Page:Travel letters from New Zealand, Australia and Africa (1913).djvu/183

 his son in Philadelphia. Some widowers who have married again, speak of "our" children, while others say "my" children; just as some men who have been married twice are always talking about it, while others keep quiet, and let you find out about their second marriage if you can. I don't think Mrs. Steele likes the manner in which he talks about his son in Philadelphia, and his daughter in London, preferring that he say "our" son in Philadelphia and "our" daughter in London. Stepchildren also amuse me; they try so hard to show respect for pa's new wife, or ma's new husband, and fail so lamentably. There is always something unusual in a second marriage This is our sixth full day on the "Anchises." Had we been on a fast boat on the Atlantic, we should be landing tomorrow. But this is a long trip, and we are only fairly getting started: we shall not land at Durban until a week from next Monday. Those who came on at Sydney have already been on board fifteen days, and, if they are going to Liverpool, they still have thirty-two days of it. A gentleman and his wife who are at our table came on board at Melbourne, and they will be on board forty-seven days Every woman in Australia and New Zealand wears a bracelet watch; the custom seems to be universal. In the United States women wear watches attached to chains of one shape or another, but here it is a universal custom for women to wear watches set in a bracelet on the left wrist I believe this is the dullest trip I have ever undertaken, and almost scream with horror when I realize that I shall not see land for another thirteen days. Fortunately we have not been seasick; the