It was a rough and very cold night again. I slept in the lifeboat part
of the night, but had to get on deck at 2 o'clock as it was so cold
and rough. We get to Salonika about 1 o'clock. We have just passed
Mount Olympus; it looks glorious with the sun on it and snow-capped. I
heard the guns in the night--from Smyrna, I suppose. The engineer took
me down to see the engines last night. It is a good thing for us that
we have had a rough crossing. We should have been caught by submarines
if we had not, owing to the cargo we are carrying; it is supposed to
be coal.
We are only forty miles from Salonika; we expect to arrive at 1
o'clock. We telegraphed for rooms at the hotel from Gibraltar. We
expect to stay in Salonika a week, as we have to wait for the stores.
We are all such a happy party, and all the units on board have been so
friendly.
A Greek boat told us that there had been a big battle at the
Dardanelles yesterday, but the result was not known. We have no
wireless on this boat. The sunrise was gorgeous this morning; it is
much finer to-day. I shall post this directly I arrive at Salonika. It
is dreadful not having any news from home. I cannot hear anything for
a month. We shall not be able to send our permanent address for some
time yet.
The most dangerous part of our journey was the forty-eight hours
through the Irish Sea. It is interesting to know that the boat has
gone 1,000,000 revolutions to Salonika from Liverpool, and a
revolution is 25 feet. As we got into the harbour at Salonika there
was a vessel called the _Athena_; it belongs to the Germans. We
arrived at Salonika at 2 o'clock; we had to anchor outside. The
doctor, the English Consul, and the head of the police came on board.
Twenty-three little boats arrived to take us across; the men simply
fought, and we had quite a difficulty. We found we could not get
accommodation at the hotel sufficient for our unit, so the captain
told us to sleep on board. We had our tea and dinner at the Hotel
Olympus. The latter meal the captain of the _Saidieh_ had with us. We
returned to the boat at 10 o'clock.