Kelly of the Foreign Legion: Letters of Légionnaire Russell A. KellyKelly, Russell Anthony
History
Kelly of the Foreign Legion: Letters of Légionnaire Russell A. Kelly
Kelly, Russell Anthony
France. Armée. Légion étrangère; World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives
The horses were fed twice a day, the first time in the morning from
half-past five to eight o’clock. We then had breakfast followed by
hoisting feed from the hold, cleaning the stalls and similar duties, and
then dinner. At three in the afternoon we gave the horses their second
feeding, which took until nearly six o’clock when we had supper.
In rough weather life on the boat was fierce. Watering the horses as the
boat rolled usually resulted in much of the water getting on the men,
and the deck was always wet and slippery.
A cabin meant to hold twelve seamen held thirty-three cattlemen, so
conditions can be realized. The air was foul; in fact the whole ship was
foul. During the last week I slept in the lowest deck on the hay. We
could not eat the food furnished, and even had it been palatable, it
lacked quantity, so my appetite was not appeased once during the trip. I
lost about fifteen pounds during the voyage. I could wash only twice and
shave once during the trip. English warships convoyed us for the entire
voyage, yet there was much uneasiness among the men. We lost eighteen
horses en route.
On November 19th we were in that part of the Atlantic called the Bay of
Biscay, and entering the broad Gironde river proceeded up it for about
thirty miles to Pauillac, off which we laid two days, and then went up
the river another thirty miles to Bordeaux where we docked at seven in
the morning of Saturday November 21st. It was snowing and the city did
not seem real--it looked so quaint and picturesque.
At ten o’clock we were dressed and went ashore and were stopped on the
wharf by a Customs official who looked in only one valise and that was
for tobacco and matches. The party then proceeded to a wine shop, where
some bought wine, that they said was good, for fifteen centimes a glass.
We soon learned that this was only three cents of American money.
We left our hand baggage at this shop and went to the British consul,
from whom we received our discharge. We then returned for the bags and
sought lodgings, which we obtained on Rue Notre Dame.
Everything we see in the city is different from anything my chum Larney
or I have seen in America: the sidewalks and roadways are very narrow;
the buildings quaint in appearance and generally only two stories in
height.
We had a good supper although the portions served were small, but, as is
usual, they gave three kinds of meat at the meal. Coffee was served in a
small bowl with heated milk, there being more milk than coffee. For
dessert nuts were served. The rooms were without heat, and for light a
small torch was used.
On Sunday Larney and I with the two Greeks from the ship, went around
town, one of the Greeks being the only member who could speak French.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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