Mosman 1914-1918

sight of two members of the fair sex, who came down and smiled upon us and you can be sure that their appearance was greeted by wild cheers from the ship. Here again there was a crowd of American soldiers and darkies. All along the banks of the Culebra but there are houses, & as we went through the inhabitants turned out to have a look at us & give us a cheer. These American niggers are a lively lot, as soon as the band struck up they would start to rag and caper about. After coming out of Gatun Locks we steamed out into Limon Bay, and after a bit of a delay we went in alongside a wharf to coal at Christobel. This is on an

with a long stick. We got several green nuts and opened them with an old spad I found. The milk was delicious and it was a bit of a novelty to find ourselves in a tropical jungle eating cocoanut fresh from the tree. We ate our fill ashore & brough one each back on board with us. We waited in the bay until the convoy , which consisted of six troops & one cruiser was completed & then we weighed anchor. The six boats were, "Miliades" [Miltiades] 28 "Themesticles" [Themistocles], "Medic", "Rauhine" [Ruahine] "Mokoya" [Makia], Anchises" 68 and the United States Cruiser "Charleston" We steamed out of Limon Bay

Limon Bay, and after a little delay, we pulled in alongside a wharf to coal Cristobal. The wharf was a square concrete structure with all the centre hollow, in which tons of coal was heaped. The machinery that does the coaling is a fine bit of work. Beyond the wharf is the old French canal started by

gathered some to take back on board with us. We waited in the bay for the rest of the convoy, which consisted of six troopers and an American cruiser. We weighed anchor and steamed out of Limon Bay on Saturday morning Sept 8th. The six boats in the convoy were A28 "Miltiades" "Themesticles"