FIRST CRUISE SHIP

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23381, 24 June 1939, Page 19

FIRST CRUISE SHIP

| ORIENT ANNIVERSARY , FORTY YEARS' ACTIVITIES LIFE ON THE GARONNE I The 50th anniversary- of the inception of the finises organised by the Orient Line will he marked hy the sailing of the Orontes from Sydney for liabaul on .lime :10. This type of holiday has only comparatively recently reached its present wide popularity and considerable interest attaches to the earlv days of 'cruising. The first Orient Line cruise was made from Kngland hy the Garonne, of 3817 tons displacement, in 1889. 1 he ladies of tho party, it is recorded, were heavily veiled against wind and weather and were hound neatly round the waists by' petersham belts with filigree clasps. The men wore Norfolk jackets and yachting caps. 'I he ships appearance, hy modern standards, was strange, although not unat tractive. Hm- funnel poked almost apologetically from among various masts and rigging, while flown below the tiny cabins j were lit by swinging oil lamps.

In a booklet printed at the time to announce the first cruise of the Garonne an account is given of ports where the tourists might go ashore to buy fresh eggs. The agreeable conditions afloat and the absence of bad air were emphasised. "1 found myself one of a moderatesized township consisting of a long street with a farmyard at one end and a promenade at the other," stated a passenger in a diary. "A herd of bullocks, several pens of sheep, a score qf Berkshire "'porkers, some hundreds of fowls, ducks and turkeys and a sleek Aldernev milking cow constituted the livestock. The vessel was no less than 17 paces across."