15.12.16
Dear Colina
Just a line to let you know that I am still on this little basin in our little floating house. Well Colina I cannot as I've enjoyed our trip so far had I have been well I should have done but I've been crook since the day I left Melbourne and to make things worse our trip was upset. As Doll will tell you, you cannot give deatales or else you will not be sent out to Australia. We called at Fremantel but did not go ashore. We had leave at Durban, East Africa and it is the lovelest place that I have ever saw. How wonderful to describe, and such fine people. They treated us like Kings. You could go anywhere on the trams free of charge. Instead of cabs, the (ed note: there are 2 words on top of each other here, and I can't make out either) have rickshaws. There the same as our Australian sulky. They will take you out for miles for sixpence and it would take a good horse to keep up with them. For five miles the father they go the faster they get. They have head gear, great big polished horns. They do look funny with t the horns on their head and painted all colours.
We called at South Africa, Cape Town and had a march through the town and we had rather a long stay on the west coast of Africa, a colony called Sierra Leone, a population of some 35 thousand or so natives. It is called the white mass grave as no whites can live there and it would take me a week to tell you about that place. It is a very pretty place, but God knows I was glad enough when we sailed out of it again. I will be glad enough when we get to the other side. It will not be long now, with good luck following us 22th we are only a thousand miles or so from England now so it will not be long before we are there and I will be glad enough to be on land again and glad when I get any mail to see how my poor little Nell and children are getting on. It seems years since since I saw them. I wish this was war will soon end and I was back with them all again. God knows when I'll see them again, but I hope that I have the luck to come through alright.
Well Colina, it is getting colder every day now. I suppose we will have some snow by the time we reach there. I will write to you again after I settle down in camp. I do not think we will be there long before we will be sent to the front. I think Orrie Widget was left on the West Coast, they could not bring us all as they did not have enough room, he will come on the next lot. Tell Widget if you see him, that he is safe, he may not hear from him for a coupel of months, that is if he is not with this lot in landing. I've not now saw him amongst the mob. They are very near three thousand of us on this boat: well Colina this will conclude.
With Kind Regards to you all . I Remain your Old Friend
Thos Anderson
A Soldiers Blessings to you
Goodbye and God Bless you All
God Be with you till we meet again
j Barrow and Orrie Parker and old fish face Davis is on this boat
26.12.1916
You will know that we have arrived safe when you get this we will be there now in a day or so. I wrote to Doll this mail.
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