the destroyer passed us as though we were standing still. The captain
of our ship said she was doing forty-seven knots. At any rate, she
rammed the submarine and must have appeared, through their periscope,
just as a huge wave.

How excited those French people were over us Australians! They pelted
us with flowers and sweets, and, while no one objected to the embraces
of the girls, we thought it a bit too much when the men as well threw
their arms around us and kissed us on both cheeks. French customs were
new to us, and some of the boys thought the men were crazy.

We weren't allowed much time to enjoy the gayeties of this lovely
French seaport, but were marched off to the train and sent north to the
big show. We thought we had never seen such lovely scenery as the
south of France. I am not going to say that we have not just as good
in Australia, but the wonderful greenness and the trees were such a
change to us after Egypt that the boys just hung from the
carriage-windows, and as there was a good number that could not get
these vantage-points, they scrambled onto the roofs of the carriages,
so as not to miss any of that wonderful panorama of ever-changing
beauty.

We did not leave that train until we were well within sound of the
guns, and then disentrained at a small village named Morbecque. We
went into tents in a farmyard, and the very first evening began to make
acquaintances among the villagers.

The Huns had only been there a day or two in their march on Paris, and
during that time the inhabitants had made themselves scarce. But
enough damage had been done in the houses during those two days to make