at 7 a.m. to-morrow. It was now past 10
p.m. and the men had to be roused from their tents and the mules
yoked. We fell in, 124 men and 3 officers, and amidst loud cheers and
handshakes we set off and reached the docks about 1.30. We were only
allowed light equipment, the men their kitbags, waterbottles,
haversacks, and coats rolled in bandolier fashion (i.e. full marching
order) while the officers were supposed not to exceed the regulation
35 lbs. of baggage. Most of our equipment we left to come on with the
tent subdivision and transport which are expected to sail on the 10th,
in our old ship the "Marquette". Thus ended the first four miles of
our journey, on this the last stage, while to-morrow we sail north,
presumably for Gallipoli, but some say Smyrna, to join in what will be
a most bloody affair--so we have been warned by Lord Kitchener who, in
an address to our Infantry Battalions, has said that the work before
us will be hard in the extreme, and that he had reserved our Infantry
as the finest Battalions in the Army for this arduous job, and told
them that they must be prepared to face great hardships and great
sacrifices. In the 86th Brigade, to which our Ambulance is attached,
we have four veteran Battalions, 2nd Royal Fusiliers, 1st Lancashire
Fusiliers, 1st Royal Dublin Fusiliers, and the 1st Munster Fusiliers.
This Brigade was described by Sir Ian Hamilton as the flower of the
British Army. All have served nine or ten years in India and all have
smelt powder.

_April 8th._--At 10.45 a.m. the Cunard liner, the "Ausonia" (better
known at present as B4) cast off, and with the help of two tugs we
were soon out on the open sea. She had sailed from Avonmouth on March
16, the night on which we were booked to sail, and in the Bristol
Channel some suspicious craft suddenly appeared. She at once altered
her course and the two attendant torpedo boats gave chase to what was
taken to be a German submarine. We had been told that the reason for
our not sailing on the same date was that our boat was not in, but our
captain afterwards told us he had been lying to for a whole week, but
the presence of this submarine was the real reason.

The forces for the present expedition against Turkey have concentrated
in Alexandria, and are at present over 100,000 strong, mostly British
but also largely French. To-day the pioneers of this huge force have
set sail, and as far as I can gather our boat was the second to go
out. We are