Todd war diary, 3 August 1914-29 February 1916 / Arthur Todd - Page 103
Primary tabs
Transcription
[Page 103]
shore going person would not understand and we made the most of our 24 hours stay.
The port was full of German ships all paid off except for maintenance parties. We dropped anchor between two of them. They hoisted their ensigns and looked profanity personified. It must have been galling to patriotic Huns to lie in neutral harbour and see our men-o-war and merchantships come and go at will and be themselves unable to stir. The Huns abroard at any rate could have been under no delusion as to the condition of affairs at sea and must have smiled bitterly at the official German Press which was continuously assuring its readers that the British fleet was fast tucked in its bases.
The town of Monte Video is quite large perhaps as big as Sydney and more congested and is a curious mixture of the old and new.
Some of the streets are mere lanes beside which our own Pitt Street is a noble avenue and the cow catchers [device mounted at the front to deflect obstacles that could cause derailment] on the trams nearly brush one off the footpath. In other parts of the town however the streets are wide and lined with trees. The casual Australian who hasn't travelled pictures South America somehow as a benighted semi civilised land of ruffians and cut throats and it is a pleasant surprise to see fine shops and beautiful buildings and gaily dressed people quite civilised and harmless.
The women dress well and as far as we could judge in the latest fashion. In the wardroom