British Ship Adoption Society

company ! The only interruption I had, however, occurred when I woke up to find one of the goats contentedly sampling the edge of my blanket—he did not get very far though ! * * *

Eventually I did reach Paris, and after that Calais. I had been in France three weeks this time—and spent about £6—and had begun to learn something about the French way of life. * * *

Stepping on shore at Dover, my mind was filled with pictures of the blue Mediterranean, palm beaches, eucalyptus trees, and blazing sunshine; then I fastened on my cape—it was beginning to drizzle ! D. J. WILSON.

The "Mountpark" returned to Britain during the Easter holidays, bringing a cargo of flour from Australia. This was discharged at Liverpool, and the ship then went to Glasgow to load general cargo for Persian Gulf ports.

We have had a full account from Mr. Ellis and Mr. Greenough of the present voyage so far. Particularly interesting was the stowage plan for the passage from 'Glasgow to the Persian Gulf. This shows how the cargo was actually stowed in the ship, as well as the actual articles carried. These in themselves included an interesting crosssection of Britain's exports to those countries bordering on the Persian Gulf. Among the commodities, for example, were : rope, paint, earthenware, bricks, lino, tyres, paper, and corrugated sheets. Much the biggest item was equipment for the oil industry, but there were also 100 tons of coke and not a negligible amount of beer and whisky.

The passage to the Gulf was uneventful, but discharging at various Persian Gulf ports (Bahrein, Kuwait, Bandar Shapur, Basra and Abadan) took over two months, and that at the hottest time of the year. Mr. Greenough's account of Bandar Shapur is sufficient to show why all were glad when the last of the cargo had been discharged and the "Mountpark" left on 26th June for Fremantle : "Bandar Shapur lies in Iran, 45 miles up a narrow river called the Khor Musa, the mouth of which lies some 20 miles east of the mouth of the Shatt Al Arab. The word "Khor" is Arabic, and means "Arm of the sea". The land along this river is low, flat sand and mud, absolutely barren, and, the channel being at times narrow and difficult, a pilot's services are needed when making the passage upriver. "Bandar Shapur lies on an extensive mud flat and is the southern terminus of the trans-Persian railway. It has two jetties, which can accommodate about seven ships. The railway track runs along the jetties and cargo is discharged from the ships into trucks for transportation inland. One could hardly refer to Bandar Shapur as a town 40