Todd war diary, 3 August 1914-29 February 1916 / Arthur Todd - Page 280
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[Page 280]
1906. In the old days soldiers and sailors of whom England wished to be rid were sent there, for a hundred years ago yellow fever raged and men died like flies. In th the old chapel at Port Royal the walls are covered with tablets all sacred to the memory of men of the sister Services who died not in war but of the scourge of Yellow Jack. Jamaica is a very fertile mountainous island whose slopes are covered with bananas from which most of the European and American supply comes. In these days of beet sugar, and with the abolition of slavery, cane sugar production has almost disappeared. Kingston, the capital, is a biggish town of about 100,000 people, mostly coloured; in fact, the population of pure European descent is probably under two per cent. There is a good electric tramway system, and what is more important to the casual naval officer, a good hotel and a good club. In the latter we were hospitably entertained by the Members off and on for more than a year.
After one day in Jamaica, orders came to push off. The Melbourne put to sea, and next morning the Sydney followed her. Our destination was San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico, an American island which, rumour had it, was being used by the Germans as a base. We were told that the Farn, a British ship captured by the Germans, was in port loading stores for an unknown destination, and it was our job to lie off the harbour and seize her as she came out. For some days we steamed up and down along the coast three miles off and waited, but naturally nothing happened. The most innocent of skippers would