sel at the south
end. The tide is making swiftly in the river, and there must be no delay
if the troops are to be disembarked and the ships cast off in time to
dock before high water has passed.

[Illustration: TROOP TRANSPORTS DISEMBARKING AT THE LANDING-STAGE,
LIVERPOOL]

Viewed from the low tidal stage, almost at a level with the water, the
ship--that had appeared so delicate of line in the river--assumes a new
and stronger character at close hand. The massive bulk of her, towering
almost overhead, dwarfs the surrounding structures. The shear that gave
her beauty at a distance is lost in the rapid foreshortening of her
length: her weathered plating, strake upon strake bound by a pattern
of close rivet-work, attracts the eye and imposes an instant impression
of strength and seaworthiness. On her high superstructure the figures of
men seem absurdly diminished. The sense of their control of such a
vessel is difficult of realization. Pouring from her in an apparently
endless stream of khaki, her living cargason passes over the gangways.

They move rapidly from the ship to the shore. Waiting-sheds and the
upper platforms are soon littered by their packs and equipment, and the
troops squat on the roadway to await formation of their group. Large
bodies are marched directly to the riverside station to entrain for
camp, but the assortment and enumeration of most of the companies and
detachments is carried through on the broad planking of the stage. In
and out the mustered files of men, transport cars make a noisy
trumpeting progress, piled high with baggage and stores, and each
crowned by a waving party of high-spirited soldiers. A second transport
is brought in at the other end of the stage, and adds her men to the
throng of troops at the water-side. The disembarkation staff have work
with the sheep and the goats. There is the natural desire to learn how
'th' fellers' got on in the other ship, and the two ships' complements
are mixed in a fellowship that makes a tangle of the 'nominal rolls' and
drives the harassed officers to an outburst of profanity. Ever and on, a
block occurs on the gangways where the inevitable 'forgetters' are
struggling back through the press of landing men, to search for the
trifles of their kit.

A prolonged blast of her siren warns the military officers that the
first transport is about to cast off, and the movement of the troops is
accelerated to a hurried rush and the withdrawal of the gangwa