The state of hard-upness of most of the men a few days before pay-day is amusing; auction sales of their belongings; pennyworths of cheap cigarettes etc. The last development has been to keep the gas alight and a few dead matches on the table, as most of them are out of matches. Cadging is rife but one has to be firm.
Route march this afternoon – awfully hot and after a couple of miles we had half an hour’s rest in a paddock listening to selections from the band. The cattle became very attentive listeners and invaded the ring of instrumentalists, also nosed around the reclining officers, much to general merriment.
Walk March 