Continuing John Mathews' travel diary.........
THE DIARY - Colombo to Naples
Friday, April 22nd 1955
Oronsay, Colombo Ceylon
As soon as I was dressed I raced up on deck to see if we had anchored yet. Oronsay was slipping quietly through the water towards the entrance to Colombo harbour. A French and a Dutch ship were anchored outside the harbour. Here and there tiny boats with triangular sails glided through the tranquil sea.
The peaceful atmosphere, with its background rumble of the ship's engines, was shattered by the arrival of the pilot's boat manned by dusky Ceylonese. We were soon through the breakwater and passing onto our anchorage. An ancient, rusty dredger lay in the middle of the harbour with a bamboo hut built on deck. There were British, German, Italian, French, Dutch, Indian and Chinese ships anchored in the harbour. About 20 or 30 ships were of 10,000 tons or more. Tankers, cargo-ships and passenger ships lay moored end to end with all their miscellaneous flags flapping lazily in the breeze.
But with a jump I saw I had only two minutes to get down to breakfast, so I had to race down to our cabin to get my blazer.
The Youth Travellers wore a uniform of grey slacks, grey shirt, green tie with a gold stripe, and a green blazer with an embroidered pocket, topped by a green beret. For casual wear we had a grey pullover and grey shorts.
After breakfast we were all soon on "D" Deck waiting to go ashore. But the traders would not even let us get ashore before they tried to sell us something. About four or six boats were around us with dozens of souvenirs for sale. Elephants large and small, wooden bowls, baskets, book-ends, and other odds and ends, found a place on their boats somewhere. It was most amusing to hear their patter as they offered their wares for sale. We had really no idea of the purchasing power of the rupee (we had three each) and we thought that Graeme Wallis had a bargain when he got a small ebony elephant for one rupee (1/6 sterling). Later in the day some of the boys got them for sixpence or less.
Before we went ashore all the mail that had arrived was issued. Only six letters for the whole Contingent! We were told that there would be more mail later in the day. About 9.15 a.m. all of us except John Read and Peter Barrett filed down the gangway from "E" Deck into the motor launches waiting to take us ashore. Near the jetty there were wharves and warehouses being built to enable ships to come into berths instead of anchoring out in the harbour.
Here we were met by Ceylonese selling sheets of used stamps. They started off wanting 2/- sterling per sheet but they soon went down to one rupee. Some of the boys used toilet soap as currency and found it most effective. We soon found that laundry soap was not appreciated by the natives.
We then split up into our three groups and went off. Mr. and Mrs. Johnstone accompanied our group. Going down a fairly wide street past a warehouse we had our first sniff of the Ceylon odour. We came to a large intersection. Rickety old trams, rickshaws pulled by dark bony Ceylonese, modern motor vehicles, bicycles, and pedestrians all clamoured for their right of way. The first rule of safety in Colombo seems to be "make plenty of noise and you'll get through".
Many of the women wore beautiful saris in lovely pastel shades while others wore Western clothes and make-up. Most of the men wore shirts and/or singlets and sarongs. A few wore trousers.
There are two main peoples in Ceylon at the moment. The Sinhalese and the Tamils. The Sinhalese are slim and rather small with light brown or dark olive skins and dark hair. The Tamils are similar, but their skin is much darker. It is the aim of the Ceylonese Government to have not two races - the Sinhalese and the Tamils - but one race, the Ceylonese.
Their religions are Buddhism, Hindu, Christian, and Moslem, with Buddhism predominating and the latter groups in the minority. As the major religious groups advocate non-aggression it was in a very peaceful fashion that Ceylon passed from the British Empire to self-government in 1948.
On the way to the bazaar we were followed by a small Tamil boy who followed us for several hundred yards with his hand held out for money. But, heeding Mr. Hutchinson's advice, we walked on without giving him anything. We were soon in the Pettah, or bazaar. What a racket! Ceylonese with bullock carts and modern motor cars, big shops and little shops! I think if you gave him half a chance a Ceylonese would try to sell you his own shadow. Little boys sat in the gutter with trays of combs and toys, shouting out nasally "one rupee, one rupee, one rupee". Women old and young offered us worked doyleys and cloths. Men offered toys, perfumes, shirts, singlets, almost everything under the sun. Sheets of stamps, wooden elephants, sewing machines.
