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[Page 16]
on our left & ahead, a quarter mile off lies the town of Suez, its buildings resting low upon the water. The port is full of shipping & everything around us is life.
This contact with civilization has put good humour into the Troops. In full service dress they crowd the rails & bargain for fruit, sweetmeats & P'Cs with the miscellaneous crowd of Arabs & other dusky skinned desert sons who have tied their boats to the ship's sides. I have fed on Barbary grapes & Turkish Delight & bought Post Cards of Port Said to send home.
How happy & contented I feel. My whole soul harmonises with the perfect serenity of the scene around me.
What a picture for an artist to conceive, or put to canvas. Not a wisp of cloud mars the blue dome overhead, a soft zephyr plays & gambols around us just sufficient to temper the hot sun's rays & cause a dancing ripple upon the Sea. & Near us the water sparkles in light blue and as the eye travels towards the shore becomes darker & finally ends near the golden sands in an infinite royal blue. My opinion of "far fetched" paintings has changed. I have looked upon a picture more dazzling in its varied hues than any master painter could conceive.
As noon approached the cool wind of the morning was consumed by a boiling sun & from then till sunset the heat was unbearable. Evening however brought the pleasant conditions of the early morn.
An Indian troopship "Zeesta" arrived during afternoon with Gurkhas & Sikhs on board for Marseilles. Our officers entertained their officers at dinner on "Berrima".
Monday 26th July 1915
Disembarked inside breakwater at about 9.30 a.m. Indescribable state of things aboard. Gear & kit bags everywhere. The quiet life of the past four weeks has now been replaced by hustle & bustle on every hand. The troops welcome the change & realise that an active life is far preferable to lazy idle routine aboard. They see what