Letter 4-12-53 (Mrs and Miss Davey, Belfast)

Elder Demster Lines

ON BOARD

“Tamele”

Fri 4^th Dec, 1953

Mrs and Miss Davey,

108 Antrim Road,

Belfast,

Ireland.

My dear Mary and Lallie,

I hope you are both well. We're still chug-chugging along here and liking it quite a bit. Wow, since we left the Bay of Biscay where there was a bit of a gale and we got shaken up a bit in every sense.

We hit the tropical heat about Dakar on Mon 30^th and all we've heard about it is quite true. 'Savin' your presence', as the fellow told us, you lie on one side in bed and it trickles down, then you turn over your other side and you feel it trickling back again. The only thing is we're all drips together but they say its not so bad at sea, it's when we land!

However, its pretty good fun really so far. I've got a smashing tan – it's very hard to take it in small doses – a very short time in the sun is enough to do damage without your noticing how strong it really is at the time. I'll tell you a good joke I didn't tell me Ma – We have coloured boys for doing everything on board including bath boys who get our baths ready and clean up. There are six Fathers (5 Holy Ghost + one Kiltegan) and three MM sisters with me and they're terrific gas. Anyhow one of the sisters spotted my bath-boy having a great screw through the keyhole at me – So they called me “Suzanna” (and the Ancients) – look up your bible – no, I'm sure you don't need to. They excused him because he probably wanted to see if I was all white.

You get an awful land the first day you find the bath is of salt water (hot and cold) and no suds! But there's a bath of fresh water left in for lathering up in. In the dining room one has to be very careful when ordering. Sister Ruth ordered her figs first and cornflakes next, all in one breath, so she got the two mixed up on one plate and was just lucky she hadn't added the next course (fish!)

We had a great day in Freetown on Weds 7^th and just called for refuelling to Dakar on Mon 30th. We hope to get to Lagos on Sunday 13^th Dec, staying there until about the 24^th and arriving Port Harcourt about Sat 12^th or Sun 13th. I am missing siesta now its 2.30pm. We're having boat drill at 4.0 so I'll have to get a little snooze. Our table personnel is/are invited to cocktails with the captain tonight, so I must look my best, ahem!

Lots of love to you both,

Emily