What surprised us most was that usually four or five men would be sitting in one shop doing nothing.
It was almost impossible to walk on the footpath for fear of stepping in the middle of a tray of stinking dates, or perfumes, or nuts, or some other objects for sale. The streets were crowded with bullock wagons bringing in fruit and rice and coconuts, and other produce from the country.
What horrified us most in the bazaar was the way in which food was handled. Dates lay squashed in baskets with flies crawling over them. Then if some Ceylonese bought some the vendor would thrust his hand into the sticky mess and pull out a handful. Trays of nuts lay open in the gutter. Sides of meat hung just about in the middle of the pavement with flies buzzing about like bees round a honey pot. You can imagine that none of us bought any food there at all. All through the bazaar there was an awful stench. We began to think that we would never breathe fresh air again.
"Honest"-faced Ceylonese tried to sell watches and fountain pens guaranteed to break five minutes after sale.
The awful squalor and poverty of the Pettah made me wonder just how many of the 350,000 inhabitants of Ceylon lived in its filth. But in spite of the awfulness of their surroundings most of the Ceylonese had a cheerful smile to flash at us as we went past. Quite a few beautiful shirts and other clothes were for sale, but they were all quite outside the range of our three rupees. We walked on and eventually came out of the bazaar. However we were still followed by beggars and vendors of various useless things.
At last we came to the G.P.O., where we dispersed to satisfy our stamp needs, and Mr. Johnstone went in search of a hat. I bought two 40c stamps for postcards and went outside. Here some of us had a very interesting discussion with a Ceylonese gentleman about a common subject - cricket, and both his and our countries. Here there were boys trying to sell us ice creams and drinks, and as the day was extraordinarily hot and muggy it was hard to follow the book and refrain from buying any.
Following Queen Street we passed the building which houses the Senate and Cabinet of Ceylon, and also the Colombo Fort Police Station. We went on past St. Peter's Garrison Church but were not able to go in owing to the pressing of time. Back at the Grand Oriental Hotel we waited a few minutes until Mr. Hutchinson and one of the other groups arrived, and then we all went in and had cool drinks.
About noon Mr. Hutchinson announced that we could go off in groups of not less than four, as long as we arrived back at 12.45. Off we went along York Street trying to beat the women down in their doyley prices. I did not buy any, however, and we turned the corner into Prince Street which we followed up to Queen Street again where some of the boys were taking photos of the rickshaws there. On the way it had occurred to me that I might buy some little doyleys as presents for my hostesses in England. So on the way back to the hotel I spent my remaining money in buying five doyleys.
We saw a man begging who had no legs, but had to pass him by.
Back at the foyer I fell into conversation with a young Tamil boy who worked in a tourist desk there. He told me he was 15 and went to school at night and that he earned 50 rupees a month at his job. He was very pleasant to talk to although a bit shy, and we said we would come back and see him on our way back to Australia. Then I went into the hotel with Ian Barker who shouted me a drink of iced lemonade. We went up the lift to the reading room and a Ceylonese chap came up to us and asked if we would like a case label of the hotel as a souvenir. We said we would, so he raced off down the stairs to get some. We followed in the lift and he met us downstairs and gave them to us. We thanked him and then went outside where half of us caught a bus to take us to Mt. Lavinia.
On the way we passed several newspaper buildings and the House of Representatives with Ionic columns in the portico. Whizzing past the navy and army depots we soon saw the large Galle Face Hotel and St. Andrew's Church. We were now on Kollupitiya Road and had a real opportunity of watching the cavalcade of people there. There were Brahmins of high caste in their fine clothes of silk, and untouchables squatting about in the gutter or on the footpath in their rags and tatters. Moslems in turbans and Brahmin priests with shaven heads and brilliant yellow robes all seemed to show the same passiveness.
We passed several sporting fields but did nor see much play in progress.
What struck us most about transport in Ceylon was the contrast it offered. The old bullock wagons and rickshaws and comparatively new buses and very efficient diesel trains would all be seen in company with very modern motor cars. I did not see one pre-war car in Ceylon.
