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Thur Nov. 26 At Sea
Bombay independently. There was quite a fair head wind blowing. Conseq. it was miles cooler than we have been having it at Aden.
We were all in very good spirits at the prospect of completing our journey & at getting on the move again.
Fri. Nov. 27
Orderly officer today so I had to turn out at the unearthly hour of 5.30. From that to 6.0 I was superintending the return of hammocks to the sundry store bins. Then at 6.10 Ration Call. Eldridge was watching the issue of bread so I went forward to see the butter. The issuer had not started to spoon it out when I arrived so I had to linger down below.
Then at 7.30 another Ration Call that meant meat. An orderly from each mess gets the joint for his 16 men & then bears it off to the cooks galley to be cooked. The poor orderly officer has to watch proceedings for the Crown??? - so to speak. i.e. to receive complaints from the men - if any - as to the joints. I had two complaints, one of them certainly had ra??? a large proportion of bone & the other the quarter master rejected to so we changed them.
By the time 9.0 o'clock came I was very ready for breakfast. Directly I had got that satisfactorily disposed I had to go all round the ship with my orderly Sgt to see that it was all clean for the ships officer's inspection at 10.30. All was fairly alright then at 10.15 the