^o 
LAND & W A T E R 
June I, 1916 
ICentinutt from pagt M) 
the bar. The night wore on ; eleven o'clock found us 
still waiting and watching, but the moOn now shone down 
on soma despairing faces. 
It was after midnight when suddenly a small black 
vessel bore rapidly down upon us showing no hght. She 
stopped djiJ, rollin? hjrribly ani challen^ad us in 
French. Quickly the Captain shouted back, "Camarade," 
and a signal of lights was sent .up to say we might coma on 
boird. Oars were got out and a babel of Japanese voices 
arose talking and shouting. But everything was per- 
fectly orderly. There was no fighting or stru^^ling to be 
first in getting on board, which the ship's crew told us 
afterwards they expected, for she really looked too small 
to hold us all. 
Our Rescuer. 
She was a French patrol boat, heavily armed, an old 
tug really, and the oldest boat in the French navy, 
but she was the only one at Port Said with steam 
up. The Captain superintended the disembarkation most 
carefully ; it was rather a difficult job as the ship rolled 
tremendously all the time. I managed very well with 
a good spring, but some people got rather hurt getting on 
board. The sailors told us they had had their guns 
trained to fire on us, as they took us for a submarine 
decoy or screen. They had been first to the scene of the 
wreck, but we had drifted five or six miles away, and they 
had only found one empty boat floating about there, 
and had concluded that the rest had gone down. 
There was no room to spare when we were all on board ; 
guns and a torpedo took up some of the Httle space there 
was. My place was sitting on the very dirty deck with 
my back against the cabin window, but we were packed 
so tightly that I had to settle with the lady next me when 
I was going to change from side to side, as there was 
literally no room to move. 
The cabins were desperate little dens where the men 
fed and slept. The women and children were taken down 
to one, and the lightly clad Japanese took possession of 
the other. I could see them through the window I was 
leaning against. Stokers and engineers lay packed like 
sardines on the floor. Down the middle ran a narrow 
table, and there the Japanese barber lay at full length. 
On the little benches on cither side sat stewards and 
stewardesses all fast asleep, with their heads in two rows 
on his body — really a most comical sight. 
The French sailors were most hospitable ; they fetched 
mattresses and rugs and distributed cigarettes and hot 
coffee and tea. which some people welcomed, though I 
could not touch it. 
We got on very slowly with our heavy load, doing 
barely seven knots an hour. Eight of our little boats 
were fastened on behind, so that there should be something 
for us to take to in case of an accident (which was not an 
unlikely contingency) ; /they impeded our progress con- 
siderably, and four were lost before Port Said. 
It began getting light before seven, and the passengers 
with go.)d sea legs made their way about and related their 
experiences. Everyone had fared very well on the 
whole, though a missionary who took a gloomy view of 
things, said even the men in his boat sobbed and wept 
whin no help came. Someone else had had two rather 
hysterical French girls as fellow passengers ; one had 
bt'en looking for her gold purse and had delayed leaving 
the ship so long that she had had to go down a rope which 
had cut her hands badly. Some other late starters were 
two lady missionaries, but they were so neatly turned out, 
I think they must have been dressing for the wreck ; 
they refused to cheer up even on the French boat ; they 
were out to be miserable, and miserable they would be. 
One Iriend of ours had rather an amusing experience. 
She and her maid had both got Gieve waistcoats which 
the maid took up on deck, but found her mistress already 
in a boat which was being lowered, so gave one of the waist- 
coats to a Swiss gentleman who was climbing in. and told 
him to give it to " that lady in the red cap." The Swiss, 
a man of resource, at once put it on himself, though he 
had a ship's Ufebelt in his hand, and finding a flask of 
brandy in the pocket, "he helped himself, and generously 
handed it round to others. Meanwhile the real owner, 
having no life-saving appliance at all, asked the Swiss 
if he would kindly let her have the ship belt as she saW 
he had on a patent one. and he actually had the effrontery 
to give it to her. When the boat's crews were read- 
justed, the maid rejjined her mistress, and at once 
spotted the Swiss as tha mm to whom she had given the 
Gieve. The lady felt that this was more than she could 
bear ahd requested the gentleman to return her waist- 
coat at once, which, very shamefacedly he proceeded to 
do, making off to the o:her end of the boat, where however, 
he was well chaffed by some girls who had witnessed the 
whole scene. 