Ian Barker and I saw some coconuts up a low King Coconut tree in the hotel garden and we decided to get some. I bunked him up and he knocked two down. Then a fellow from the hotel came and told us to stop. We left the nuts there and went away. We went back later and brought them to the pavilion to eat. We asked Mr. Hutchinson if we could and he said "yes". They were pale orange in colour, so we cut holes in them and drank the juice through straws. The "meat" was not ripe, so we could not eat it.
Soon afterwards we went up to the buses. On the way I had a talk to a fellow at a jeweller's shop where there was a water sapphire about 1 1/2" across. When we got to the buses an old lady came begging around. She had no nose. Instead there was a hole in her face. She looked horrible.
It was now about 4.30 and we set off for the Ceylon Zoo. Our driver went at a terrific bat. His brake pedal and his horn button seemed to be synchronised, a special feature of Ceylonese drivers. We went through streets with houses right up to the edges of the roadway, and our driver sped through scattering fowls and children in all directions. When we stopped near the Zoo a man came along selling drinks of an unidentified yellow liquid. He was offered ten cents to drink a glass himself. We thought it looked like fly spray.
Inside the Zoo we were still in a hurry. We glanced at the zebras, stopped to cheer at the kangaroos, and to growl at the lions. A feature of the Zoo was the amusing cartoons and verses painted up around the place. There was also a well-stocked aquarium. We saw the monkeys, elephants, tiny cattle, panthers, tigers and many other animals. Stopping near a small surfaced ring in a natural amphitheatre we were entertained for about a quarter hour with the most brilliant elephant act I have ever seen. The elephants did everything except fly. They stood on their heads, sat down, and played a mouth organ. They danced to a tom-tom and played ring-a-ring-of-roses. One picked up the trainer by his head, arms and body in his mouth. Their trainer would make a fortune in a circus. It was terrific!!!!
Then we had to leave the Zoo. On the way back we passed several games of cricket and volley ball and waved to the boys playing. We went past the racecourse which has some enormous grandstands. We sped past the Town Hall and the Dawatagaha Mosque but were too far away to see any details. We passed an enormous banyan tree with about 50 trunks, and then stopped to see a gully-gully man. He was really terrific!!
Starting with a small wicker basket in front of him he hissed into it several times. Then he lifted the lid and played a haunting melody on his flute. The cobra started to rise up slowly, swaying to the music, its eyes on the gully-gully man all the time. He flashed his flute at it and the snake darted. We all started. Then he picked up the snake and wound it around himself. When he asked if anyone would like to touch it one boy went forward and gingerly touched it on the tail. Then Dick Barton went forward and had it wound around him.
Putting the snake back into the basket he took three cups and a small white ball and mystified us for about ten minutes by making the ball disappear from one place and appear in another. I climbed on to one of the bus roofs to see better. He did a trick of making an egg disappear from a bag and appear up the leg of Grant Lindley's trousers. Then he did the trick of pulling string through two sticks and had us really guessing.
As it was getting late we hopped into the buses and sped back to the jetty, thence by launch to the Oronsay where we arrived just in time for dinner. Billy was in a hurry to go ashore again so we had to eat quickly. We were told that we couldn't stop up to see the dancers from Kandy so we had to go to bed at 9.30 as usual. At bedtime we were told that there was no more mail for the whole Contingent.
Oronsay sailed at midnight.
Saturday, April 23rd 1955
Oronsay
I awoke rather early but stayed in bed till the last minute then rushed off to have a shower before breakfast.
All the morning, with the exception of a few minutes when we discussed coral atolls, we spent in writing up our diaries.
In the afternoon we were told the faults in the essays about our tour of the ship. We were asked to write a paragraph of an incident in Ceylon,
After dinner I had a swim and then went to bed early to read The Devil Rides Out, a book about Black magic.
Sunday, April 24th 1955
Oronsay
We did not get up until just before breakfast. At the morning assembly we were censured by Mr. Hutchinson for bad manners. As the end of the assembly the cast for The Itch sketch was chosen. John Read was the tramp, Robert Turnbull the old lady, Don Rice the little boy, and Max Robinson the student. I was the snappy young lady. Mrs. Johnstone was in charge and we ran through it up on deck.
