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[Page 17]
and down to the Office – about a mile away – to give me the Bill of Health and Clearance, on the way waking up Mr. Methven, in Charge of the Native Police at Ocean Island, and told him to send a boat's crew off to the "MORESBY" to get some cargo and passengers we had aboard. I thought they would have been annoyed at being dragged out of bed at that hour – it was about 10.30 p.m. by this time – but they were not. Things get so slow there, that they are all glad of any little thing that turns up to vary the monotony.
Anyhow I get fixed up O.K. and back to the ship safely, and we sailed at 2 a.m. that morning for Sydney direct. So far we have had decent weather, but I suppose we can hardly expect it to last like this all the way down. We are carving it out at about 8 knots now, which should get us into Sydney about Sunday 20th September.
Sunday. 13th. September. Have been drifting about now for 3 days – helpless. The engines suddenly stopped about 9 a.m. on Friday, owing to some defect, and the 3 Engineers worked till 4 that afternoon, when they thought they had fixed up the trouble. We got under way again, and continued on our course till about 8 that night, when – Bang? – Finish??? the engines stopped again, and we have been drifting at the rate of 3 miles an hour for nearly 3 days. That is about 200 miles. It is just as well we are right away from any islands or reefs, or we may have got into trouble. We drifted in a Westerley direction, and if the engines had not been fixed up, in 3 days more we would have been blown on to the Solomon Islands. There has been a big sea running all the time, and it is very monotonous wallowing about broadside on to the waves – and the old "MORESBY" is noted for