January 19th.—We weighed anchor at noon. The sea is very rough, and I remained in bed all day, preparing myself for a bad crossing.
January 20th.—It begins to get hot. The double doors of the dining-room are taken off, and the piano is brought out on the deck. The passengers have put on their white clothes for dinner. We are approaching the equator zone, and pass the Strait of Tonkin by moonlight.
January 21st.—The heat is intense. Towards midday we enter the Saigon River.
CHAPTER CXII
SAIGON
At four o’clock we are at Saigon. We put up at the Hôtel Continental, the top flat of which is occupied by the “Cercle Colonial.” We dined at table d’hôte. The dining-room was thronged with officers of the Colonial Infantry, dressed all in white, who quartered in the garrison. They were very gay and talked all at once. After dinner we went to the opera. The performance was La Fille du Régiment, and the singers very good. The theatre looked very elegant, the men all in white, the ladies in low gowns. Between the acts we went to eat ices on the boulevard. Hindoos, draped in white, with the blue tattoo mark on their forehead, promenaded before us. Towards midnight we were back on board.
January 22nd.—We left the harbour of Saigon at seven in the morning, when the tide was in. We passed before huge English and German cargo-ships anchored in a line along the banks of the river. It is terribly hot, we are all at roasting point.
January 23rd.—Full calm. Intolerable heat.