Before Church I managed to wash a few clothes, and hang them in our cabin.
The service did not last long and we relaxed until lunch time. In the afternoon a few of us went to a children's picture show in the First Class part of the ship. Most of the cartoons were Popeye ones.
In the evening we were dressed up for our sketch by Mrs. Johnstone. I had a blue dress, silk scarf, large white hat, and sunglasses on. The sketch was quite a success, but I didn't get a chance to powder my nose. That night everyone was told they had to sleep on deck.
Monday, April 25th 1955
Oronsay, Anzac Day
When we left "D" Deck at 6.00 a.m. with our stretchers we were very tired after our late night so we went to bed again down in our cabin.
During first period some of the boys were allowed to go to iron their trousers. I was not so prepared before the Anzac Service at 10.30. I had to rush around to get a shirt and trousers ironed. In the ironing room a lady ironed my shirt for me.
We all marched up to the Arena in the First Class part of the ship and formed a funnel-shaped guard. The address was given by Captain Haines, and everyone in the Contingent felt the solemnity of the occasion. We then went back to the third period.
After lunch Mr. Tregenza had us doing P.T. up on the Sports deck. I finished writing home. Period four is split by tea, but I did not bother going down but kept on with history. Period five we started learning Alice Blue Gown.
Dinner was at 6.15 because of the picture The Colditz Story which was showing. Quite a good show.
Tuesday, April 26th 1955
Oronsay, Gulf of Aden
Early in the morning we saw shadowy outlines of mountains on the horizon. They were islands off the north-east tip of Africa, and since we passed them on our starboard side we must have gone between them and Africa.
Later in the morning, soon after 10.00 a.m., we sighted Africa. What a desolate sight. Rocky crags rising from sweeping stretches of sand and rock. On the highest point of Cape Guardafui was a lighthouse 60 feet high. When I first saw it I thought it was a man! We spotted an area of sand and I think the black specks covering it were tents. We were passing these rocky hills for a few hours until the coast bore away from us over the horizon. Otherwise the day was rather dull.
In the evening I excelled myself by beating Bob Martin once at chess, out of three games. Bob came ninth in the Junior Chess Championships of South Australia.
I decided it was not worth the bother of going to sleep on deck.
Wednesday. April 27th 1955
Aden
The thumping of the stretchers dropped by those who had slept on deck awakened us about 5.00 a.m. After several ineffectual attempts to go to sleep I got up and went for a shower.
When I went to address the letters I had written the previous day I could not find my pen and I jumped to the conclusion that I had left it in the shower. However I later found it in my blazer pocket.
Going up on desk we saw the usual cluster of local boatmen selling all sorts of souvenirs. They had cheap print scarves and gaudy coloured tapestries, cigarette lighters, and thermos flasks, dressing table sets, fezzes, and all sorts of other merchandise mostly useless.
The scene from the ship represented a vivid contrast in country. To the north lay flat land and salt pans with an oil installation alone relieving the monotonous horizon. A thin stony sea wall jutted abruptly out from the shore, making a safe anchorage there.
We went ashore about 8.30 a.m. and landed on a stone jetty. Walking through a bluestone building, which from the harbour had looked like a church, we saw that it was a memorial to the dead from Aden in the two world wars. There are no Customs in Aden and we walked straight into the main street.
Everything in Aden caters for the tourist. The supply of watch and camera shops seemed unlimited. The shops in the main street were rather large and had imposing displays of "cheap" goods to attract the tourist with a pocketful of money. Scattered along the shopfronts were dozens of stalls selling cigarette lighters, sunglasses, toys, cigarettes, and dozens of other articles. The vendors of these articles were a different type from those who were selling scarves and other fancy wares.
We had been divided into five groups of twelve while on board ship, and our group under Mr. Miller went into most of the shops looking for cameras and watches and fountain pens. No one, however, bought anything expensive. The back streets of Tawahi were a totally different picture. Small shuttered shops with proprietors to match their shabbiness stood between filthy tenements and houses. What amazed us quite a bit were the people sleeping. They slept anywhere. There were beds in the streets, and if there weren't, people would just lie down on the pavement. Glimpses of dingy rooms through gaps in the walls disclosed pitiful overcrowding of bodies heaving with the heat.
