FROM LONDON TO AUSTRALIA BY AEROPLANE 



309 



sembled on the race-course, expecting to 

 see us arrive in a few hours. Later, 

 when the news of our reaching Akyab 

 was noised abroad, a multitude camped 

 overnight on the race-course, so as to 

 make sure of witnessing our arrival. 



A GOOD OMEN 



That night we were the guests of Sir 

 Reginald and Lady Craddock, who did 

 everything possible for our comfort and 

 insisted that we should go to bed early. 

 It was the first time such a suggestion 

 had been made to us, and, as we were 

 very weary, we deeply appreciated their 

 kindly consideration. 



There is a strange lizard in the East 

 which makes a peculiar noise, like "tuk- 

 too," and it is a popular superstition that 

 if one hears this sound repeated seven 

 times, good luck will follow. That night, 

 just before going to our room, a lizard 

 "tuk-tood'' seven times. The omen was 

 good and we slept peacefully'. 



We had arranged with Poulet to start 

 off together next morning and keep com- 

 pany as far as Bangkok. The Vimy was 

 considerably faster than the Caudron, 

 but by throttling down and maneuvering, 

 it would be possible to keep together. 

 The way to Bangkok lay across high 

 ranges and dense jungle, and the mutual 

 advantage in making the journey together 

 over this unfrequented and practically 

 unknown country, should a forced land- 

 ing have to be made by one of us, was 

 obvious. 



Traffic fills the highways before sun- 

 rise in the East, and a considerable por- 

 tion of it was moving toward the race- 

 course. A great crowd of interested na- 

 tives swarmed over the aerodrome, and 

 the police and troops were already busily 

 engaged clearing them off prior to our 

 departure. We started up the engines, 

 took leave of our kind friends, and 

 waited for Poulet. Poulet had some 

 difficulty with his machine ; and as it was 

 a warm morning and our engines were 

 beginning to get hot, I took off, intending 

 to circle above the aerodrome until Pou- 

 let arose on the wing. 



The take-off was not without a thrill. 

 As a matter of fact, to this day it is a 

 mystery to me that we ever left the 

 ground. The race-course was much too 



small for so large a machine as the Vimy 

 and heavily laden as it was. It had 

 barely attained flying speed when a fence 

 loomed up in front of us. The Vimy just 

 scraped over, but ahead were trees and 

 buildings. I acted instinctively. The 

 undercarriage brushed the tree-top, and 

 danger was past. It was over in a breath- 

 less moment ; but had the machine been 

 but a single foot lower, disaster must 

 have overtaken us. How slender is the 

 cord that holds success from failure ! 



I circled above the race-course for 

 twenty minutes ; but, as Poulet had not 

 yet left the ground, I concluded that he 

 must be experiencing engine trouble, and 

 so reluctantly we had to push off without 

 him. 



We flew due east to Aloulmein, immor- 

 talized in Kipling's famous ballad, "On 

 the Road to Mandalay," and as no aero- 

 plane had ever flown above this land be- 

 fore, Sergeant Shiers, in words worthy 

 of the great poet, said it was fine to be 

 flitting through air that had never smelt 

 a blanky exhaust ! 



LOST IN CLOUDS ABOVE THE MOUNTAINS 



The maps we carried of this country 

 were very poor and sadly lacking in de- 

 tail, but they indicated that a 7,000- foot 

 mountain range had to be crossed before 

 reaching Bangkok. 



After leaving Moulmein we headed 

 southeast over country rapidly becoming 

 mountainous ; but, instead of encounter- 

 ing lofty summits, a mighty cloud bank, 

 that seemed to reach to heaven and bar 

 the entire prospect in the direction of our 

 course, extended before us. The mon- 

 soon season was now due, and I con- 

 cluded that this would be one of the 

 initial storms. Somewhere in that dread 

 barrier lay the high peaks over which we 

 must cross, and I admit that I was afraid 

 of the prospect. As time wore on. the 

 storms would grow in frequency and in- 

 tensity, so I decided to plunge ahead. 



The clouds rested down to 4.000 feet, 

 and we were flying just beneath then-,. 

 Somewhere ahead lay the mountains that 

 had to be crossed, rearing their summits 

 another 3,000 feet higher. Our maps in- 

 dicated a pass which we tried to find, and 

 so we started off along a deep valley. At 

 first it looked hopeful, but after five min- 



