Todd war diary, 3 August 1914-29 February 1916 / Arthur Todd - Page 278
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[Page 278]
are bigger than the Hotel Australia in Sydney; and as they open only for the winter season to cater for tourists one can imagine the tariff. Everything comes from New York. At the beginning of the season ships are chartered, and cooks, waiters, - in fact all the staff, stores and impedimenta - are imported in bulk; and at the end everything goes back whence it came. For three months in the year Bermuda is as gay as Paris, and money flows like water. There are dances every night and parties every day; but for the rest of the year Bermuda is just a group of sleepy isles in the Atlantic. Everything is American: the coinage is American, the accent American, and the prices distinctly American. Except for the flag which floats over Government House one would never suspect that one was in a British colony. Even native-born Bermudians look on the States as "home", and New York not London as their dream. But nonetheless they have sent their men to the war.
On this occasion the Sydney only stayed a day at Bermuda, and saw just enough of civilisation to make us wish for more; but we were destined to return there again and again for docking and refitting. On the 12th January 1915 the ship arrived in Jamaica, and, needless to add the Melbourne was already firmly attached to the pier. We seemed to chase the Melbourne all over the world, for it seldom happened that we were together for more than a few hours.
The day before we reached Jamaica we called at Hayti, which with San Domngo makes up a biggish island under American protection. Hayti and San Domingo are the homes of revolution.