A LETTER FROM CORPORAL NUT.

Otago Witness, Issue 2516, 4 June 1902, Page 67

A LETTER FROM CORPORAL NUT.

Troopship Kent, April C, 190-2. Deal Dot,— We arrived at Albany on Sunday morning, having taken 11 days l" won't forget Albany m a hurry. I happened to bo on picquet on Saturday night, azid 1 could see land in the distance. Of cour-.e there wa« a rush for the deck after icvcillc, as soon as it became known that land was in sight. We toon. got pretty close in. There :s .t lighthouse at, •the entrance of the harbour, standing on a, Isaro cliff. We passed almost under it, and I could see a numbor of child 1 on saving lo us. Slowly we steamed right up the h.irbour, and anchored beside an old coal hulk. Tho work of coaling at the old hulk was immediately commenced, aud &i Albany is one of the slowest coaling stations in the woild, it wa3 not finished until Tuesday afternoon. We hung abcut the deck all Sunday afternooj watching the shore, and wishing we could get off. It looks rather a pretty little place from the bay, very like Port Chalmers. It is on the side of a hill, or rather of two hills, with a.»hollow in the centre. One is soon undeceived as to tha boauiy of the place, however, when you get ashore, aud I haven't a very flatierir.g opinion of Albany. We were informed that m* wauA hi aJlewed musks au MeasUtfi kajl w.

tho morning and the othei half in the afternoon. I got ashore in the afternoon, and the first person I clapped eyes on was Daisy Primrose, who was standing on the wharf accompanied by her mother. I went and spoke to her, and she introduced me to her parent. As my mate wa3 in a hurry to go for dinner, I had to liurry away, but she promised to come down at night to* say good-bye, but she did not keep her promise. We rushed to a hotel to get 'a decent feed," as the boys termed it. After we had satisfied our huge appetites (we were only charged 2s for our dinner), we strolled along the street as far the the post office, and posted our letters. Then we wandered about for a while, when someone proposed a walk to the top of the hill above the township ; so off we went, and I must say we were rewarded for our exertion by the fine view we had. On one side was the harbour, and on the other, as far as we could see, there were miles of country covered with bush. We fathered some wild flowers (I posted mine back o New Zealand), and then we came back to the town. I met one or two aboriginals on the streets. They are hard-looking cases, especially the men. They were generally the centre of a" group of contingent boys, who stopped to chaff them and have a bit of fun. There are plenty of grapes in Albany, and I must say there were a few less when we left. We returned to the Kent about 5 o'clock, and I, for one, really enjoyed my rim ashore. When we got aboard we were told that vve would leave at 5 o'clock next morning, but we wore delayed till evening on one account and anothei. While lying at Albany anothe. of our horses passed out, and we have lo3t another since we left, bringing the death roll up tc four, so I think we have 'had fewer hoises die than any other contingent that has come yet. We have had splendid weather since leaving Albany — never a Tough day. We expect to leach Durban on Saturday if all goes well, so I may add a line or two to this before I reach there. There is another D.L.F. in the contingent, or rather an ex-D.L.F.— Tommy. April 8. — Another horse died to-day. We shall land on Saturday, I think, if not before, so I may write more from there. At present I remain — Yours truly,

[I am sure everyone will be pleased to hear once moie from Corporal Nut, and ;<lso to hear that he met Daisy Primrose and her mother. It was a pity she did not manage to get down to the troopship 111 the evening, as we should all have liked to have heaid something more about Hei.— DOT.]