SS President Polk, Great Barrier Reef

Pendola says every time he tries to think some nice thoughts, we mention torpedoes, bombs or sharks. We overwhelm his optimism (in fun) with a tide of grisly pessimism. He really is comic. He and Riley got the Brisbane Police Department so tight two nights ago, that a good percentage cannot go on duty.

It seems as though our next stop is going to be Townsville — we should get in tomorrow evening.

Forgot to mention that we were in Brisbane, the regular commercial transport from Darwin landed one night full of bullet holes. The Japs must have a carrier operating around northern Australia.

Finished Jane Austen’s “Mansfield Park.” I liked it, but not as well as “Pride and Prejudice.” Must try her “Sense and Sensibility” and “Emma” sometime. “Mansfield Park” struck me as particularly in that it showed tremendously our code of morals has changed today from what it was 150 years ago. The villain of the piece, Mary Crawford, is actually more attractive than Fannie Price, the timid heroine.