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I'm not sure. However it came from Melbourne so was evidently an
Australian coastal steamer although what it was doing near South Africa I
don't know unless it was on its maiden voyage out from England for it
looked new to me. Someone on board coo-eed & I replied & immediately
heard a dozen coo-eeing. I called up Gardiner, the other Australian who was
below, sleeping, for it was good to see a modern ship from our own country
If you are in town anytime you might call at the Aus. coastal steamer
office like Burns Phillip & Co, not overseas office of P&O or Orient, and try &
find the correct name of the ship that on May 14th was in 23° East, 35° South.
Now I meant to describe the food in more detail. Note the absence of green
vegetable altho' occasionally we get a tin of preserved peas or beans with the
meal. Every Monday & Thursday morning, curry & rice. I have milk & sugar
on the rice & no curry as its always only curry powder with no meat in it.

Every Monday & Thursday noon, pea soup & pancakes, the latter never properly
cooked & always doughy but eatable. Tuesday & Friday mornings porridge and
slices of preserved meat; Tuesday & Friday noon, potatoes, pickles and salt
beef so tough & evil smelling I find it uneatable. Wednesday & Saturday
mornings pork & beans - 3 mouthfuls of the beans bought up my 2 previous
meals in the Aus. Bight so I never touch them, the pork eatable being
really very thick slices of fried bacon. Saturday midday potatoes, rice and
stockfish, (you should see that before it is cooked, it's dried fish that the
steward tears into strips with a knife & soaks overnight), Sunday
mornings a different sort of porridge like digestive meal with tinned
salmon; weak watery stew on Thursday nights mostly potatoes with no
butter a little salmon; a sort of hash of preserved [??illegible too faint to read]
Tuesday nights and big hunks of things on Sunday nights which they