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[Page 38]
is a white city, rising out of the sea, very beautiful indeed from afar off, but what it is like on acquaintance, of course we can't say. Anyway all we have seen are numbers of Egyptians on the wharf alongside, and I can't say I like the look of 'em much. Already the right half of our battalion has disembarked, and we follow I believe this afternoon, our destination being Heliopolis, 20 miles from Cairo.
Some of our officers are absolute pigs, and have no idea how to speak to men. Of such is Major Ellis, a bundle of red tape, with a studied pose, and a fierce expression, that has evidently taken years in front of the glass to cultivate. I often wonder what such a man is in private life. This particular one, on one occasion at Broadmeadows, wouldn't allow some extra tents to be put up for the men, who were fearfully crowded because they were of a slightly different pattern to the rest. And the pity of it is that the Colonel, who isn't a bad-hearted sort if an awful messer, is largely led by the such men as the Major.
I can see the Newspaper articles of the future, "The Australians