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[Page 8]
things being exceptionally quiet for it was the first time the ship had actually stop since leaving Australia. Throughout the whole of the voyage the troops had concert parties & boxing contests, some of these proving very enjoyable for there was some very good talent including "Tom Dawson" the one time Tivoli artist who rendered very decent items. The ship also suffered a slight mishap whilst crossing the Indian Ocean which necessitated her running on one set of engines instead of two, reducing our speed to about half but the trouble was rectified in a couple of cays, when things went on as usual. Next morning the 22nd January another Hospital ship, laden with wounded for home pulled out our boat taking it place at the wharf. Suez Harbour itself is divided from the open sea by a breakwater & is not very big, but has a fair wharfing accommodation with big coaling stages, the railway running right down the full length of the main wharf. It was whilst at this wharf we first met the Egyptians whose ways & customs at first sight seemed extremely peculiar, the majority of them being very dark & dirty in appearance. Several of the "Gippoes" managed to get aboard & were exchanging the troops money from English into Egyptian, when it was found the troops were being robbed. The Niggers would give an Aussie a hand full of small coins for a pound & on reckoning it up, would be found to be about 50% short. So it was not long before the money exchanges were closed up the niggers being put off the boat. These natives astonished you with their strength, no soon as the ship tied up she began to discharge bales of wool. A native would then take one of thee bales on his shoulders & carry it a distance of two hundred yards to the rail head, where they were stacked, seeming to carry the load with ease. There were quite a number of natives employed on this work being controlled by an overseer, also a native, who used a long whip to keep his men working. At 11.30 AM the troops disembarked going straight aboard a waiting train which was about equal to a cattle train. The carriages consisted of small box apartments with hard seats, being in a very dirty conditions causing a very bad smell. The ride lasted some eight hours, half the journey laying through trackless dessert, the remainder being fairly decent furtile country. The rural country was spotted with "Oasis" with their tall palm trees & villages which gave the scenery a beautiful & picturesque appearance. At different places along the line, were camps of British & Indian Soldiers, who were, training & on defence & garrison duties. our train ride came to an end at Zeitium where on disentraining the troops were marched to a camp at Heliopolis a distance of about one & a half miles, accompanied by a number of other troops who had been in Egypt for some time & were anxious to get the latest news from Aussie. On arriving at the camp we were detailed into "Rush Huts" being issued with two blankets each, but it being an extremely cold night my mate & self salvaged two more blankets from the Quartermasters Store. After the blankets were issued the troops were served with cups of hot coffee; we were also informed that there would be nothing doing until the next morning when an inspection was to be held after which there would be leave for the day. This news was welcome & we were soon busy preparing our beds for a comfortable nights sleep, the first on land since leaving Sydney.