Oct 14th /05
10.30 a.m.
R.M.S. “ORONTES”
My dear Mother
I was glad to have Father’s letter yesterday and shall look for one from you tomorrow at Naples, this will have to be posted before I get yours for they close the letter box before we get into port. Auntie sends her love to you and Father and thanks for the papers. We managed to get a Thursday’s Daily Express in Marseilles, having to pay 2d for it. I was glad we went ashore there, it is a fine town and worth seeing though we did not see as much as we might have if Auntie had not been suffering from her feet. She has a pair of India rubber shoes which she finds very uncomfortable, and would actually go ashore in them, as the quay was some distance from the town we had to walk some way over cobble stones until we got a tram, then we had to separate from the rest of the party in the town because I knew she could never keep up with them. However we were both glad we went ashore, it makes a nice change. Miss Laird is a nice girl and we get on very well, but poor thing she is not at all strong and has a very bad time whenever it is the least bit rough. She had the doctor the other morning and he told Miss Rutherford she ought not to go on a voyage, her heart is very weak, however she is better than when she came over from N.Z. and I am in hopes that if we get decent weather she will get on all right. Miss Rutherford is her cabin mate and is most kind to her.
We are now passing close to Elba, it looks a huge block of mountains rising sheer from the sea. We rounded the north of Corsica an hour or two ago, that was a fine coast but not so fine as Elba. I think tomorrow we shall join a party and go with Cook’s guide to Naples and Pompeii, we are hoping for a fine day, it looks promising today the sea is calm just now and a deep blue. I have just been putting my name down for whist and bridge tournaments which are to take place later on there are also games tournaments, they play various games on board, deck billiards, quoits etc but I have not had much practice at them yet.
I found a lady on board last night who came home in the Runic with the others. She said she saw Uncle George at Tilbury and wondered if he was going. She is not I should say very much of a lady. Aunt Lottie took a great objection to her and keeps speaking of her as that “individual”, have you noticed that that is generally her name for people she objects to?
I had such a sweet little letter from Judy yesterday, she says she sends me five or six kisses every night and morning and she hopes I do the same. Ethel says she wrote it quite by herself some of the spelling was delightful. Ethel seems to be very busy. I hope her café chantant went off well.
It was nice Father seeing the Orontes going down channel. Auntie and I were looking at the Dover and Folkestone lights as we passed, they looked so pretty from the boat. We have the seats at table that you saw reserved for us and find we are not at all badly placed – there is a very pleasant little woman and Mrs Reeves just off-site with her little boy of three years old. She is always very bright and lively.
We stow away our luggage pretty well in the cabin. Auntie got that extra box removed so now our two big boxes go under the berth and two of Auntie’s bags, our holdalls go under the seat. Auntie’s hat-box is ok top of the drawers and mine has a little corner to itself on the floor. We have a good sized drawer each and there is a place for shoes underneath.
I hope you are having a nice time at Weybridge. Father is going there today I suppose. I hope Freddy is better. They will be glad I expect to get you home again and I hope you will be all the better for your holiday.
With very much love to you and Father.
I am
Your loving daughter
May E Sladden
