Diving for coins

Dundee reader James Pirie has sent in an account, written by his mother who was a children’s nanny. “It was October 1932,” explains James, “and she was on her way to Khartoum.”

His mother wrote: “When we arrived at Port Said, we were surrounded by small boats which came alongside the ship selling all kinds of goods.

“They would shout up to the passengers and hold things up, trying to make a sale. If the passengers were interested, they would send up the goods to be inspected in a basket tied to a rope.

“The price of the article would then be placed in the basket and lowered again to gestures and thanks from the sellers.

“The waters also swarmed with young men and boys swimming and shouting for coins to be thrown down into the water where they would dive for them and then reappear with them in their teeth.

“They would dive for everything, but preferred the silver coins because they could see them glint in the water and also they knew that they were worth more money.

“It made fascinating watching and we

wondered who would collect the most coins. Before leaving Crowborough, Mrs Fisher, Bimbsie’s grandmother, had given me some money to buy myself something at Simon Artyz at Port Said. This was a large and beautiful departmental store. With Mrs Larkin looking after Bimbsie, I spent some considerable time deciding what to buy.

“At last, I was to choose a small raffia work basket complete with lid which was beautifully worked, with native designs all woven round and through the raffia. It was to hold my sewing equipment and would serve me well in the years to come.

“Soon it was time to leave again and we set off for our destination of Port Sudan. On arrival, we disembarked, had our passports checked and then we left on the next part of our trip which was by train to Khartoum.”