There was an enormous number of goats wandering aimlessly or lying in the streets. Black goats, brown goats, goats of all colours and sizes. A few beggars followed us but only one cheerful faced little fellow got anything. Mr. Miller gave him sixpence after extracting a promise from him that he would attend school.
Some of the boys went about all the shops looking for this kind of camera or that type of camera and faithfully promising the shop proprietor that they would buy one on the voyage home. Bob Martin went round quite a few shops trying out movie cameras, and he was determined that he would buy one for eighteen pounds on the way home.
Down the other end of the main street we saw a convent school and the sight of the children, white as well as coloured, running about in the yard reminded me that there is fundamentally no difference between the crowded people of Aden in particular and Asia in general and the comparatively well-to-do people of Australia.
After a little dallying about, caused by Bill Moore deciding at the eleventh hour that he wanted postcards, we embarked on launches back to Oronsay.
During the early afternoon we hoped that there would be no school, but there was. However, all we did was write up our diaries. Most of us were very tired. I stayed up until about 9.15 to compose my report on Aden for the Young Sun.
Thursday, April 28th 1955
Oronsay, Red Sea
I was up at the writing desk soon after 7.00 a.m. finishing my report. When the breakfast gong went I thought I had better skip breakfast and finish it because Mr. Hutchinson had asked me to get it in as soon as possible.
During the break between second and third periods Bob Martin, representing our Cabin Combine, invested eleven shillings on the tote of the ship's daily run. He got all the tickets. The mileage 482 had seven backers so we received 1/7th of three pounds twelve, i.e. ten shillings and threepence - we lost ninepence on the first day's investment.
During the morning the aquatic sports were on. We could only watch them during the intervals between periods. Two girls sat on a greasy pole over the water and tried to knock each other off. Four men had to dress up in pyjamas, swim an obstacle course, and burst a balloon then swim back again. It was a pity we could not watch it all.
Fifth period was spent preparing for the Fancy Dress Ball. Mrs. Johnstone and Mrs. Hutchinson worked like Trojans helping everyone get ready. Some of the get-ups were very good. Some were simple and some very complicated. I went as Hitler. Mr. Tregenza made up my face and hair and I stuck a Nazi armband on and that was that. Bill Moore was Blackbeard in a crew of pirates. Bob Martin was Departed Spirit. John Read was Caesar, with Grant Lindley and Trevor Mathers as his slaves.
John is today thoughtful about the part he played in the Hitler story, however innocent at the time. But the villains of history cannot be ignored. So in 1955 other Youth Travellers were happy to memorialise Blackbeard the buccaneer, and Julius Caesar the conqueror and slaver. Who among today's villains would it be unwise to portray in fancy dress?
We all collected on "E" Deck, then went into the playroom and then paraded around in front of Captain Hawker and the Chief Officer who were judging. Then the parade of the other fancy dressers. The audience voted for these. Then there was dancing. I couldn't do any of them so I didn't dance.
About midnight some of us went for a swim with Mr. Tregenza and Mr. Johnstone. Then I went to bed.
Friday, April 29th 1955
Oronsay, Gulf of Suez
We were all pretty tired when we woke up. I just made it to breakfast, but Bill was a bit late. Normal periods were the order for the morning and we were too tired to protest. In the afternoon the leaders decided that we were all to have a sleep between 1.00 p.m. and 3.30 so most of us went to our cabins. I did not get right to sleep but I rested well until about 2.30 p.m., then I went up to "C" Deck and sat in a deck chair. When I went back to our cabin it was almost time for period four and everyone was asleep. Quite a few people arrived late and pleaded that they had not been woken up.
I rushed before dinner-time to write letters to Mum, Elizabeth and Graeme. All letters had to be in by 8.00 p.m. It was just my luck that when I was a bit late dinner was on time.
We all went to bed early, and Mr. Tregenza told us to take particular notice of what we saw going through Suez on the morrow.
