The hospital is in a converted school – glorious large airy halls

18 September 1916

Still out of sight of land when I woke. Breakfast in bed. Dressed almost immediately to find us running for a port in the eastern end of Malta which we reached by 10 am. Interesting place but we were not given long to observe it. Great perpendicular walls of yellow rock upon which the sun played with glorious effect. Turned round and made along the North coast of the island to Valetta which we reached 2 pm.
Valetta a charming place – the harbour seems to be composed of many inlets branching off at unexpected places – no great enclosed harbor like Kings Town or Salonika. Salonika by the bye is rather like Newcastle NSW according to the pictures. The same yellow rock rising high above our head, crowned with buildings old and new, all built in the Moorist architecture – very charming indeed, while on the sea level everywhere were little landing stages for all the world like those on the Thames with elegant gondolas moored ready for hire. The Harbour itself, or such of it as I saw, was alive with naval and military officers in launches and these gondolas and natives in boats – the cunning little devils who dive for money.
Landed about 3 pm and were driven by motor to Hamrun Hospital about 15 minutes out of Valetta. The hospital is in a converted school – glorious large airy halls, marble floored, marble stairs, for marble and stone seem cheaper here than wood. The [?] passes the door with just good old noise of the D.U. T.C.! Malta seems more like home than either France or Salonika though in appearance typically Eastern.