WITH THE SEVENTH CONTINGENT.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CV, Issue 12534, 22 June 1901, Page 4

WITH THE SEVENTH CONTINGENT.

' * - fr [From Our Correspondent.] DURBAN, May 9. Early on, the morning Of Friday, April 19, the troopship Gulf of Taranto, flying at the mast head the blue ensign of New Zealand, with its white .badge and Southern „ Cross, steamed into the little West Australian seaport of Albany, the first and only port of call of the New Zealand Seventh. The view of the pretty little harbour which met their eyes at reveille was indeed welcome to the Mnorilanrlers, who had seen no land, with the exception of a passing glimpse of Wilson’s Promontory, since' leaving New Zealand’s shores. AT ALBANY. ’ At Albany some anxiety Was felt owing to the probability of that scourge of the East, the bubonic plague, having, made its appearance at the port, and so robbed them of the run, ashore and 1 “ breather” they had been promising themselves, it having been announced that in this event nb one Was to be allowed ashore. when a fussy little steam launch, which proved to be carrying the medical officer and other officials, was seen to put off from, the shore and make for the ship, its report was awaited by ail rili board with hot a little apprehension. But there whs bhe question .of even greater importance than that reflating tri the plague occupying the minds of those on board; and directly the little steamer was within earshot, she was hailed with shouts of “Have they caught De WetV” The ailswer was received with many expressions of relief, for the Seventh aha firmly impressed' with the idea that it- is their sacred duty to capture the guerilla chieftain. A satisfactory report having been received from the health officer, preparations for the holiday were soon in active progress. ' JferSeys, “ slacks,” and hirinkey ” caps were discarded for the mote elaborate, if less Useful, tunics, riding-breeches, leggings, spurs and War hats. Orte feiiterpris ; ing local tradesman did not wait for the irifen to : go ashore before hloiiig business With them, but ciime olit in On open boat loaded with, fruit, arid did a very brisk trade by means of a line with a bucket attached, which Was let down bver the side. It was decided to givte the right wing, Consisting of the Auckland, Wellington. arid Nelson Cbriipariies, lohr holirS’ leave on Friday afterliddri, the left wing, comprising the remaining tllfee coriipahies, Canterbury, Otiigo, aMd Supplementary, to be glveri the sable tirfte bn'Saturday morning. Tlie then were taken, ashore in a stfearii launch ahd proceeded to make the most of the time at tlieiri disposal. Every available blcyble Was. hired, arid every available vehicle Was engaged frit making short excursions into the country, and Carrying the troopers about to see the sights 6l the city.; Scores of khaki-clad men were to fie seen strolling about the town, seeing What was to be seen, and “doing” the plate generally. The fruit, shops and restaurants were besieged, the bbdkseUers’ places rushed for the latest newspapers, while the general stores Were kept busymaking Up boxes of provisions for the voyage, One very noticeable feature was the absence of drunkenness or anything approaching rowdyism, there being very few cades indeed where any of the ttien had taken more than Wad good for them. In fact the orderly behaviour of the New, Zealanders was mhehr'commented On by the residents of the town, and comparisons, very faVritirable to the Mabril&nderis, were thade between' them and the New South Welshmen by the Antillian which had Sailed a day or two previous to orir arrival, and Who 'appear to have' enjoyed thenisClves rather freely during their stay in 'the pbrb, The stay at. Albany was riiadfe as Brief as possible, the tesSel oiily reriiairiing iri port sufficiently long to enable her tri completecoaling.. . ' > At 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 20, the day following her arrival, the vekfeel steamed oht of the, harbour, ■ arid as she did'sri she WaS saluted with three cheers from the whistle of a dredge employed in the harbour improvement works, which are under the ooritrqTof art te'New Zealander, Mr Wellington Carrington, of Taranaki.; The ledger vessel promptly responded, and With three rousing cheers, froih the troopers, the Gulf of Taranto passed out of the harbour and again shaped her course westward! towards the* seat of -War, and the meh settled themselves down for another three weeks on the briny. MISSING MEN AND STOWAWAYS.

On tie roll bfeing called' after the ship bad gob Tinder way, two members of the Contingent,'one belonging I ''to ihte Auckland Company, and one to Otago, failed to respond to their names, and a thorough search of the ship failed to discover them anywhere on board, they having apparently preferred the climate of West Australia to the more sultry one of South Africa. Another stbwawrty Was discovered on board after we had been a few hours out. This one appears to Be a most pushing individual, having stowed away on the Antillian with the New South Wales troops at Sydney, hut Was sent ashore at Albany. Nothing danhted by the failure of his first attempt, he quietly awaited the next opportunity to reach his desired destination, confident that this time there would be no intermediate port to drop him at. One New South Wales trooper, who had been .left behind' when the Antillian left Albany, made several attempts to board tie vessel, bub was not permitted to do so, , and was finally sent ashore by the steam launch, a saddened and disappointed man. Some few men who had stayed on shore without leave were court-martialied, and rather Revere sentences'were inflicted on them, two of the worst offenders being sentenced to double duty throughout the voyage, and to be discharged on arrival at Durban. , A NEWSPAPER.

During the stay at Albany tie little newspaper, “ The Budget,” which was produced on'board in the officers’ quarters, wart printed, and two copies was presented to each of the irxn, and these will bs doubtless preserved b/”the recipients a® interesting souvenirs of an interesting voyage. THE VOYAGE.

