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S.S.Malacca. Transport No. 7.
140 miles from Las Palmas
29th January 1986
My dear Mother,
Tomorrow we shall be in Las Palmas, some time early. Robertson and I are doing duty days turn and turn about, and I am sorry to say it will be my turn on tomorrow. However, it doesn't begin until 10, so I shall trot on shore and have some breakfast and buy a grass hammock and some other things and come back on board about 11 (by a compromise) when Robertson will go off. I don't know how long we shall stop, but we shall take in about 240 tons of coal, so it must be a few hours. We've had a very decent voyage, and after the first day or so I have quite got over all sea-sickness. I'm sorry to say though this ship is not at all lady-like and rolls tremendously and continuously. Every few minutes everything goes flying about, and really it takes a vast amount of trouble to write a letter. I've got the inkpot jammed between two heavy magazines, and so for the present it remains rather stationary. At meals one has to simply to hang on with both hands to one's plate etc and eat as best one can with the third. The feeding is excellent. They've got a cow on board and so we've been having fresh milk every day. They've also got sheep and hens and other things are kept in ice. They've got an ice-making machine, which will be very greatful when the hot weather begins. At present it's only been getting gradually warmer, but not at all hot. Another great luxury is, we have hot rolls, and very excellent ones every day for breakfast. The sea has been quite calm, but the ship is too proud by far of her rolling powers to keep still. I find the magazines are quite useless for holding the ink bottle still, and I am now hanging on to it with my left hand while writing with my right. My hands are very filthy from cleaning my revolver; both yesterday and today we have been practicising over the stern at a towed bottle. Opposite me is one of the Nursing Sisters struggling hard to write. She is using a stylographic pen, so has not to hang on to the ink bottle. We have 3 nursing sisters in all. This one is the senior. an "older piece" [?] but very harmless. She has only just really begun to buck up after recovering from her sea-sickness. The second is not much to look at, and is utterly hors de combat, at present she is lying speechless on a chair on deck, and puts in no appearance at meals. The third is rather pretty, and has been very brave all through turning out every day, though meals were a great trial at first. She is just singing "Fiddle and I" up in the "Music Saloon" up above. The Music Saloon is our only smoking room and is only about 12 ft by 5 with a piano in it at the head of the Companion leading from the Saloon. The Captain of the ship (P.&O.) is a man named Henning. We have a retired Commander R.N. Heriz by name, as Transport Officer who represents the Admiralty. We also have a Ordance Store Officer, named Captain Hals, sent out by the War Office as a sort of Staff Officer, adviser or anything else that may offer to the Admiral. He has a certain amount of stores on board for the use of the troops, camp kettles, waterproof sheets, also a lot of wire instruments etc for erecting a wire telegraph. He seems a good chap, but is rather unused to the sea. I told you in my last letter Ithe one sent by the pilot to the Isle of Wight) that the Lieut-commander going out to the Widgeon had hurt his leg again and was to be put on shore. However they found they were not able to manage it, and so they are going to land him at Las Palmas tomorrow, whence he will return to England. By the way, his name is Burder, not Burden. Then we have a Midshipman named Stevenson, who shares a cabin with me. He is a very decent youngster, and it's not bad on the whole, but of course it's always a nuisance when one can't have a cabin to onself. There's nothing in the shape of a chest of drawers in it, so I have to get all my things out of my portmanteau, bag or tin cases as I want them. They are apt to knock about a bit too. The medicos consist of a Fleet-Surgeon, Fitx-gerald, a Staff-Surgeon, Gipps, and 4 surgeons Grant, Way, MacGregor and Sutton. With the bluejackets they've got a Chief Gunner and another Warrant Officer. The Midshipman belongs to the "Forts" and was on leave at home from the Mediterranean, when the ship was ordered round to the West Coast for ths show. Of course we know nothing further than we did when we left England, but perhaps we may hear something fresh when we get to Las Palmas tomorrow. I suspect the Admiral probably got up to the Forcados River about the 27th and has started in making preparations, getting carriers together etc. The Benin River up to Gwato seems the nearest way to Benin City, but I believe there is some objection to that route as the river is too shallow or something of that sort (I've just fished up a great piece of blotting paper or something out of the inkpot and inadvertently dropped it on my letter, which has caused the huge blot above, which please excuse). I expect the Expedition will start from the mouth of the Forcados River, and work up by boat to (probably) a place called Warrigi, west of Sapele, whence it will work through the Back through Ologbo to Benin City. This is pure conjecture on my part arrived at by studying the map. (I got one from Stamford after all, it was sent direct to the ship. Of course I expect it's not a very reliable one, and of course does not show very much. The whole place seems pretty well intersected with creeks. Lieut.Col.Hamilton, who started in the mail steamer Bathurst on the saturday before us, is I believe going out on Foreign Office Work, and will have really nothing to do with the Expedition which will be quite a Naval affair. The Bathurst will be calling at various places on her way out, and will only get there about the same time as ourselves.
Of course there will be no letters at Las Palmas to meet me, as we'll get out there as soon as anybody ourselves. I don'tknow when we shall get our first mail. I believe by our Admiralty programme our date for arrival at Las Palmas was the 28th yesterday. I don't know how it was calculated as they ought to know we can't do more than 12 knots, which speed we've about kept up to. I think they must have expected us to go straight out on the Saturday, instead of staying in the Thames that night. Our date at Forcados Rver is the 7th of next month. Now I think I've got through about all I've got to say, and owing to the small writing have done fairly creditably. The last part I have been writing since dinner, which proved as I expected a rolly meal. One rather amusing incident was:- Byrne had just poured out a glass of claret and had turned round to his servant to tell him to cork up the bottle when the roll came and the glass turned the neatest somersault possible over the fiddle and emptied itself on to the cushions. When he looked round again the glass had entirely disappeared and the bottle had to be uncorked again.
I am engaged in making a tracing and copying of the interesting part of the Stamford map so as to have a small portable copy to carry about with me. It's rather a long job and rather arduous owing to the vagaries of the ship.
And now goodbye and love to all of you.
From your loving son
Fred
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