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Soon we passed a little island which was little more than a rock sticking up out of the sea, and this island belonged to one of the bad men and at one time caused us much bother. However, it was quite safe now because some of the King's sailors and soldiers went there and put fire-works in the guns so they could'nt hurt anyone anymore. In any case even without doing that this island was helpless when the biggest of the bad men had been smoked out and no more ships could bring the islanders anything for their breakfast, dinner or tea. You know you don't feel very well when your tummy is empty. This island is called Pantellaria and is now like a porcupine without any spikes at all. Passing this place we sailed on and on, sometimes seeing Africa and sometimes not, by many famous places which you will learn about later. By Tunis and Algiers and Tobruk and all the fields of history from Carthage to the present day. Away to the North lay another place we could'nt see, and that was Greece, and here some of us remembered was the cradle of civilisation, and also the home of a people who strove mightily through all the ages to keep the Torch of Liberty burning. Their greatness will be remembered like that of the heroes who held the pass at Thermopylae, for these were kinsmen, a splendid people indeed. When you are older and have leamt about History, which is the story of the Peoples of the World, you will understand about these things; but perhaps in the meantime Mummy will be able to help you by showing you her picture book. We now passed another place in the North called Turkey. The Turks will be remembered as a people who helped neither Saint George nor the Black Dragon — gathering much moss, but little honour.
On we went still carving a path in the blue waters of the Mediterranean, and at last, and on the thirteenth day of July — five days after Mummy's birthday — we came to Port Said, which, is the land of the Egyptians. We had now spent nine days on the sea — mostly very uncomfortable, but there were many interesting things to see, so the time did not pass too slowly. Egypt is a very ancient land indeed and it is here that the tombs of the Kings lie, which are called Pyramids and also the Sphinx. I expect Mummy will be able to show you pictures of these. Next time you see Auntie Heather you must ask her about Egypt because she kows lots more about it than Daddy.
Port Said is about three thousand miles from Mummy, Gillian and you — which is very far away indeed, and much too far from number twenty two Kedale Road. However, there we were, and presently we were to set off again, this time to go to Bombay which is four thousand miles further on. Before this though, the ship, which had been drinking up much oil to drive the great engines had to have her tanks filled again, and fresh water had to be taken aboard, and also fruit to keep the officers healthy.
While all this was going on two letters addressed to Mummy were taken ashore and they were put in an aeroplane and sent to England as quickly as possible so that Mummy and you should know that Daddy was not too much the worse for wear. Of course Gillian would want to know this too. Meanwhile Daddy leaned over the side of the ship and watched many other ships sailing up and down the Suez Canal. This canal stretched straight ahead for a hundred miles to the South and was designed by a clever Frenchman called de Lesseps, but the beginning of it was long ago in the times of the Pharoahs. On the way it passes through a great lake, and is a wonderful road of water which saves ships going all the way round the Cape of Good Hope — the farthest point South in Africa — and of course that is a very long way to India and beyond. Now this canal joins the Mediterranean Sea to the Gulf of Suez and beyond that still to the Red Sea — which is one of the hottest places on earth — but before going on to tell you about this let us go back to the "Boissevain" which is still tied up to the wharf with great pipes through which pass oil and water. Of course there are also some very strong ropes about as thick.as your neck, tied to posts on the shore, and the anchor is holding tight to the bottom of the sea. Pop will tell you all about these. In the meantime feluccas sailed by with swarthy Egyptians aboard wearing tarbooshes which are hats looking just like one of Mummy's saucepans upside down — without a handle — and with a tassel on top. Some of these men came alongside selling fish to the crew and trying to sell fruit to us. But we were not allowed this because it might make us ill, and anyway this was no luxury cruise. On the shore were many palm trees, and beyond them the town which is quite large and looked just like an English town, with all the usual advertisements in English. This made some of those who had from time to time said things about the British Empire realise that Englishmen are to be found everywhere, on all the seven seas and in every country of the world.
