Today we crossed the date line, and this was quite a grand occasion. King Neptune arrived at 10.am with the Queen and his full Court. The policemen were there too.
They made a queer procession. Straw skirts and wigs. One was a barber complete with twelve-inch comb, razor and scissors. Another was a doctor who carried an enormous bottle of tonic and a very large spoon about 2ft long. The tonic was coloured water and quinine. One fellow had a big bucket of paste and a white wash brush.
Each victim had a charge against him, and the King gave the order for punishment. Each had to sit on a stool, was given a dose of tonic, had a haircut and then was pasted all over, backwards and forwards, across the face and hair. Then they were tipped head first off the stool into the water, where the policemen were waiting to catch them.
I went in myself for the fun of it, and came out like a drowned rat. I was fully clothed. It took four washings to get the paste out of my hair.
The sun was scorching, and everyone had to wear large hats and sunglasses for comfort.
We were afterwards able to get a Certificate to say we were �Sons and Daughters of Neptune�, and proving we had crossed the International Date Line and had been well and truly ducked.
After that, things went on just as normal, and in the evening we rehearsed for the ship�s concert which we were to give on Easter Monday.
Later on we went up on to the sports deck and were invited to take supper with the Second Engineer in his cabin. He is a real nice fellow, and incidentally, he is the man who saved the ship when the engine room was flooded out in King Georges Dock, London. He usually goes out on deck and reads bedtime stories to the young fellows who sleep out on the hatches, and sometimes takes a plate of cakes with him. The kids like him a lot. |
