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to get through but we were lucky with only 4 days during which
we caught plenty of water for drinking & washing & all hands have
since been washing themselves & their clothes. You can't imagine
how nice it is to have 1/2 bucket of water to wash in then
throw it away. We see steamers quite often now but no sailers
from Spencer Gulf.

"Crossing the Line" was celebrated for Gardiner & me on Sunday
We had great crosses cut in our hair, given disagreeable stuff to
swallow & stripped & tarred & painted. An hour with kerosene,
then hot water & soap, got it all off & now we hope our hair grows
before we get to England. Yes my wave is gone & it will be interest-
-ing to see if it grows the same again. I usually wear only bathing
togs & boots now as its rather warm; sleep in the lifenet under the
bowsprit by day & somewhere handier at night so as to be called for
my wheel or if wanted for anything else or else to be called by the
other watch for our watch on deck, when we usually muster & then
go back & sleep especially in the trades where the wind holds
steady & there isn't much to do with the sails etc. I have taught
myself a bit about knots & splicing (they teach you nothing here
not even the apprentices who pay up to £50) and made a small
model of "Parma". Some of the boys are making beauties as fast as they
can to sell in England. Some European countries demand that
their officers shall have served under sail yet these Finnish
ships are the only sailers left in the world & so they have to pay
so much money to serve their time. They dislike the life, the
food, the conditions & the Finns & never want to see sailing ships
again.

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