We did not leave Athens until 8.30 this morning. We were held up much
longer than we expected. An aeroplane followed our boat for a little
way, but it was a Greek one, so we had nothing to fear. At 3 p.m. we
had quite an excitement; a message was sent to the ship to say we had
to go into the Island of Milos for orders; submarines had been seen
round the neighbourhood. We got into Milos and found five French
battleships, submarine destroyers. One of the maritime ships was in
the harbour that had been torpedoed two weeks ago. The island is very
picturesque; the houses are built in the Turkish style. We remained in
the harbour for about two hours. We have a submarine destroyer
escorting us, also another ship was with us, so we feel quite safe.
Written notices were sent round to each passenger with instructions
what to do in case we were struck. The captain had an anxious voyage
from here on, keeping watch all the time. We kept going out of our
course and the destroyer and our boat were constantly signalling to
each other. We had to come round by Crete instead of Cape Matapan. The
wind has risen and it is very rough; most of the people are ill. We
had a bad night, continuous thunderstorms and heavy rain. The boat is
rolling as well as pitching.