Page:Travel letters from New Zealand, Australia and Africa (1913).djvu/437

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but the English urge them to take part to the point of annoyance. . . . I have heard none of the passengers mention the fact that the water in the Red Sea is not red; the fact that the water in the Red Sea is blue, now seems to be generally known. . . . A passenger in the third class is very ill, and the ship doctor, and a German military doctor who volunteered his services, decided that the man has malaria of the head. Malaria is so common in the tropics that now they have it in the head. . . . A peculiar thing about the "Burgermeister" is that several of the gentlemen passengers wear white socks. Somewhere on this trip I met a man who was irritable because his white socks attracted attention. He should be on the "Burgermeister," where they are quite common. . . . I heard a woman make a remarkable statement last night. She said: "I have been traveling four months, and have not seen a single married man attempt to flirt; all the flirting I have seen has been done by married women with young men." I submit the statement as unusual, without comment. . . . The dance last night was a failure; the orchestra played several numbers which did not attract any dancers at all, and only five couples danced during the entire evening. All the women dancers were married, and their husbands sat around and frowned at the young fellows who were dancing with them. There is nothing in the notion that husbands want their wives to be very popular with other men. . . . During the concert this evening, the tall negro man nurse who has whiskers, appeared with a bottle of milk, and submitted it to the inspection of his employer. The woman smelt and