Saturday, April 30th 1955
Oronsay, Suez Canal
With a start I awoke, and remembered what a lot there was to see. I raced off for a shower. Then up on deck. The inevitable dhows were clustered around the ship, with enthusiastic Egyptians half way up their masts trying to sell their goods. They specialised in leather work. Beautiful bags and wallets with tooled designs, and compendiums stained gaudily, attracted many buyers.
One lady bought a large bag and upon looking inside it she found that it was cut. She stood at the rail for about an hour trying to make the natives exchange it for a good bag. The natives just stood there paying no attention to her cries. I think it served her right that she did not look at it properly before she paid for it. She tried to ruin the trade for that particular boat by telling everyone not to buy from them. When the same boat sold another dud article the police were called, and after a heated conversation the boat was rowed away,
The view to the west was dominated by a large range of rocky hills, worn smooth by the action of the elements for centuries. With the oil bunkers nestling almost down at the water's edge the town of Suez spread along towards the beginning of the Canal.
Oronsay was anchored along with about half a dozen ships of all nationalities waiting her turn to go through the Canal.
We went to breakfast, but all hurried up on deck as we had started to move towards the Canal. Our first decent look at Suez surprised us. It was a much cleaner and more modern place than I had expected.
As the town is inescapably connected with the running of the Canal there were flags of many nations flying at the offices of the shipping agents. A pleasing avenue of trees ran alongside the Canal, quite a change from Aden. On the starboard side it was a pretty desolate sight. Stone huts were being built on the breakwaters and the beginnings of the desert, for what reason I don't know.
The passengers who were going on the Cairo excursion left by launch and went ashore by about 8.20 a.m.
When the modern Suez Canal was completed in 1869 by Ferdinand de Lesseps he had a 99-year concession to operate it. It cost 57 million pounds to build. England was very lucky to be able to buy 44% of the shares in 1875, which gave it a controlling interest in the Canal company.
On the opposite bank to Suez we saw an Arab camp with camels standing and lying motionlessly all about.
In the Great Bitter Lake we waited our turn to enter the next section of the Canal with all the other ships. Here a gilly-gilly man did some excellent conjuring tricks. He used chickens to mystify and to amaze us.
We had normal periods all day except for the time we had off to see the native conjurer. One time we went into the Farouk By-pass and saw about eight ships which seemed to be sailing across the sand through the other arm of the By-pass. Along the road there passed a lot of jeeps with British soldiers who waved gaily to us as we went past.
We passed several pile drivers and dredges with dusky workmen who waved to us also.
There were several steel bridges which can be rotated across the Canal in two sections. Egyptian sentries stood on guard on them with Tommy guns slung over their shoulders. We were told that one of them, which carried a railway track on its way to Palestine, was built by Australian sappers in the First World War.
Going through Ismailia we passed an imposing looking hospital with white-coated people out waving to us. In a lonely spot on the desert side of the Canal we saw a small poor house with bales of hay (goodness knows where it came from) and saw stacks of sacks which may have contained salt.
I played table tennis for quite a bit of the afternoon and won a few matches.
About sunset we were passing through Kantara and we saw the Mohammedans praying towards Mecca. Mr. Hutchinson was typing out my report on Aden and he had only changed the opening, to make it more interesting. After dinner eight of us went up and played a table tennis tournament.
The gilly-gilly man who had been up in first class in the morning gave us a show at 9.00 p.m. He did very much the same show as the other chap in the morning, but he produced a string of flags from his mouth.
Then we arrived at Port Said. All we could see was neon signs and shadowy buildings. Before we had even stopped, the bum boats were alongside. They sold practically the same goods as those at Suez although the boats were of a different type. Kingsley Purdie bought a moth-eaten fez for two shillings. Max Robinson talked to us for quite a while on magic, and how he became interested in it.
We went to bed at 10.00 p.m.
Sunday, May 1st 1955
Oronsay, Mediterranean Sea
When we awoke Oronsay was well out into the Mediterranean and the sea was choppy with a cool wind blowing.
Mr. Tregenza, Mr. Butler and the Johnstones, who had been on the Cairo trip, did not get back on board till after midnight.
We had an easy day as it was Sunday with no school. At the church service I felt more at home because it was run by a Methodist minister. Most of the day I spent reading in our cabin. There was a kit inspection.
