Main Barracks,
Cape Town So. Afr.
1st May 1893

I like this place exceedingly well only tis badly lit up at nights this is dated the first but I missed the last Mail
I got Polls [his 10-year old sister] & Nellies [unknown] letter this morning 10th May it having had a good journey over the globe I was very pleased at receiving it & will write next Mail I trust that you will be able to make out this rough but I hope interesting (perhaps) epistle

My Dear Mother

I duly received your welcome letter of Apr. 6th & am glad to see by it that all are well at home. Dear Mother, believe me I have seen so much & so much to tell that it would take an abler pen than mine to describe, however I presume, although you don’t make mention of it, that your received my letter from Aden dated Mch 9th. We coaled there & took water & some supplies in. I was really interested indeed to see the numerous canoes with men & boys all sparsely clad simply a linen cloth girt about their loins & much sport & laughter had we at their diving for money they are without doubt good divers & can stay in the water a considerable time sharks frequent the waters here, but we never seen any although when calling out ‘sharks’ boys & men got into their boats & canoes more sharper. “Have a dive” was about the only sentence they could utter. We left Aden on the 10th & the next day no land was visible & from this day it began to get hotter & hotter until the pitch was almost boiling thro the decks & on the 15th Mch we passed or crossed the line the sun being straight above our heads so much so that one could scarcely see his own shadow the heat was very oppressive & what water we had to drink was more than loo warm so you can imagine what sort of a time we had of it in this quarter. no sign of a ship or land observable but the monotony was relieved occasionally by the noise of shoals of flying fish the being rather a novelty and of an interesting character one or two missed their guage & flew aboard where they were minutely examined. the wings being much similar to the ordinary bat at home but transparent. On the same day the 15th we had a tropical calm the sea was undisturbed unless by the flying fish, scarcely any waves, not even a ripple on the waters of the Indian Ocean which resembled a great fresh water lake truly twas a sight which gave food enough for reflection and looking round the ship about 5 p.m. the faces of all told how deeply absorbed in thought were they especially on this day. The next day it did not take seamen to inform us of a storm being abrewing , a strong wind which ultimately blew a gale was indeed relished by all on board, clouds were as black as you can possibly imagine, rain fell in torrents but we did not get so much of it as we only got the tail end of the storm (at least I think so). The time was put in fairly well what with tugs of war between Co., concerts &c the hours passed away. On 20th March about 1.30 land was sighted & at night we dropped anchor just outside the harbor of Port Louis the capital of Mauritius Island (the Isle of France) we sailed or steamed rather into the harbour about 4 a.m. the next morning & viewed with interest the town of Port Louis, the home of the half of the Battn. The town has rather a quaint & picturesque appearance the houses being principally built of red brick and red tile roofs, green trees interspersing in fact studded all over with them, a good sized mountain covered with verdure gives rather a pleasing background enhanced by a rugged spur of rocks on the right. After debarking baggage etc advance guard went ashore & the announcement that troops would not debark until tomorrow was received with anything but pleasure & no wonder being cooped up in a troopship & in sight of your future abode is tantalising the Cape party even thought so but we had to endure worse. However the band played all the Scotch & inspiring airs possible to keep us cheery.

On the next day 22nd Mch the parting of the Regt came & indeed it was a parting about 500 left the Himalaya in barges for Port Louis the pipers which were left, playing as they descended the gangway, the cheering, shouting aye and half crying shouts that accompanied them told itself that Soldiers aye even Soldiers have feelings towards their comrades which some people in civilian life would do wisely & benefit greatly by some feeling a kindred. We gazed wistfully after them until they got ashore when we were disturbed by the “fall in” sounding & woke up as if it was all a dream truly we have indeed seen queer sights & strange ordeals. We had to take the Head Quarter baggage of the 64th Regt. No. Staffords on board which drove away our thinking mood. We changed quarters from Lower Main Troop Deck to Main Port side which was an agreeable change being much cooler as the Port windows are always more or less open. The North Staffords came aboard about 11 with a goodly sprinkling of civilians principally creol women who were thickly clad white silk predominating. Pine Apples, Bananas & milk are very cheap here some remarkable pieces of white coral can be easily purchased here at reasonable prices. All the civilians having left the ship we steamed slowly out of the harbour at 4.40 p.m. a favourable wind blowing, the sails were soon set & we skimmed gaily along making what fun we could amongst the 64th a heavy swell rose which caused a good deal of sea sickness among the new arrivals.

The morning of the 23rd Mch shall not escape our memories in a hurry. A more miserable sight I don’t think I have ever witnessed. Rain fell straight down from the heavens the ship rolled heavily, all the likeliest places for shelter were packed & soon every one was more or less drenched, after breakfast 6.30 we had to turn up again to get another drenching. Truly twas a sorry plight & some now would fain have wished that they had gone ashore at Mauritius. Next morning the rain had almost cleared off & the ship was a little bit steadier the clouds cleared a little after breakfast & a good fresh so. Wester soon rose, all sail was hoisted & we scudded along at a fairish rate. Everything went fairly well until the 29th when we noticed that we were going to have some dirty weather, sails were taken in and at 4 in the afternoon the storm burst in fiendish fury the vessel pitched and rolled the wind howled & roared lightning flashed in every direction and when darkness came on the scene was weird in the extreme the good old ship turned her head to the storm & behaved splendidly. The flashes of every description of lightning were very vivid, lighting up the sea around, truly twas an illuminating scene grand to behold. then the rain, oh how it did come down fast as if the clouds had been rent & concentrating the downfall it seem on us, which sent us all below in a hurry. I went on Deck about two hours afterwards when the rain was not nearly so heavy but heavy enough. the waves were breaking over her bows but she always rose with the prow rearing high above the water everyone was pleased at the good old ships behavior (she was built in ’47) I again got below but there was little sleep that night. On the morrow a serene calmness prevailed the sea was peaceful & calm & everyone had a joyful and pleasing countenance, neither wonder!

Whether a fools errand or not we arrived […..] off Cape Town & caused no little surprise to the Colonists there as the rumour was prevalent & published in the papers as to our foundering off Mauritius which happily was unfounded.
We were kept on board without any idea as to as our debarking which was tantalising indeed & many were the thing said about organisation etc of the army. No one was sorry after 4 days lying out in the harbour when we got into the Dock about 4 p.m. on the afternoon of the 4th ap.. We disembarked on the morning of the 5th when the Pipes of Cape Town Highlanders Volunteers & band of 64th played out four Companies into Main Barracks where we now are. I am in the best of health hoping all are well at home.
From your affec. Son
Bill