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[Page 25]
walk and about 25 to 30 cot cases.
But for the fact that we had to wait for our cots to be returned in order to send over more patients, the work would have been finished much quicker. We also got rid of 18 Chinamen, the crew of the sunken collier, & we had now more clear space on the decks for the wounded we had kept – 25 in all. I kept back all our own wounded men & the severest of the Germans, including the cases we had operated on. It was thought inadvisable to move these, and though the "Empress" had fine accomodation and plenty of bedding she had only two surgeons & one S.B. rating.
A fresh supply of blankets was obtained from this ship, & I had most of our bedding & blankets thrown overboard, as they were most horribly filthy, foul & offensive, & we had no chance of disinfecting them for some time. Having now more space and things being much straighter & cleaner, we could look after the remaining cases better, & were able to take down the dressings of & examine the cases we had done earlier in the week. Some of them sadly needed it. Between now & Sat. night we had every case thoroughly overhauled & were able to discharge them on Sunday in a fairly clean condition, though most of them were more or less septic. During these six days the ship was in a filthy condition & was stinking in all parts adjacent to the wounded. This was due to the foul wounds & the fact that the hot damp climate tended to rapid decomposition. We had the decks washed every morning with sanitas & each patient who could be was moved with his bedding & replaced when his position was dry. We arrived