongue. In fact he started teaching me the Dutch. During the afternoon I had a couple of dozen cheap fruit & some toffee & we four sat along the footpath & had a fine little party all to ourselves, much to the amusement of passers-by & much to the gratification of the natives. While there I also saw great numbers of Malays; the Malay ladies wear coverings over all the face except the eyes but are pretty and also dress beautifully & seem quite superior to the native blacks.

Picquet was over & I got to Pres. Church