They were
given a drill each day in loading and firing the piece, during the
time they remained on board the transport, when the weather permitted.
The condition of the troops on board the transport was miserable. The
following extract from a letter written at that time will convey some
idea of the crowded, ill-ventilated condition of the vessel:
"We have now been on board the transport a week, and are getting into
a frame of mind suitable for desperate work. If you can imagine 1000
men crowded into space needed for 500, and then kept there without
room to stand or move or sit for seven days, under a tropical sun, in
foul holds utterly without ventilation (just imagine it!), endured
without a single murmur or complaint, not stoically, but patiently and
intelligently, while every officer on board is kicking as hard and as
often as possible for the relief of his men, then you will have some
idea of the situation. The men are very patient, but they know someone
has blundered. Talk about the heroism of the Light Brigade! It is
nothing to the heroism that goes cheerfully and uncomplainingly into
the Black Hole of Calcutta (there is nothing else that will compare
with these transports), all because it is duty.
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