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[Page 7]
the guards the W.A. Officers (Col. Batty did not appear) sent for Major Gallagher, our own Major who said that if the men did not go back he would resign, so they returned to camp.
Friday 31/12/15. Short route march this morning – went to Perth in the afternoon where a great crowd were parading the streets whilst civilians actually took positions on the railway bridge and balconies to see, as they thought, the N.S.W. boys wreck the town. They had previously seen a few N.S.W. boys in a riot which wrecked Erpfs shop but the civilians started it. However, the papers gave our boys a bad name and to show how silly they were the following should be noted. Collins our C.C. had to take a W.A. infantry picket to night and as he would sooner have his own men he asked us to volunteer for the duty, and fall in at the Post Office at 7.30. This we did and Collins marched us to the Barracks and said we volunteered for picket, but they would not accept it. Next morning the newspapers said that about 200 men (meaning us) had surrendered. After falling in with the picket we went to the Dandies and then afterwards walked round the town till the time to catch our train at 11.50 which did not leave till about 12.15. Thus we saw the old year out and the new one in, sitting in the train at Perth Station.
Saturday 1/1/16.We left Blackboy Hill, giving 3 hoots for Col. Batty, at about 1.15 p.m. and embarked about 2.15 p.m. We did not sail till about 4 p.m. and by that time a large crowd had congregated to see us off and the streamers again began to appear. At last we set sail and faced out to sea, the weather being beautiful and so finding a good seat on the boat deck I saw there determined to see all I could of our native land before I departed for goodness knows how long.
After passing the breakwater the City (Freemantle) gradually became smaller till it looked like a clump of wild flowers in a big bare paddock and glancing at the coast one does not wonder that the early explorers found nothing inviting about it. Slowly we leave the land behind us fading gradually away as the distance envelopes it with a thin grey veil and the ships near the coast do the disappearing trick one after the other over the horizon. On the starboard side there is still a peninsula visable set in a