FROM LOXDOX TO AUSTRALIA BY AEROPLANE 



32" 



tains on our right. Even there the irri- 

 gation did not cease, but climbed up the 

 mountain sides in a system of stairlike 

 terraces. 



Here and there native villages nestled 

 beneath the shelter of the palm groves 

 or among the verdant green of sugar 

 plantations. Always in the background, 

 subdued by tropic haze, rose the chain 

 of peaks, practically all quiescent, and 

 far away to the left that faint blue line 

 which marked the Pacific horizon. 



Nearing Soerabaya, flying became very 

 bumpy, and it was no small relief when 

 the town, like a magic carpet of multi- 

 colored fabric, spread beneath us. Head- 

 ing the Vimy down, we made a low circle 

 above the town, to the infinite amazement 

 of the teeming native population that 

 swarmed out into the streets, petrified, 

 evidently, by the visitation. 



As the aerodrome was small, I decided 

 to land on the north side, so that, if we 

 overshot its length, I could, perhaps, 

 swing round to the left. This maneuver, 

 however, I discovered to be unnecessary. 

 We made a good landing and were easing 

 off to rest when the machine seemed to 

 drag, and from past experience I knew at 

 once the Vimy was becoming bogged. 



IN THE mud 



Opening up the starboard engine, we 

 began to swing slowly, but the port 

 wheels immediately sank into the mud 

 and we tilted on to our fore-skid. At 

 once I shut off both engines and the Vimy 

 gradually eased back to her normal posi- 

 tion. 



The natives and people, who had been 

 kept back by the Dutch soldiers, rushed 

 the ground, and their weight on the sun- 

 dried crust soon broke it up. and mud 

 began to ooze through. In a very short 

 while the Vimy subsided to her axles and 

 was surrounded by a pond of semi-liquid 

 mud. 



The proposition literally was a decid- 

 edly sticky one. It was midday, broiling 

 hot. and the tenacity of the mud re- 

 minded me forcibly of that clinging tend- 

 ency familiar to our black-soil plains. 

 Moreover, only four days of our pre- 

 scribed time remained in which we must 

 make Port Darwin. 



The engineer of the Harbor Board 

 arrived, and together we discussed the 

 situation. He collected a horde of coolies 

 and a large quantity of bamboo matting, 

 and so we set to work to dig out the 

 wheels. 



After some hard work we got the mat- 

 ting almost under the wheels, started up 

 the engine, and, aided by the coolies and 

 Dutch soldiers, the Vimy was hauled 

 from the bog. I then stopped the en- 

 gines, tied ropes to the under-carriage, 

 and the machine was pulled on to a path- 

 way of mats (see page 316). 



After a couple of hours the machine 

 was safe out of the morass, and the 

 ground on which we stood felt quite 

 solid ; so I thought we had landed on the 

 only soft spot on the aerodrome, and 

 decided to taxi to the opposite end under 

 our own engine-power. 



I was soon disillusioned, for, after 

 moving but ten yards, down went the 

 wheels again. More digging, tugging, 

 and pushing, and we, apprehensive all the 

 while as to whether the coolies would 

 drag off the under-carriage, finally had 

 to lay down a pathway of bamboo mats 

 and have the machine hauled by 200 

 coolie-power. 



I should say here that our hearty 

 thanks are due to the harbor engineer 

 and the officials — indeed, to all who lent 

 a hand — for without them it would have 

 been impossible for us to have completed 

 the flight on the scheduled time. 



MAKING A RUNWAY OF NATIVE ROOFS 



My brother and I had decided that it 

 would be impossible to get the Vimy into 

 the air in the usual way, so we consulted 

 with our invaluable friend, the engineer, 

 and he agreed to collect bamboo matting 

 from far and wide, so that we might con- 

 struct a mat-paved roadway. 



I observed that this matting formed 

 the principal covering of the native huts. 

 and subsequently learned that entire vil- 

 lages in the immediate vicinity were 

 stripped bare to provide us with the 

 necessary materials. 



The British consul invited us to a 

 ''quiet'' dinner that evening, but when 

 we arrived at the cafe every British resi- 

 dent in Soerabaya had gathered there to 

 welcome us. 



