Dec. 13^th 1911 we left Durban for Mauritius; a small island off the west coast of Africa (32 miles long & 28 miles wide) Dec. 18^th 1911 we arrived at Port Louis, Mauritius & disembarked in lighters, as there are no docks, owing to the shallowness of the harbour. We marched to the station & entrained for Vacoas, (Vak-o-ah) a distance of about 12 miles from P. Louis. We have one company on detatchment at Curepipe (Cure-a-pip) which is about 4 miles from Vacoas. The island is chiefly inhabited by Mauritius Creoles, French, Chinese, Indians, a few English & plenty of monkeys. Most of the Europeans live at Curepipe. Mauritius is a very unhealthy place, & plague, fever, smallpox & leprosy are common diseases amongst the natives. Vacoas is well situated up in the hills, & is one of the healthiest places on the island. P Louis is out of bounds to the troops about three parts of the year, owing to the plague, etc, which is generally prevalent there amongst the natives. The trains of Mauritius are well worth seeing. The carriages are like omnibusses or tramcars; with accomodation up top, (which is roofed over) as well as below. Sometimes, when the train is crowded, you can see the natives riding on the top of the carriages. This is especially noticeable at Christmas time, when the natives dress up in silks of all colours, & hold a sort of carnival of fireworks & crackers. The barracks at Vacoas are well situated, & are surrounded by fine scenery. From my window I can see a long range of mountains which stretch down to the sea at P. Louis. There are plenty of flying foxes & jungle pigs here. The mosquitoes are very bad in Mauritius, & at night we have mosquito nets over our beds, to keep them from biting us. Jan. 7^th 1912. I am on Government House Guard at P. Louis today. I shall not be sorry when I come off, as the sun is scorching hot, & the pavement burns my feet. No English money is used here, the current coins being; bronze:- 1 cent, 2 cents & five cents; silver:- 10 cents, 25 cents, (¼ rupee) 50 cents, (½ rupee) & 100 cents (1 rupee.) Six cents are the value of one penny, 25 cents = 4 pence, 50 cents = 8 pence & 1 rupee = one & four pence. No gold is used, but a good value for English sovereigns & half sovs may be obtained. Fifteen rupees is the standard value of £1. We have some splendid recreation grounds here; including 2 good football grounds, golf links, hockey & cricket pitch. I am going through a course of the Hindustani language, & can read & write fairly well now. We have had one or two cases of fever since we have been here, & one of our men has just died of dysentery. The cheif products of the island are; sugar, flax, bananas, plantains, cocoanuts, mangoes, pineapples, oranges, etc, & all kinds of vegeatables. The staple industry is sugar refining, & there are large sugar mills all over the country, where you can see the sugar go in at one end in cane form, & come out at the other in sacks of pure sugar. The island is largely under cultivation; mostly sugar plantations. It takes 3 years for the sugar to grow, before it is fit to cut, when it obtains the heigth of from 6 to 10 feet. There is a crater of an extinct volcano between here & Curepipe. Roller skating is all the rage here. We have a large regimental rink in barracks, & a large public one at Curepipe. Our band plays at both rinks every week. The only theatre is at P. Louis, & is closed half the year. There is a very beautifull waterfall a few miles from barracks, called the Tammerind Fall; also the Tammerind Lakes. There is also one of the finest botanical gardens in the world at Pamplemouses. We have our own dairy & mineral water factory in barracks. We have a fine rifle range here, called the Mount Candos range, owing to its situation at the foot of Mt Candos. May 16^th 1912 I joined our regimental band. The crew of H.M.S. "Forte" paid us a visit today. We had a jolly time with the sailors. They gave us a good game of football; drawing with the pick of the regt 4-4. June 3^rd 1912 King's birthday parade; review order. July 1^st 1912 our company marched to P. Louis ( 12 miles) & put up in the Hong Kong & Signapore Artillery's barracks. We are down here for company training. July 15^th 1912 we marched back to Vacoas. Aug 4^th 1912. I went aboard H. M. S. "Hermes" this morning with a Petty Officer, who showed me all the big guns & torpedoes, & how they were worked. Aug 6^th 1912. The band went to Curepipe today, where the Royal Army Medical Corps gave us a cricket match & smoking concert. The R.A.M.C. beat us at cricket by 7 runs. Oct 16^th 1912. We gave the R.A.M.C. a return smoker at Curepipe; taking our instruments with us. Oct 23^rd 1912. We (the band) went to Mabourg today for an outing. Mabourg is situated on the opposite coast (north) to P. Louis. We went for a sail in one of the native sailing boats. We went about three miles out (in the harbour) & had a bathe; where it is only from 4 to 5 feet deep. There is a deep channel at the mouth of the channel, where there are plenty of sharks. The natives here fish as they did years ago, with spears & harpoons. There are very few Europeans at Mabourg. There is a very ancient graveyard there, & some of the tombs are well worth seeing. There are some fine Mosques & Indian Temples at P. Louis & Vacoas, where the natives worship their idols, (some with 2 heads & 4 legs & arms) Europeans are allowed to visit these temples on condition that they remove their footwear, & wash their feet in the Holy Well, before entering. Anyone who enters & disregards this order, does so at the risk of their lives.