Todd war diary, 3 August 1914-29 February 1916 / Arthur Todd - Page 334
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[Page 334]
street lights all in perfect line - for the town is laid out in squares - so that the whole place looked like an illuminated chessboard. Behind rose a big yellow tropical moon, and in the foreground lay the still purple-tinted sea. We steamed up and down feasting on the sight till it grew quite dark, and then the ship's head was swung for Nassau, the capital of the British Bahamas which lie off the coast of Florida. We did not land at Havana that trip, but did so on a subsequent voyage, when we were advertised in the local papers as the big Australian battleship that sank the Emden! We arrived at Nassau with despatches for the Governor on May 31st, and the populace went mad. They had not seen a warship since November of 1914 when the Essex came in and stayed a couple of hours.
The Bahamas are a low-lying group of islands, only one of which is inhabited to any extent. This is New Providence on which the town of Nassau stands. Nassau is well built and clean, and in striking contrast to West Indian towns which always seems to need a wash. There is an enormous winter hotel, run by Americans as usual, which is filled with tourists in the winter months. A big American company appears to own or control these hotels all down the coast of Florida, in the Bahamas and Bermuda, and throughout the West Indies. When we arrived the school children were given a holiday and the streets were hung with signs welcoming the brave defenders. Crowds of boats came round the ship, their crews singing. Rule Britannia and Tipperary and being otherwise obnoxious. We had listened to the