eir broad brims
look very serviceable against the sun. One man coming on a friend who
had just donned his, yelled: "Hello, man, come oot o' that till I see
yer feet".

At the present speed we should reach Malta at 6 a.m. to-morrow where
surely we'll be able to post letters, but they have a long way to go
to reach home. At 5 o'clock we were opposite Pantellaria, an Italian
penal settlement, and about 140 miles from Malta. On the north coast
of the island the settlement is visible, big white houses at different
levels on its rocky face. There are very steep rocks on the east side
rising straight out of the sea.

_March 27th._--My first peep at the East--although it is perhaps not
the East proper. I rose at 5.30 to find Malta right ahead, and Valetta
only a mile or two distant. The sight was gorgeous, the rocky land all
tints of yellow, and the houses of divers colours, flat-roofed, domed,
and altogether Oriental.

Two warships, which turned out to be the "Prince of Wales" and the
"Paris," were steaming rapidly from the north-east, and we were
ordered to lie to till they entered the harbour, then to follow. The
scene on entering this harbour baffles description, with its cliffs,
forts, and frowning guns and numerous warships. There were signs of
war preparations everywhere. The entrance to the harbour was guarded
by booms, only a small opening being left where they were folded back.
A short way inside came another row of booms. Then came a French
warship on our port side, coaling at its hardest, from which came
shouts to our decks crowded with troops of "where are you going"? The
reply had to be "We don't know". Immediately to starboard we had
another French ship which turned out to be the largest in the harbour.
All her crew and band were drawn up on deck, and the latter struck up
"God save the King". We at once stood at attention, all in silence,
but when the strains ended every man hurrahed at the pitch of his
voice. The band then gave us "It's a long way to Tipperary".

On going a little farther we were moored to a buoy in the middle of
the waterway, with all sorts of shipping round us, mostly French
warships, there being at least a dozen of that nationality, the only
British men-of-war being the two we saw enter. The transparency and
greenness of the water are remarkable. The whole harbour is dotted
over with "bum boats" which are said to be peculiar to Malta, and have
high boards at their stem and stern, and a