The Contingent h«a had splendid weather since leaving Albany, with smooth seas and very little rain or wind' for the whole of the journey, there having been nothing approaching rough weather during the whole of the voyage. Life on board since leaving port lias bean very similar to that of tic first stage of the voyage. The same amusements have been 1 , indulged in as before. Quoit playing, skipping, ■ boxing and other recreations of a similar nature occupying- tire spare time during the day, while scratch concerts and “ buck dances " with games of cards, chess, draughts, etc., help to pass,the time in the eventim-s. Divine Service by the master of the vessel' is held on Sunday mornings, when every man must do® a clean jersey and pair of “ slacks ” ’for the occasion. Lectures were given'on the various troop-decks by the surgeons on . ambuhlnda work; aitxd. on outpost duty, care of iiotses and similar subjects by the captains of the various companies. DRILL ON BOARD.

The short parades of two half-hours per du" have been continued, but there is not safed-cnt space on deck to permit of much work -in the shape of drill being done. Some rifle practice has been indulged in, a plouk, with a real flag floating over it, being towed -ever tbs stem and need as a target. The rifles used were t-li-e did Sniders, some bearing dates of forty, years ago, amd though the' men locked rather askance at the eld weapons, some very good shooting was put up. The signal staff, under the tuition of the instructor, Sergeant Porter, has been practising assiduously with flags’ by day and lamps by night. Baths, mads from 'sails, have been rigged up for tlie .benefit of the men, tM. the whole Con-

tingent indulges iri the luxury of a dip each morning at reveille. Tugs-of-war between the various companies have been the cause Of sortie very hard-fought battles, one contest between the Canterbury and supplementary companies lasting fqt fully an hour, the Canterbury men being ultimately Victorious. Euchre tournaments and quoit arid other imaltehieS between idle various companies have also excited considerable interest. SIGHTS AT SEA'. Much interest w;as created by the appearance, on the evening of May 2, of ft. very fine comet; lying almost due west. It has been visible each - evening since, and increasing in splendour us tittue goes on. lOri Tuesday last the vessel' passed through a school of, whales, some of the leviathans coming quite close to the ship, and playing around her. Flying fish have been plentiful during the voyage, _ sometimes in twos and threes, and sometimes in considerable shoals. On the first evening out fro-m Albany quite a number of Steamers were passed in quick succession, one large passenger stturner passing quite close to the vessel. Tlie men gave her three rousing cheers as She passed, and rocket® were sent up. Since thexl very few ships have been righted, one or two Steamers and a couple of MilinV vessels being about the SUm total. A MAORI HAKA. A Maori haka. and a war-cry have been composed by Colonel Porter, and the men have been busily learning them under the tuition of. the popular sergeant “ Tommy • Forter. The haka “ Kokiri; kokiri. Hh, ha, lia, ha I he,he, he, he! V ' Kokiri, kolriri. He, he, he, he! raa, ha, ha, ha! . Me patu, Ida mate.one. Ha, ha, ha, ha. Me path, kia hewa. He, he, he, he! Ekae; Ha. Ekae. He Ha» ha, ha, ha! and is followed by the War-cry: HOfco whitri! Kia toa! Kla toa! Kia.ioa. A ratlier free translation of the haka is “Rallv bovs, rally! Kill the enemy and Wriurid him. lull Win stone dead,” tod by way of a praycri fori the repose of his soul concludes' with a good full-blooded Maori curse. The war-cry is thus transla-ted—-BV the Seventh! Be brave! Be brave! U brate I*’ The haka iri performed with much stamping Of Ret and brandishing of rifle?, and tinder the leadership of Sergeant Porter, whose grimaces would do Credit to the best Maori haka dancer in tlie colony, prove a \ery enective weapon against the Boers.

A SUPPRESSED ORGAN. A«. attempt wan made to produce a newspaper on the voyage, white wari to be mom representative of the lower ranks of the contingent, and, permission haying been obtained for this pimpose, a rtieetang of non-commissioned officers, representative of tlie various companies. Was held, Sergeant-Major Calloway (Canterbury) in the chair. It Was decided to produce such a paper. Staff-Sergeant Taylor was appointed editor, Sergeant Con secretary, and one sub-editor was appointed by - each company. In due time the first copiesi-of the first number of the paper, which had been christened. “The Despatch, were written and published in the various troopflecks. Butt, alas, its glory was shortlived, fot it bad seen the light 4 scarcely halt an hour when rill the copies were called in, the officers having taken exception to Pertain of the contents. Permission was given to re-issue the paper, subject to certain conditions, but top tojfce it has not been decided w hether th e permitsion will be toted upon or not.

NOTES; . Three concerts were held during the voyage given' by Otago, Nelson and Wei-. Miifftoii, and also a Sacred concert. . A champagne supper Was given to tne officers by Colonel Porter. , . Lieutenant Hamer was -run over by a cab and badly bruised at Albany, but as nearly well now.- • . 4 ., « ; aa About fine men are to be invalided back! to NeW Zealand. - • V One Canterbury trooper broke bis leg. through falling on the troop-deck, and another trooper broke ah arm through falling down the Stokehold. - A quantity of tinned salmon was found to be tainted, and several troopers were ill from eating it. Captain Brown (Nelson.) being among the sufferers. \\ r £j arrived n»t - Durban moiuuig* We disembark to-morrow morning and go straight to the front. The contingent has two songs—one imposed by Lieutenant Whiteley,The New Zealand Seventh,” and one written by Captain Drury, “The ' New Zealand Mounted' Rifles.” _ . Two transports, containing Boer prisoners; and all that is left of the Warwickshire are in port, and our signal staff has been speaking to them with flags. They passed the Sixth, Contingent at Heid'elburg, while on their way to Pretoria. The Warwicks have just come down from Komatipoorb. We leave Durban to-day for Pietermaritzburg, will bs equipped there, and then leave at once* for Mom Raver, where we get horses. We then leave direct ior the front. (It is _ said, to a place Sixty miles from Mooi River.) All invalids will be left here.