LETTER FROM THE REV. D. DUTTON.

Otago Witness, Issue 2509, 16 April 1902, Page 54

LETTER FROM THE REV. D. DUTTON.

The following is portion of a letter received by the Rev. J anies, (ribb from the R<iV. D. Dutton, chaplain to the Ninth Contingent, the letter having been ported at Albany • — The mo-t trying day of my life wa= 'NYeclncsday, March 12. The parting in the morning vvas nearly a= much a 11a 1 - 1 could stand; and tlirn tin 111-h an-I c\cit<>mciit of tho day proved vory tijing I think I mu-fc liave shaken lianch with hundreds of people, and hut, but not loa-t, the farewell grip of your hand ju--t broke me down. I was more than thankful wh'.-n the «teamcr moved off. The weather ha= not bc<-ii really bad, though we have had heavy cios= .sea 1 -, and the thip hah rol'ed fearfully. J have had my usual good fortune in not being sca?icki or m any way uncomfortable. Many of the lads vveie sick, and some of them, 1 fear, hcrme--ick. And it ha.= been hard on the poor horses, though at present we have only lost two. We are getting near Albany, •which we hope to reach on Sunday morning. This is not an ideal ehin — speed about 10 knot*, and room not very plentiful. I Ehare a good cabin with Surgeon-captain Deck, a good fellow, gentlemanly and respectful. All the officers are very kind to me, and I have an a°sured place among them, and feel quite at homo. Last Sunday I held my first church parade, ■which -iias ftttfemlfiii ha ail Uifi Q&&U flflsi ifi9*tL«i 1

the men. The captain of the ship, by ar langement with me, read a short portion ! of the Church of England service. I read Scripture, preached a short sermon, and prayed We c ang two of Sankey's hymns, and so bi ought a very enjoyable service to a. I close. I thought it better to agree to such an arrangement — i.c , to con f orm the scr/ioe in part to the Anglican ritual, — tT-.sn to oivide the men, for I inn, got the chance 01 speak- , ing to them all. except the Roman Catho'.ics. Several of the officer are Pre-byterian=, the ' rest Anglicans, except one. who is 'R.C In. j the evening I went town among the lads, I and we «'ng about a dozen of Sankey's hymns a lartjo number of the men joining , 111 the singiiig. My little organ is a great I help. I hope I shall be able to get it to I the "front." I get what conversation I cart with tho men individually. There are many pood lads among them, bat with a springlingf 1 among them of men of a different stamp. Mo-t of the m«-n are writing letter* to post ' ht Albany, and they are more than tliankful fi-r my .-upply of paper. We expect to rear'i Albany early on Sunday morning, and wit be glad to get titero. for we are- all nnxio'. s for ;' litth' news O'ie icp'iy does mi=s tl. » morning paper. I am looking forward wit : i gieat interest to my c \neriences in Sotu'i Africa, and shaM- be very glad to get ther^. My pcr=onal feeling would be one of pure .-..tisfac-ii'in were it net for the thought of tho"=e I hpve left behind. :>nd the apprehension- of difncuUie- for me wl»ich - l kvovv they 1 t'l.tertaiu Well, whatever may happen, f 1 am -afe, my dear friend, in the beeping of God. and my one great concern is so to conduct my-elf that Hi- name may be magnified and Christ's kingdom advanced. I am not in the lea-t troubled about anything else. I On the field 1 :-i->all be able to do much , bettei work than I can do here. The men. are kept bu.-y all day. and when they are 1 tifi" work they have their own arrangements. Every night, however, there are some who live to come along a'icl chat with me. X'oed-l'--s to say, they always find me accessible .•.ml glad to see them P.M. We r.i rived at Albany about 10 n't lock this (Sunday) morning. Most of the. <;f)k •!•-> went ashore about 11 o'clock, bufc a- none of tho men were going I stayed aboard, and at 3 o'clock hpld church parade, nearly all the men and all tho ofFeer-. lefc on boaitl were present. We had a really cojd -pi \ ice I hope to get v 11111 a,hore irnn.mra. I think wo leave on Tuesday morning foi Dm ban. -<> we -! ill -oon get to the fro'll. I j. '11 truly ; ia<l t i.p r we aie not :.i v . -ti ■',;,'■ Jini'^it'j: r 1 n\:r h^T. f must now --1 ':>",', ''.yt- »o>- a whi'O. E\cu-e t'lis I'-tbb'i • ;\-i (< rlu- >.!(.! va, wiuten iuiil( r «'J\"i-" c."i"ii-t nc 3 -. — l>. i). THE NINTJT foNTTNCKNT Vt.kSOS. Ijiofi'T'iiiii. t|.i u-t'T'ita-ter Wilk -, ff tlie \mlli Xow Z: ..l.'ii'S Coi.tiii^'-nt. I a .'.r.it^n I*lolll Ai'iat'y tl'Ri.ln'i,: li- V/orJ'-.n the M jyor of DntH'li''. for the tv..> pi-.tui- pro- > i It d for the n-e m the ofi'ier-. nor.-com-nn«-i'.'ied offi '•;•-. an-1 nw c;i tl-t troopship Keni. "The pi uio*."' he ;>ys. "are good oii"^-. .in'": hay been tiic *<>-r e 01 gieat enjo, m< nt tc all."