It got very hot by nine o'clock ; the sun blazed down, 
and I was forced to tie a dirty pocket handkerchief over 
my head. The mole at Port Said was a welcome sight, 
and we were soon in the mouth of the canal. Here an 
unexpected ovation awaited us. Three big French men- 
of-war which lay there had their decks manned with 
cheering men, the admiral stood saluting us, and the 
bands played the Japanese National Anthem. 
We next passed the two Dutch liners which had glided 
by us looking Uke fairy ships the night before, leaving w? 
to our fate ; the Japanese gave them a very different 
reception, giving vent to yells of execration which one 
hoped must make them feel ashamed of themselves. 
We had to go on board a small pilot boat to be landed, 
but before leaving the French ship, the Captain shook 
hands with all the passengers ; we were proud to do so, 
and glad of the chance of thanking him for all he had 
done for us. I can only say that if one has got to be 
wrecked, ours was a very well-behaved wreck as wrecks 
go, and the behaviour of both passengers and crew was 
beyond all praise. 
Some Fashion Notes 
Heavy French crepons are being much used for summer 
coats and skirts and very attractive many of them are. They 
are thick enough to hang and cut remarkably well, and the 
crinkled surface of tlie material is in itself a decoration. For 
tennis and country weir a suit of this description is unrivalled, 
for it is cool, comfortable and cheap. Tan coloured crepon 
suits are amongst the best examples of their kind, and have 
an added advantage of not showing the dust at all. 
Many women are wearing the new corded cape collars. 
These are just the same shape as postillions used to wear in 
the old coaching days, coming well down over the top of the 
shoulders. White washing collars of this kind renovate a 
last year's muslin gown surprisingly well, bringing it up to date 
with a minimum of trouble. There are also shoulder capes of 
taffetas but these are hot looking and not particularly smut 
or becoming to many women. 
Many of the latest umbrellas are so short that they pack 
most conveniently into a week-end suit case. They 
finish with a loop of pigskin or some other leather and hang 
over the arm, for they are far too short to be a convenient aid 
to walking. An en-tout-cas of this kind may also be seen, 
but the notion has not yat spread to sunshades. 
A boldly embroidered djibbah ol Egyptian cotton is an 
idea for people wanting an inexpensive evening wrapper. 
The chief charm of a djibbah is the ease with which it can be 
shpjx;d on. It goes readily over the head and fastens on one 
shoulder with a couple of tiny buttons and loops or invisible 
fasteners. Many people then seize the opportunity to dis- 
pense with the daytime corsets and wear narrow tea gown 
belts to which suspenders are attached. 
Trains once more are making their appearance, but they 
are by no manner of means the appendages of yester year. 
The new trains are quite distinct from the short skirted dress 
beneath and hang loose from the waist downwards. We 
have been accustomed to frocks of diaphanous material, and 
trains of satin or some such weighty fabric, but the usual 
order of things was reversed the other day, with a frock of 
heavy dull black crepe de chine allied to a train of gold em- 
broidered tulle. The train spread out like a great fan along 
the flofjr, and at the end was a tliick border of Greek patterned 
gold lace weightingdt and keeping it in its right position. 
Developments in the wav ol liairdressing liave resulted in a 
large plait brought well to the top of the head and twisted 
round in a single loop at the back. This is a style ot dressing 
which only suits the possessor of very regular features and 
people with large heads should undoubtedly shun it. Every 
body now is twisting their hair in a loose knot and securing 
it at some special angle at the back of the head, particularly 
in the evening, when no hat combats this mode of dressing. 
