Item 01: Fred Hamilton-Kenny letter diary, 29 August-19 October 1914 - Page 13
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[Page 13]
Fleet save the Parramatta steamed out past us - It's a huge harbor & presently we got order to anchor & down our mud hook went -
We had a good look round - Some very high hills – 2000 feet & more - A Well formed crater of an extinct volcano - A foreshore of Cocoa nut trees & dense jungle - Native huts & [indecipherable] colored natives - Two native catamarrans with naked niggers - save for a loin cloth - came near us but there was no trade - We cd - see Raboul in the distance - Presently my presence was requested on the Protector so I was the only man to leave the ship - They sent a boat for me & Captain Spooner welcomed me & asked me to see two of his men & then asked me to lunch - Right -o - We ate & talked & then I learnt that Raboul hadn't surrendered but that Herbert Hohe - a small township on the shores of Simpson Haven – we passed it coming up – had just pulled down the German flag - All had happened this morning - we saw the good old Union Jack up - Half the Naval Brigade had been landed somewhere & were fighting & had sent for reinforcements & that was why the Fleet & Berrima had gone out past us - The Parramatta was in front of Raboul & evidently some arrangement had been come to because we got a message that all the mines had been swept up & navigation was clear -