Got up at 6 o'clock, went to Hotel Splendide for breakfast; then we
all marched behind a funny old cart, which had our luggage, to the
station. I had a tin of honey, fifty-six pounds, which I bought at
Salonika; the tin cracked and it began to run out; a cork came out of
a paraffin bottle, and this began to _run_; then the luggage kept
taking flying leaps off the cart: we had to keep running after it, to
put it back: the man went on, never stopping for any catastrophe. When
we landed at the station we had the time of our life, such a scuffle
and rush to get into the train. Only twelve of us left to-day, and the
other thirty-six follow us on Thursday. All the unit saw us off. The
train left at 9.15; it was to have left at 8.
The smell of formalin in the train was very strong, and all of us were
covered with paraffin, so the two smells _together_ were not very
delightful! Besides this, some of us had carbon balls and camphor in
our pockets.
It took us about half an hour to get out of Greece. The country all
along is simply wonderful; the most glorious scenery, hills, rocks and
valleys, with the most gorgeous colourings. All along we saw herons,
storks and eagles, vultures, magpies and jackdaws. All these birds are
most plentiful and very tame. All the carts are pulled by buffalo oxen
and donkeys. Most of the sheep are black; also the pigs and goats.
The train first stopped at Topsin, then at Amatovar and then Karasuli;
these are all the Greek stations we passed. The first Serbian station
we stopped at one and a half hours. It was at Ghevgheli. There were
many Austrian prisoners and Serbian soldiers on the platform. The
Serbians looked very tired, and their clothes were very shabby. They
are very badly shod, only a kind of moccasin on their feet. A good
many of the Serbians have khaki clothes, but it seems that they have
been given by the English. On lots of the house-tops and chimney-tops
the herons have built their nests; this was most interesting to see. A
great many of the soldiers have lambs following them about like dogs.
They are so pretty.
Eight lovely peacocks were on the platform, and they kept walking
under the train; also one or two white guinea-fowls. We saw no end of
tortoises all along the line, and we got one and brought it into the
carriage, but we had to put it out again as we had no green stuff to
feed it on. All the lakes and reservoirs are full of bull frogs; these
make a tremendous noise just like a lot of ducks quacking. The trees
in this part of the country are quite small ones, and there are no
hedges; the blossom on the trees is perfectly lovely. We watched the
butter being made from goat's milk, and very good it is. Most of the
work in the fields is done by women and oxen, and the women look very
picturesque in their different coloured garments. We had lovely
flowers all the way, especially poppies. We kept passing swamps, full
of different grasses. The mountains are wonderful, covered with snow,
and we hear that when some of the snow melts dead bodies are found
underneath. We crossed over the bridges which were blown up three
weeks ago by the Bulgarians; we came through a wonderful tunnel cut in
the rocks, and we passed no end of churchyards, where the men are
buried in the different battles--Turks, Serbians, and Bulgarians--it
is really pitiful to see them. We are guarded by soldiers all along
the lines and on the trains. We passed lots of rows of little crosses
where all the women, children and men were buried after the Bulgarian
raid a week ago. A rope was put round their necks and they were hung
up on trees to die. All the soldiers come and salute us at each
station and along the line. They all look so sad. Uskub we stopped at
7 o'clock, and we were met by Sir Ralph Paget. We had dinner at the
station: soup floating with grease and omelet as tough as leather; the
bread was almost black and very sour. The room was very dirty, and
many men were sprinkling disinfectants about. This amused me very
much. We slept in the train.