against the Grass.

_September 5_: The Grass moved again and this time all attempts to
repulse it failed. It is now firmly entrenched on both the Orkneys and
the Hebrides. Terrible pessimism. Commons voted "No confidence" 422 to
117 and my old friend D N is back in office.

_September 6_: _Sisyphus_ almost ready. Find I can get a crew to work
for wages when not in port. Luncheon at Chequers. PM urges me not to
leave England as it might shake confidence. I told him I would consider
the matter.

_September 7_: F says she is ready to make new tests and what is holding
up work on the _Sisyphus_? Replied it was complete except for my cabins.
She had the effrontery to say these werent important and she was ready
to go ahead without me. I pointed out that the _Sisyphus_ was my
property and it would not sail until I was properly accommodated.

_99._ _September 8_: I shall not move to Ireland afterall. The Grass has
a foothold in Ulster.

_September 9_: The Irish are swarming into Scotland and Wales.
Impossible to keep them out.

_September 10_: Donegal overrun.

_September 12_: On board the _Sisyphus_. Wrote an incredible amount;
still beyond me how anybody can call the fashioning of a book work. We
left Southampton last night on a full tide and are now cruising the
Channel about four miles from the French coast. It is quite
unbelievable--under this tropical green blanket lies the continent of
Europe, the home of civilization. And the bodies of millions, too.
Except for a few gulls who shriek their way inland and return
dejectedly, there is not a living thing in sight but the Grass.

I have reserved the afterdeck to myself and as I sit here now,
scribbling these notes, I think what impresses me more than anything
else is the feeling of vitality which radiates from the herbaceous
coast. The dead continent is alive, alive as never before--wholly
alive; moving with millions of sensitive feelers in every direction. For
the first time I have a feeling of sympathy for Joe's constant talk of
the beauty of the Grass, but in spite of this, the question which comes
to my mind is, can you speak glibly about the beauty of something which
has strangled nearly all the world?

_Later_: Sitting on the gently swaying deck, I was moved to add several
pages to my history. But now we are approaching the narrower part of the
Channel and the sea is getting choppy. I shall have to give up my
jottings for a while.

_Still later_: F fi