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[Page 17]
duty they have ahead of them & are fully aware of its seriousness.
Major Murphy speaking to A Co. last night appreciably affected the men with the earnestness of his remarks. He spoke to them as a father to his children & warned them that perhaps a fortnight would seem them all in the firing line.
This morning before embarkation I learnt with sorrow that an officer, Mr. Richards, had gone down with appendicitis & would be left behind to undergo an operation.
We left Suez at 11 o'clock in a rickety third class train – the carriages not being much superior to the boxes I used to house pigeons in.
The journey was full of incident – the Govt. buildings at Suez were unique & austere, clean & with the stamp of civilization upon them. They were in striking contrast to the Square and houses of the Natives.
With a squeaking & grinding of wheels we moved out into the desert & soon the second & last port of call, the good ship "Berrima" & all kind friends aboard her faded away to our rear.
The land through wh we travelled appeared to be thoroughly irrigated & exceptionally fertile. Passing through huge palm groves, field of maize & other cereals I was sensibly appreciative of the industry here shown by the inhabitants in their attempt to turn the arid desert to some use.
At Mariche, a small unpretentious station, we bought watermelons, pomegranates, dates, nuts, figs & grapes,