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[Page 16]
of showers of glittering stars and flashes of sheet lightening like flares we all know at our boating picnics in Sydney. Laziness simply permeates all life and the spirit of the men in general. But this state of bliss will not last for long, and in a very short time now we will be in the final stages of our training for the big event. So, for a while – vade vale!
Today is Sunday again, and we hope, our last Sunday aboard. Last Wednesday, 4th October at about 2 am. we steamed into the harbour of St Vincent, in the Cape Verde Islands, West Coast of Africa. The harbour is a shallow bay but it has the appearance and advantages of a good harbour, for it is protected by a large island directly opposite the township. The Town is not large but like Cape Town, it is situated at the foot of a high hill and looks pretty & well laid out. I should say 30000 would cover native & European population easily. The niggers here are a fine athletic stamp, and are better than any I have seen at diving for money. You can imagine our surprise on arriving at a Portuguese port to find two British men-o-war lying at anchor there. But Britain is everywhere and leaves nothing to chance, and, since some of her transports were calling at this port, she was looking after them herself. Several Portuguese gun boats were lying in the bay too, and their work is patrolling the islands which are a small compact group. One of the boats was the "Highflyer" which, you will remember, was responsible earlier in the war for the running down of the German cruiser "Konigsberg" and for the sinking of the "Frederick der Grosse" - an armed merchantman.
We only stayed here about 6 hours for sunset saw us out of the harbour. An official who came on board was most enthusiastic about Australia's part in the war, and stated that 3 months previously they had had 7 transports in at one time. They flew all the flags, and the little Portuguese mosquito fleet greeted them with a salute from the guns, while a launch played them in. He said he had never seen soldiers of the same physique anywhere, and, altogether, was most effusive in his praise. I take it this large body of troops was the 9th Brigade 9 Artillery Brig, 9th Field Amb. & other divisional units accessory. Really the Empire is a wonderful organisation, and its in out of the way places