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[Page 24]
there safely. The boats dont carry any lights of any description now of a night, they also seem to travel slow in the day, but at night they make the pace. We are now a week off England, 21/2/17, it is very cold here, a strong north easter blowing even worse than the westerlies in Qld, and the nights and early mornings are very cold. The sea is fairly rough, the boat is tossing a good deal this morning, at 11 a.m. our auxiliary cruiser sighted a steamer some few miles off and after going after it and firing a shot across its bows it stopped, the cruiser going close to it and exchanged signals with it, and cruised round it for some time. let it go on its journey so it couldn't have been an enemy ship. It caused some excitement on board as soon as the shot was fired everyone was on the alert. The cruiser is a good watch dog, it barks before it is hurt. The mumps have broken out on board, some are very bad with them at Sierra Leone there was a steel net stretched across the entrance to the Harbour to protect the shipping there, and at dawn it was towed into shore. All one could see was the buoys it was moored to. There is a Naval base Station there, I am on guard tomorrow, it shall be the last guard I shall strike on the boat, as by the time my turn comes next we shall be at our destination. The latest Official news from the Cruiser is that we arrive in England on March 1st, but at the worst time, winter. Now 24/2/17 it is just like winter in Qld over this way very cold. I thought I had lost