Everything was dirty and shabby. There was no sign of the abandoned luxury that Colonel MacAndrew had so confidently described.

In a yellow morning the Kittawa docked at Lyttelton, and before the gang-plank was down Starkie was off the ship, swinging himself monkey-like along a rope.

It's beginning to thaw.

All in all, I'd like to state that it was lachanophobia that sparked this.