We had now been at Port Said all day and the evening had come, and now the great pipes were uncoupled from the ship which had drunk her fill of oil and water. Soon in the gathering dusk the last ropes were hauled aboard and the anchor was weighed and we sailed very slowly into the Suez Canal which stretched straight ahead. By now it was dark — the sun goes to rest very quickly in these parts — and there is no twilight as we know it in England. All the lights were on, both ashore and afloat, and for a moment the place looked like fairyland reflected in the radiance of the water. Now the ship had to go very slowly all the time for fear that the waves made by her passage should damage the walls of the canal, and we carefully went along making hardly a ripple at eight knots. Well there we were in this wonderful canal, and someone brought a mouth organ and we sang many songs till we were tired and bedtime had come. Of course we did'nt have beds but slept in hammocks such as Pop has in his garden. Thus it was possible to cram many men into a very small space indeed. I expect you have seen the sardines in a tin Mummy has opened, well we were nearly as close together as that, and it was very hot, so we did'nt need any bedclothes at all.
Daddy was up next morning — as he had been every morning while on the ship — very early. At five o'clock all the lazy people are still in their hammocks fast asleep, so Daddy was able to have a wash and shave, and also he was up on deck to see the sunrise and any other interesting things which perhaps were going on. This ship .which, as I have told you, was a Dutchman had, before the matter of the Black Dragon, been a passenger liner carrying people from Holland — where the Dutch people live — to Java, which belongs to Holland, and is a very great island indeed north of Australia, and nearly half way round the world. Of course as Daddy was up early he was able to talk to the ship's officers who were all Dutchmen, and also to such of the crew able to speak english. These were nearly all Javanese and their homes were on that big island I spoke about. They are brown men usually very cheerful, and often laughing. From these Daddy was able to learn many interesting things.
Now that the sun was shining it was possible to see the canal stretching far ahead, lots more palm trees and also big birds flying in the air, called vultures. These birds eat anything they can get and are scavengers. By the side of the canal ran a road, and also telephone wires just like you have at home — except that the telephone poles were made of iron so that they could’nt be eaten up by the white ants. These ants are bigger than those in the garden at Kedale Road and eat everything except metal, and go about in armies. Of course there are plenty of brown ants too, and also red ones, but these don't eat wood. Every now and again we passed the rusty bones of ships lying on the banks of the canal. These had been sailing peacefully along, but the Black Dragon came with a lot of fireworks so they could'nt sail any more and had to be hauled out later so that other ships might pass. Away beyond the canal was nothing but desert, and in the evening we saw the smoke rising in the distance from the camp fires of the Arabs, who were no doubt cooking their evening meal. The sun is very hot and burning here so we had always to wear our hats at mid-day, and not stay in the sun too long at first till we were used to it. After a time we got brown like you do in the summer on the beach, but we still wore our hats.
The next morning we were going still more slowly and we eventually stopped outside Port Tewfik which is on the great lake I spoke about, and there we anchored for a while. Here were many ships, great and small, all carrying men and fireworks and goods to India and beyond, so that a Yellow Dragon who was causing much bother could also feel the strength of Saint George. Of course all dragons, be they white or yellow, or any colour, are really black, because their thoughts are evil, and evil is always black.
There is one important thing I have forgotten to mention and that is that all this time we were very near Palestine where Christ was born in a little place called Bethlehem and in a manger such as you have seen at Mr Paul's farm. Christianity also was born, and later Christ and his disciples spread the gospel through all the land. This gospel taught all men to love one another and has spread to every comer of the world. One day when all men do love one another as Christ taught there will be no more dragons to fight, and everyone will feel secure and happy. In this land too lived the men who wrote that wonderful book called the "Bible" in which you can read all about these things, and many more as well. I won't tell you more now because I expect they will be able to tell you much better when you go to Sunday School.
After leaving the great lake we entered the canal again, and at the end we came to Port Suez, and here also were many and various ships. Now we were in the Gulf of Suez the Captain could ask the engineer to make the engines go faster again, so he rang the bell down in the bowels of the ship and soon we were once more "cracking along" at twenty knots. There was little to see in the Gulf of Suez as we were out of sight of land, but at the speed we were going it did'nt take us long to reach the Red Sea. Here we saw for the first time the scavengers of the sea, which are called sharks and sometimes grow as big as thirty feet long. He is always hungry and eats anything and is'nt really a fish — although be swims in the sea. He is called a mammal, and Mrs.Shark does'nt lay eggs like the fish but has little baby sharks which grow up in much the same way as you. I have made a drawing of Mr Shark who is a dark green colour and almost black on top, and underneath where his mouth is he is much lighter. On top is a fin sticking out of the water like a small sail. If you were to throw a loaf of bread overboard, the shark would turn over so that his mouth was at the top, before gobbling it up. Here is Mr. Shark swimming just under the water.

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