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[Page 14]
10
or two of the men were away fishing; but there were a gin, a lubra & a few jet black children, who returned the stare of our blue jackets without moving an eyelash. The most noticeable thing about the children was the extreme thinness of their limbs. The undergrowth on this island is very thick & in some parts very beautiful, one shrub in particular having dark green foliage, the inner portion of the leaf being of a bright red; one would almost imagine that a red paintbrush had been daubed on the centre of each particle. The water around the island is beautifully clear. Near the beach it is like crystal, a hundred yards or so from the shore it is a transparent emerald, further out still it takes on a bluish tinge. It is very inviting but I believe it is infested with sharks. A canvas bath has been arranged on the deck for the men about 12 feet square & about 3 feet deep; they had a fine time there after their jaunt ashore, fully 20 men crowding in at a time.
10 pm : I am tired enough to go to bed; but "Dear Diry", as the "Bad Boy" used to say, I must give up a few minutes to replenish your bunkers.
This afternoon at 5 o'c the "Sydney" hove in sight round Great Palm, and at 5.25 anchored close to the "Encounter". Things are beginning to look brisk with 2 Cruisers and a Transport. Some of the officers of the warships came aboard tonight; I was pleased to recognise Drs Francis and Prevost, the latter of Chatswood. Paymaster Norton, who was on the Gunboat "Protector" with me in Melbourne about 5 years ago, was also in the party. There was another officer, a Lieut-Commdr, looking like a page from Marryat with his side-whiskers, who proved to be, not Peter Simple or Frank Mildmay, but Feakes, whom I also had the pleasure of meeting in Melbourne during the visit of the American Fleet. Quite a reunion.