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[Page 53]
The white popoulation is about 200 & the remainder black. A fine physical race but VD whose sole delight is eating & women there cost about £5 & morality is very low. Their language is Mendi but nearly all speak a sort of English especially the swear words. Fruit & fish vendors come alongside in canoes hollowed out of tree trunks & paddled by a native in stern Fruit is hauled up in a basket in which the money has first been lowered. They do not trust soldiers. Prices are exorbitant bananas 1d a piece & fish 1/- each SMO forbids them vending as place is full of malaria. For this reason no one is allowed on shore. We pass the day gazing at shore. Some say we only stay here 4 8 hour but no attempt to coal yet made though it commences at 6pm.
8-8-18 Thur 49
Coal has come alongside in lighters - all coal is bagged & is welsh. It is bagged on collier & placed into punts of about 250 tons. These punts are placed alongside ships bunkers ports & staging of 1 2 or 3 steps as required are put up & coal is passed by gangs of 50, in pairs. One pass to next pair to next right up to bunker holes & bays thrown down to punt. The work is done by the negroes who receive 2/3 per day of 02 hrs & 6/- per night of 11 hrs (6pm till 5am). They load 13 to 18 bags per minute (each bag is cut) when working but they talk more than they work. On one occasion during 1 hour they loaded 13 bags. Their system of tallying is noisy. One individual count for each bag with all the noise he can make with a weird cry for each tenth bag. ^ 1.1 more 2.9.10 tally-ho tally one. Another enters it on tally. The constant calling & yelling grows very monotonous expecially during the night.
Day is not very hot though many are sleeping on deck. This morning there is little current. This is due to fact that there is a river at head of the bay & when is running in this banks up & on release current is rapid. I do not know if this is real reason. Native boys in their logs come out this morning & dive for silver they ignore copper - pretend they cannot see them. They fall out of boat & sink below coin which