Spanish steward, a youth who "waited" at
table and excelled in breaking ship's crockery. Often he poured the
coffee over us, or into our pockets, instead of into our cups, and on
one occasion, during a heavier roll than usual, he fell down in the
middle of the saloon while carrying a tureen full of soup. It went
flying over the saloon and some of its occupants, so our soup ration was
short that day.

If the cabins were to be kept clean, we had to do it ourselves. Every
morning saw the occupants sweeping out and cleaning up their cabins,
as no ship's servant ever entered them. The water supply was very
limited, and had to be fetched by ourselves--no matter what the
weather--sometimes from the fore peak and sometimes from a pump near the
ship's galley. Washing water and drinking water were served out twice a
day, at 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., an ordinary water-can being the allowance of
the former, and a water-bottle that of the latter. The supply of washing
water was very inadequate, and no hot water was ever available. After
washing ourselves, we had to wash our clothes in the same water--for
there was of course no laundry on board--and then the cabin floor after
that. By this time the water was mud. It was impossible to have a proper
bath all the time we were on board, for there was no water supply in the
bathroom, and it was kept in an extremely dirty condition. "Laundry
work" was usually done by the prisoners after breakfast, and lines were
rigged on any available part of the ship to dry the clothes. It was a
sight for the gods to see the military officers presiding at their
washtubs on deck, and then hanging out their washing. On fine days with
a big wash the array of drying garments in various parts of the ship was
quite imposing.

My wife managed to borrow some irons from the Australian stewardess,
which she heated on the stove in the cook's galley. With these she
ironed her blouses and my shirts and soft collars, while I helped with
the hankeys. The ironing space was not ideal, being the cover, about
twenty inches square, of the cabin washstand. But the result was highly
creditable!

The saloon, about eighteen feet square, in which all the meals were
served in two sittings, was very rarely clean, and the habits of the
Captain's mongrel pup, born on the _Wolf_, did not improve matters.
_Something_ connected with the expedition had to be called "Luchs," so,
failing the _Hitachi_, the pup rejoiced in this name, and as h