We were all paid eight shillings for Naples and Marseilles. We split up our tote capital and I got three shillings and ninepence. Then I had to pay Kerry Rogers two shillings and sixpence for aerogrammes.
Rather appropriately the film that was screened was The Final Test because Len Hutton and Godfrey Evans were travelling up in First Class.
When we went to bed we told horror stories from films such as The Thing and The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms.
Monday, May 2nd 1955
Oronsay, Mediterranean Sea
The day was just ordinary with lessons boring us for most of the day. Captain Haines came to our assembly in the morning to thank us for forming a guard at the Anzac Service on the previous Monday and to wish us well for the remainder of our trip.
Everyone was entitled to one haircut for sixpence on the trip so I went for mine before the third period and did not get back until almost noon.
In the afternoon we had our singing period. We were finishing Alice Blue Gown and going quite well when Mr. Hunt, the liaison officer, came over and asked us to stop because the passengers were playing Housie. We stopped.
I went up later to play table tennis when a woman came and told us to stop playing because of the Housie. I played Bob Martin three times at chess after dinner and was thoroughly trounced.
We saw the lights of Italy and Sicily as we were going through the Straits of Messina.
Tuesday, May 3rd 1955
Oronsay, Naples
We were all awakened by Len our steward when he brought us our cups of tea. I hurried off for a shower, and the boys said we had already berthed in Naples.
Breakfast was at 7.30 a.m., so I went up on deck as soon as I was dressed, to wait. We had already berthed and the Italian Customs Officers and the dockers were clustered round the first gangway which was going up.
During breakfast mail was distributed and I received two aerogrammes. We assembled on "D" Deck at 8.00 a.m. and were all given tickets to go ashore.
About 8.20 we all filed off, presenting our passes as we went by the uniformed Frontier Police. Finding ourselves on an upper concourse we entered the Customs Building. This is a huge U-shaped building made from stone of volcanic origin. It has vertical and horizontal lines of design. The interior is spacious and well lit and seems rather empty. Only a part for luggage and a few tourist bureaux are used for any effective purpose.
We went through, and down a long flight of stairs to ground level where guides, interpreters, bus drivers, police and customs waited to pounce on tourists. Walking on towards the last Customs barrier we passed two huge concrete barn-like air-raid shelters.
Almost right in front of us was an old castle which looks grim with its narrow slits in the walls. To the left of the castle was the old palace which housed the monarch of the old kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
Through the last barrier, and we were descended upon by a horde of hawkers: "Parker pen", "Want to buy a good watch?", as well as cheap jewellery.
Across the street and we were soon in a busy thoroughfare. Turning right we were soon following the crowd of people going to work. We were a little amazed at first by the cars driving along the right-hand side of the road, but we soon became accustomed to them. The streets themselves were rather unique, almost all of them are composed of flat little pieces of stone about four inches square set together with a slight eccentricity to produce a pleasing pattern and a stronger roadway.
Most of the cars were strange makes to us - Alfa Romeos, Fiats, Lancias, Siatas, Lambrettas, and many others.
The shops were usually small, but clean. Almost all shops which sold things like clothing and jewellery had steel shutters which slide over the windows at night, because their window panes just slide out for easy access. Except for a slight difference in clothing and the predominance of dark hair and complexions we could almost have been back home.
There were posters and advertisements in every spare piece of wall, even on the public buildings. Colgate dental cream, Persil soap, and Marilyn Monroe, all found their way onto the walls or windows of buses. As we walked round many of the people looked at our blazers and read out haltingly "Australia".
Most of the buildings were from four to eight storeys high and either Renaissance or imitation style of architecture. Some buildings used devices from many styles of architecture, particularly Greek and Roman, but I think that in this way the effectiveness is lost. The university facing the Corso Umberto was a copy of Doric and I did not like it. The Telefoni Dello Stati was one of the few really modern buildings. The Banco di Napoli had Ionic columns flanking the doorway and upper windows, with round arches on top.
