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[Page 168]
The gambling games are drying, the diggers haven't been paid for a good bit. The military ought to let only very badly wounded men run such games as "house" etc comeing home. I have known men who made 40 pounds a trip with such games, look at the help it would be to a man with only one arm. Men are awfully like children, some especially so. They'll argue and fight nearly over their respective states, the distance they are from the equator, and lots of silly things. On the 23rd the troops were paid 10/- and many faces were joyous once more for a few short hours. On the 25th we had another lot of sports on board, the obstacle race being the most interesting. Boxing has lapsed on board for want of competitors, a big contrast to comeing over. We passed Cocos Keeling on our left last night, but they were too far away to be seen. Some of the troops coming back have a large collection of souvenirs that range from French razors to Gott Mit Uns belts. One chap bought an ebony elephant at Colombo, quite 2 feet high, fancy lugging a great hunk of wood like that about. If iguanas were sold as souvenirs, I believe someone would buy. The Padre has very kindly tacked a cloth map of the route on the wall and one can tell how far we have gone each day by the dirty finger mark; the route being brown with dirt as far as we have gone, from each digger pointing out to his cobber where we are at present. On the 1st we steamed into Freemantle harbour, which is rather dissapointing at first being low and flat looking the harbour is formed by a barrier of rocks, forming a natural breakwater in the distance.
Chapter XV11 "Aussie"
The people were waqiting for the ship and there