To-day I had a walk round Belgrade to see the shops; some of them are
very fine, but things are most expensive and the shop-people are very
quaint, they do not care if they sell their goods or not. The sister
who looks after me took me for a little walk this afternoon. We went
down near the Save to look across at Semlin; we are not allowed to go
too near, otherwise the snipers fire upon us. We saw the bridge that
crosses the Save, which the Serbians blew up to prevent the Austrians
crossing. We also went into several houses that have been ruined with
bombs. We could see the cathedral at Semlin quite plainly. The sister
and I went after to see the cathedral; the paintings are very fine. It
is fortunate that--up to the present--it has not been damaged inside.
Malaria is starting here; we had four cases in yesterday. The doctor
is afraid of our getting it, so we are to return to the camp
to-morrow. I am not to go on duty for another two weeks. There has
been much discussion in Serbia about our camp, and it seems that the
site chosen was not a suitable one. First of all a camp should be on a
slope, as I have always learnt from my V.A.D. lectures. Secondly, the
kind of soil should have been taken into consideration; I should have
thought that a porous soil would have been best, but our camp is on
clay. Thirdly, I think inquiries should have been made as to what the
land had been used for before pitching our tents. Another camp had
been on our site before, and we heard that refugees had been living on
the land for some time. When we arrived the land was covered with
bullocks, sheep, goats, pigs, fowls, ducks, which, of course, produced
flies, and as flies carry disease, I should think it was very
unsuitable.