Going up the Via Duomo we came to the Cathedral of San Gennaro and, after pausing a while on the opposite pavement, we went in. The Cathedral was first completed in the French Gothic Style in the early 14th Century, but since then it has been partially rebuilt after earthquakes, particularly those of the 15th Century. The present facade was not completed until 1905.
Inside, the ceiling which was almost 100 feet above the floor, was covered with paintings. The clerestory contained the only windows, and they were just plain glass. The piers supporting the roof were surmounted by equilateral arches. Quite a bit of the wall and the sides of the piers had busts of the different Saints and Popes set in niches. A few murals in circles decorated the wall, and the gilt which was used rather extensively in the choir made it look rather cheap.
We hurried on to the Piazza Cavour and turned left. Here there were quite a few shoe-shine boys, some with chairs, some without. In one of the tall buildings we saw a woman standing on her little verandah surrounded by the iron railing, hauling up a basket of vegetables on a rope.
We came to the National Museum but just looked in the door and hurried on as we had to rendezvous at the Funicular Station at 10.30.
Down the Via Roma. In one square there were men laying paths around the gardens. They sat on little wooden seats and tapped away at the little slabs of stone taking the greatest care to set them in place correctly.
Quite a few of the posters we saw were political. We did not need a knowledge of the Italian language to decipher one which consisted of a Communist flag with all the dye running out of it.
We arrived a bit late at the Funicular Railway station and after a wait of a few minutes we boarded the train. The carriages were built so that on the sloping line they were upright. We laughed to think what they would look like if they were put on the line back to front. The train was pulled by a cable and we set off into the dark cool tunnel. We moved slowly up and were surprised to see another train slide down past us. It took us quite a few minutes to work out how they worked it because there was only one track - except where we passed. There were two stations on the way up, where some people got out. At the terminus we got out and set off at a great bat through the streets. Here there were quite a few nice flats with lovely views across Naples.
We came out on the Corso Vittorio Emmanuel and went into a restaurant under the guidance of two Italians who insisted in following us even with the promise of no reward. Here we were all shouted a chocolate-coated coffee ice cream. Looking out over Naples we counted 40 renaissance domes among the many buildings of the city. The Harbour with Mt. Vesuvius looked beautiful, although there was a heavy haze.
Leaving the restaurant we walked down the hill a bit, and in front of a lot of shops I talked to an American doctor. We then went through one of the shops and looked at the old 11th Century fort, which has been converted to a military prison, towering above us. Our trolley bus was waiting so we hurried out and hopped on.
We had a hair-raising roundabout ride back to the wharf. The bus driver was a "horn fiend" and sounded it without any excuse. Many were the pedestrians who had to duck out of our road. He seemed to forget he had a brake. We managed to catch a glimpse of blocks of modern flats - the results of post-war reconstruction. As we slowed down there we caught an eyeful of the Post Office, a handsome modern stone building in black and white with large frosted windows.
We arrived near the wharf and after a two minute encounter with the watch and pen hawkers we hurried on board to be about five minutes late for dinner.
Oronsay was due to sail at 2.00 p.m. but was late and did not leave the wharf until 3.00 p.m. While we were waiting on "C" Deck we had our last look at Naples. In one street near the waterfront there were trams, buses, and trolley-buses - quite a mixture.
Lying berthed on our port side aft was the smart white ship Calabria, which looked (to me) to be about 10,000 tons. She was being loaded with wheat from a modern silo and cool-store building nearby. One of the tugs which finally pulled us out was the Vesuvius.
We were a bit disappointed that there was haze around Mt. Vesuvius as we sailed out of Naples Harbour.
I went to bed early.
Illustrations:
# Customs House, Colombo
# Street scene, Colombo
# Colombo visitor guide
# Colombo street scene, Pettah district
# Mt. Lavinia beach, near Colombo
# Oronsay breakfast menu 23 April 1955
# Anzac Day Order of Service, Oronsay, 25 April 1955
# Aden from Oronsay
# Street scene, Aden
# Returning to Oronsay, Aden anchorage
# Oronsay dinner menu 28 April 1955
# Suez Canal western side - desert
# Suez Canal western side - settlement
# Port precinct Naples, and Castel Nuovo
# Naples port building (and returning Travellers)
# Mount Vesuvius as an ominous backdrop
To be continued...........
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