By 10 am, nearly all the passengers and all the crew were on board the pilot steamer Victoria. One of the most cheerful passengers on the little boat was Miss J. H. Reid. She seemed to rd the whole affair as an expensive, but not altogether unpleasant, one. "I am from Glasgow," she said, "and was an en route for Sydney. I turned in early last night, because we were told that we would have to rise early to be ready for the doctor's inspection at Williamstown at about 7 in the morning. I seemed to have just gone to sleep when I was awakened by the ship bumping against something. I thought that she had reached the pier, and as I did not consider that we would be hunted ashore at that hour, I turned over and was going to sleep again. A steward, however, came down and knocked at the door, and called out that we were to dress and come on deck to go ashore, I got ous and dressed, grumbling all the time at being sent ashore at such an unearthly hour. I had no idea that we were away outside the Head, and were going ashore in a lifeboat. I collected my things and put them together, and was going to carry some of them on deck when the electric lights went out. Yes. I felt a little afraid then, I knew that something must be wrong. I felt my way to the companionway and went upstairs to the music-room, where I found most of the passeng No one seemed afraid. There were stewards and officers everywhere, telling us that there was absolutely no danger. In the music room everybody was given a cup of hot coffee and some biscuits, 1 was just in the middle of my coffee when an officer called the passengers out in alphabetical order. I was not afraid, but I began to wish that my name started with "A" instead of "R." We were all then put into boats, which were tied to the ship on the right-hand side—I think you call it the starboard. The men were put into boats, too, and families were all put together."
How did the crew behave Splendidly, 8o far as I could soe. The stewards acted magnificently, running back to the cabins and bringing up jewellery and valuables that people had left behind them. When we wore waiting in the boats they gave us all another cup of coffee. It was piping hot, so they must have just made it. All got a fistful of biscuits each."
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.