There are no fewer than forty-one units on board this ship. They include
drafts from almost every Territorial Battalion in India, convalescents
rejoining the regular battalions already in Mesopotamia, and various
engineers and gunners. The ship is grossly overcrowded--1,200 on board
an ordinary 6,000 ton liner. The officers are very well off, though. She
is a bran-new boat, built for this very run (in anticipation of the
Baghdad Railway), with big airy cabins and all the latest improvements
in lights, fans and punkahs. There is nobody I know on board and though
they are quite a pleasant lot they don't call for special comment. The
C.O. is a genial major of the Norfolks. He did some star turns the first
two days. There was a heavy monsoon swell on, and the boat rolled so,
you could hardly stand up. However the Major, undaunted, paraded about a
score of men who had squeaked on to the ship after the roll-call at
Bombay. These were solemnly drawn up in a line as defaulters and
magisterially called to attention to receive judgment. On coming to
attention they over-balanced with the regularity of ninepins in a row:
and after three attempts the major had to harangue them standing
(nominally) at ease. Even so, his admonition was rather impaired by his
suddenly sitting down on the deck, and having to leave rather hurriedly
for his cabin before the peroration was complete.

We are just going through the Straits of Ormuz now: we saw the coast
of Persia on and off all to-day. We spent Thursday, by the bye, at
Karachi, an awful hole it looks--treeless and waterless and very much
the modern port. It reminds one strongly of Port Said, though not
_quite_ so repulsive: and there is a touch of Suez thrown in.

So far it has been quite cool, 84 to 86°: but we shall be beyond the
cloud-zone to-morrow and right inside the Gulf, so I expect it will
get hot now.