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hauled aboard in large rattan bundles that were cumbersome but easily lifted by
two persons. Because it was tobacco, it came on board with numerous guards,
thuggish fellows who looked as though they might have divided loyalties. This
cargo went into the lock-up with the tin, the keys to which were retained by
the mate. (I never understood the lure of this stuff. While living in Woolwich,
a good portion of Father’s business was the sale of cigarettes. He did not need
to emphasise to us the poisonous nature of the leaf; both grandfathers smoked
like chimneys and virtually coughed themselves to death. Moreover, few
seemed worried outside ourselves about the odiferous cloud which at all times
accompanied each smoker.)

While the ship completed the loading of several thousand bales of rubber,
(again, a cargo that hardly needed our attention, the bales being large, cumbersome
and liberally covered in talcum powder, without which product unloading from
a hot cargo hold would be barely imaginable) the officers decided that we would
challenge another British ship (Antenor, a smart Blue Funnel Line ship carrying
on a similar trade to ours) to a game of football. We unfortunately just lost 6-2, a
trifle unlucky, our team agreed. But we decided on a re-match two days later. This
time they won 7-2, but this was because one half of the pitch was swampland.
Unfortunately, we had put quite a lot of beer on the result, so our ship’s stores
were somewhat depleted (strangely, the referee and touch-judges all joined in –
Moslem scruples were undiscussed). In all, we spent six long days in Belawan; too
long, but despite the great heat, an enjoyable sojourn.

From the daily routine of supervising the unloading and subsequent loading
of the ship, (the trip around south-east Asia and Hong Kong lasted from January
10th to March 6th) we were at last homeward-bound, essentially without working
ports until we were to arrive in northern Europe. This allowed time for studying,
learning the art of paint-chipping, and various navigational requirements,
including the eternal taking of sights and watch-keeping, during which the
officer of the watch would sometimes insist on our practicing signals (frankly,
not that fascinating a task with an aldis lamp – usually hand-held – to signal
passing ships, always only to ask such scintillating questions as, “Where are you
from?” and “How was the weather?” However, two matters of no little interest
were, on one of the world’s busier shipping lanes, how very few were the ships
that we encountered, and secondly, that I recall no ship not being able to reply in
English, something that could only reinforce our collective ethnocentrism). On
our second day at sea, Ramadan began, a Moslem fasting obligation of which I
had hitherto been unaware. This seemed to necessitate, after sunset, large and
tasty meals for the engineering crew (being so close to the equator, fasting times
were very similar in length to the night hours) but was not apparently limited just
to Moslems – our mess steward was Christian, for example, and looked forward
to celebratory evenings under the stars. These occasions seemed generally to be
accompanied by meat curry, of which, I am reminded, we had a choice every

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