"When the declaration of war reached Malta, the excitement was indescribable. Crowds assembled on the shores of the harbours and lined the quays and landing-places, the crash of music drowned in the enthusiastic cheers of the soldiers cheering their comrades as the vessels glided along, the cheers from one fort being taken up by the troops in the others, and as joyously responded to from those on board.
Departure of the first portion of the British Expedition from Malta — Sea-passage — Classical Antiquities— Caught in a Levanter — The Dardanelles- Gallipoli — Gallipoli described — Turkish Architecture— Superiority of the French arrangements—Close shaving, tight stocking, and light marching.
Whilst the French were rapidly moving to Gallipoli, the English were losing the prestige which might have been earned by a first appearance on the stage, as well as the substantial advantages of an occupation ol the town. Bat on 30th March Sir George Brown and Staft, the 2nd Battalion of the Rifle Brigade, under Lt. Colonel
Lawrence, Colonel Victor, R.E., Captain Gibb, R.E., and two companies of Sappers, embarked in tlie Golden Fleece, and a cabin having been placed at my disposal, I embarked and sailed with them for Gallipoli, at five a.m. on 31st.
An early fisherman, a boatman in the Great Harbour, solitary sentinels perched here and there on the long lines of white bastions, were the only persons who saw the departure of the advanced guard of the only British expedition that has ever sailed to the land of the Moslem since the days of the great Plantagenet. The morning was dark and overcast. The Mediterranean assumed an indigo colour, stippled with patches of white foam, as heavy squalls of wind and drenching rain new over its surface. The showers were tropical in their vehemence and suddenness. Nothing was visible except some wretched-looking gulls flapping in our wake hour after hour in the hope of unintentional contributions from the ship, and two or three dilapidated coasters running as hard as they could for the dangerous shelter of the land. Jason himself and his crew could scarcely have looked more uncomfortable than the men, though there was small resemblance indeed between the cruiser in which he took his passage and the Golden Fleece. " It all comes of sailing on a Friday," said a grumbling forecastle Jack.
The anticipations of the tarry prophet were not fully justified. Towards evening the sky cleared, the fine sharp edge of the great circle of waters of which we were the black murky centre, revealed itself, and the sun rushed out of his coat of cumuli, all bright and fervent, and sank to rest in a sea of fire. Even the gulls brightened up and began to look comfortable, and the sails of the flying craft, far away on the verge of the landscape, shone white. The soldiers dried their coats, and tried to forget sloppy decks and limited exercise ground, and night closed round the ship with peace and hilarity on her wings. As the moon rose a wonder appeared in the heavens — " a blazing comet with a fiery tail," which covered five or six degrees of the horizon, and shone through the deep blue above. Here was th'e old world-known omen of war and troubles I Many as they gazed felt the influence of ancient tales and associated the lurid apparition with the convulsion impending over Europe, though Mr. Hind