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[Page 58]
25
and found everything O.K.
Monday 5th : Eight hour day in Sydney – also at "Holmes Harbour". The men sent in a request for permission to hold a procession. This was granted, and I venture to say that the trades unions in Sydney would have gone green with envy had they been present to view the pageant. All the representations were excellent & it is hard to discriminate, but those which received the greatest appreciation were "Neptune" & his missus" (the latter looked charming), "Chidley" (done to the life by Private Bullock of the BofA, Sydney), & "Napoleon" (with cocked hat & tricolor). A fiery looking Mephisto struck terror into the hearts of the natives, who rushed away madly out of the reach of his trident. One banner was inscribed "What a rum idea" in allusion to the shortage of this spirit, & a cocoanut marked "The limit" was hung dolefully from the same staff. "What we left our home for" was symbolised by hard ship biscuits & tins of "bully" beef. One wag carried a banner with the legend "A New Guinea for our Sovereign" & the failure of the Marconi operators to raise Rabaul was lampooned by "Wireless off! try a 'phone". Altogether it was a great success and broke the monotony of garrison life, though I am afraid that the German residents hardly knew what to make of it all.
Tuesday 6th : This afternoon I went as far as possible up "Heiss Passage", a creek running into the Western portion of FdkWmshafen [Friedrich-Wilhelmshafen] My party then landed & cut across to the North Coast Road. All the country intervening is deserted & consists of plantations of bananas, pawpaw, sugarcane & at intervals cocoanut. Scattered about are many native