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[Page 22]
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Today the "Bobby Towns" from Townsville came alongside & discharged a large cargo of provisions for the expedition. Nothing of note occurred till
9.0 pm : "O what a falling off was there" (Hamlet). My beard has vanished. Touched by the magic hand of the ship's barber those shoots, those glorious sprouts, those blankety blank blank excrescences have disappeared, &, as an old friend of mine remarked on the death of his neighbour's favourite dog, "A damned good job too!"
10.30 : No sign of the "Grantala" yet. I must be up at 3 am to go the rounds. Bon Soir!
Wed Sept 2 : A beautiful morning. At 6.30 am the signalman reported "Submarine coming from the North". This proved to be A.E.1, of the Australian Fleet. A.E.2 appeared shortly after around the southern side of Gt. Palm & ran alongside her sister under the starboard quarter of the "Sydney". A whisper went round during the morning that we would weigh anchor at 4 pm & proceed northward.
6.30 pm. Precisely at 4 o'clock the "Sydney" began to move ahead followed by the "Encounter", "Berrima" and "Aorangi". The submarines scouted on either side of the larger warships & the whole fleet made quite an imposing spectacle. Evidently we are going on without the "Grantala" & "Star of England". None of us are sorry to get a move on though we have not been made aware of our ultimate destination. At sunset the four larger vessels were in single line ahead with both submarines on the starboard beam. About 5.30 pm we passed Hinchinbrook Island, a large & mountainous tract separated from the mainland by a narrow channel. I believe it is one of the sights of the Barrier; of course the channel is too shallow for a vessel of our draught. Looking at the Island from the sea it presents a very fine picture. When we were directly opposite I was struck with the extreme height of the mountains, & in the dusk the cloud effects, though gloomy,