to the best interests of Australia
that she should be freed from the native menace.

The offer to send troops from the southern to the northern hemisphere was
quite another affair. The thought which inspired that offer could not
have arisen from any feeling of selfish interest. It was really the
outward sign of the affection and love for the Old Country and home
inherited by the colonists. Indeed, the rising Australian generation
realized what a glorious and magnificent heritage the Mother Country had
so generously and freely entrusted to the care of the early pioneers,
their forbears. From the day when the first Englishman set foot in
Australia and the first settlement was founded, right up to the year
1884, when the offer was made, no enemy had ever threatened Australia's
shores.

Australians rejoice that theirs is the only "virgin" continent in this
world. From the day of its birth there had not been a drop of blood shed
on its soil in the strife of war. No other country can make so glorious a
boast. Yet it is true. It is not to be wondered at when, for the first
time for a considerable number of years, a British army was reported to
be in peril, Australia offered to share with them the burden and heat of
the day. The British Government received the offer in the spirit in which
it was made. It conveyed to Australians that it fully recognized the
feelings of patriotism and unselfishness which had prompted the offer,
and accepted it. A contingent composed of one battery of field artillery,
one battalion of infantry and a field ambulance, was organized and
equipped, and left Sydney Harbour in white troopships, carrying with them
the best wishes of all.

As a result of communications between the South Australian and the New
South Wales Governments it was decided to send two of the transports via
Melbourne and Albany, with a promise that they would call at Adelaide if
time permitted. Later on we heard that the troops would divert from the
direct route, Melbourne to Albany, and would pass through Backstairs
Passage into the Gulf of St. Vincent, continuing their journey through
Investigator's Straits. They would have no time to steam up St. Vincent's
Gulf to Adelaide, but they would "cry a halt" for a couple of hours,
taking shelter in the smooth waters of Hogg's Bay on the north shores of
Kangaroo Island.

This was as much as they could do to fulfil their promise within their
scheduled time. We arranged to proceed to