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diff --git a/41213-0.txt b/41213-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0ec8542 --- /dev/null +++ b/41213-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,17437 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41213 *** + +THE SECRETS OF A KUTTITE + + + + +BY THE SAME AUTHOR + +AN EMPIRE VIEW OF +THE EMPIRE TANGLE + +With an Introduction by the +RT. HON. W. F. MASSEY + +THE PLACE OF +INTERNATIONAL LAW +IN JURISPRUDENCE + + + +[Illustration: "CTESIPHON" +(THE FAMOUS ARCH WHERE THE WOUNDED WERE GATHERED AT THE HEIGHT +OF THE BATTLE)] + + + + +THE SECRETS OF A KUTTITE +AN AUTHENTIC STORY OF KUT, +ADVENTURES IN CAPTIVITY AND STAMBOUL INTRIGUE +BY +CAPTAIN E. O. MOUSLEY, R.F.A. + + +LONDON: JOHN LANE THE BODLEY HEAD LIMITED +NEW YORK: JOHN LANE COMPANY MCMXXII + + + +SECOND EDITION +PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, +LONDON AND BECCLES. + + + + +THE TREK + + +No pause, no rest! Forward the column pushes +Across the stern and unproductive plain-- +And Thirst, Satan's archfiend, darts at the brain +And the weight of the great heat their spirit crushes +To deeper silence and the tired feet bleed-- +While the ruthless Turk with yells and sometimes blows +Urges them on beside his impatient steed +To a Future where and how no soldier knows +Beyond the dust-cloud on the horizon's rim, +Beyond the range of Hope--to memories grim. +But neither desert thirst nor fiercest sun +Nor dust-storms, nor the unknown miles ahead +Can touch their heart or clog its valves with dread-- +These English lads that fought at Ctesiphon. + +"SPARKLING MOSELLE." +From _Smoke_, the Kastamuni _Punch_. + + + + +TO +MY MOTHER + + + + +PREFACE + + +The following pages were actually written during the +siege of Kut or during captivity. The original manuscript +was concealed in Turkey and recovered months +after the Armistice. I have been persuaded by my friends +that to recast or add to the story would detract from whatever +appeal it may have as a human document. As such, +with all its limitations, it is offered to the public. + +The exigencies of a captivity such as mine, even more +than in the field, determine from moment to moment one's +focus and perspective, and what to-day presents itself for +record is to-morrow ignored or forgotten by concentration on +the few things and the few moments that count. Added to +this there is for the prisoner the pressure of existence when, +so far from being allowed a pencil, he is considerably occupied +with selling his last fork. + +One moves on from minute to minute between walls that +recede or converge, and one's experience, therefore, is a series +of incidents often unfinished. A diary must reflect one's +experience. + +The secrets of every Kuttite would "make many books" +as large as this. And from an experience more varied than +fell to the lot of many prisoners the author hopes that the +following extract, a simple story of incident, adventure and +intrigue, may interest the British reader. + +EDWARD O. MOUSLEY. + +OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE CLUB, +PALL MALL, +_March, 1921_. + + + + + CONTENTS + + PAGE + PREFACE ix + + + PART I + TO THE FALL OF KUT, APRIL 29TH, 1916 + + CHAPTER I + _En route_ from Hyderabad to Mesopotamia. Voyage up the Tigris 3 + + CHAPTER II + With the Sixth Division after Ctesiphon. The retreat and action at + Um-al-Tabul 10 + + CHAPTER III + We reach Kut. Beginning of the siege. The Christmas assault 22 + + CHAPTER IV + Relief delayed. Floods. Life during the siege 52 + + CHAPTER V + General Aylmer's attempt. More floods. Pressure of the siege. + Preparations for relief. Failure. Life in a siege mess 88 + + CHAPTER VI + The last days of Kut. Sickness. Death. Surrender 120 + + + PART II + THE TREK. KASTAMUNI + + CHAPTER VII + The Third Captivity. Baghdad. The desert march of the sick column. + We reach Ras-el-Ain 163 + + CHAPTER VIII + By rail and trek over the Taurus to Angora. The last trek to + Kastamuni 185 + + CHAPTER IX + Life in Kastamuni. The first summer, 1916 208 + + CHAPTER X + Winter. Our "self-made" orchestra 222 + + CHAPTER XI + Extracts and Photos from _Smoke_, the Kastamuni _Punch_ 232 + + CHAPTER XII + Spring. Plots to escape. Betrayal. Escape of others. I am sent + to Stamboul for hospital 267 + + + PART III + STAMBOUL AND BRUSA + + CHAPTER XIII + Psamatia (Stamboul). Starvation and neglect in hospital and + garrison. Plots to escape by the Bosphorus. I organize escape + from Psamatia through the heart of Stamboul. Storm and wreck + on Sea of Marmara. Return 291 + + CHAPTER XIV + Discovery of the letter. Brusa. Court-martial. Life in a Stamboul + prison. Politics and intrigue 323 + + CHAPTER XV + Brusa again. Change on Western Front. Stamboul before the end. + Political manoeuvring. The Prince Subaheddine. The Union and + Progress Party 350 + + CHAPTER XVI + I leave Stamboul on a mission _en route_ for the Fleet. + Meet the Prince's delegate at Smyrna. Free! With the Entente + Fleet at Mudros before entering the Dardanelles 367 + + CHAPTER XVII + I leave Mudros with despatches for Rome, Paris, and + London, England! 381 + + EPILOGUE 386 + + + + + LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS + + + FACING PAGE + CTESIPHON _Frontispiece_ + THE BRICK-KILNS, KUT 24 + REMAINS OF MY BATTERY POSITION ON THE MAIDAN 56 + RECENT PHOTO OF AUTHOR'S LAST BILLET IN KUT 134 + GENERAL TOWNSHEND AT BAGHDAD, A PRISONER, WITH KHALIL + PASHA ON HIS LEFT 158 + OUR PRISON, BAGHDAD (after British Occupation) 166 + LETTER FROM EVE. (Photographed from _Smoke_) 232 + KASTAMUNI KUTTITES KLEAROUT KOMPANY. (_Smoke_) 234 + KING ARTHUR'S KNIGHTS OF THE OBLONG TABLE, ETC. (_Smoke_) 240 + MERMAID READING (_Smoke_) 240 + DIE NACHT, ETC. (_Smoke_) 244 + AN ESCAPE STORY. (_Smoke_) 244 + "FALL OF KUT." (_Smoke_) 248 + THE SONG OF THE RAIN. (_Smoke_) 248 + ENTRY OF GENERAL MAUDE INTO BAGHDAD 296 + PHOTO OF AUTHOR TAKEN SECRETLY WHILE A PRISONER IN STAMBOUL 310 + LIEUT.-COL. S. F. NEWCOMBE, D.S.O., R.E. 318 + HOTEL AT BRUSA, ETC. 326 + DJEMAL PASHA, ONE OF THE TRIUMVIRATE WHOSE A.D.C., ISMID + BEY, MET ME SECRETLY 340 + GENERAL TOWNSHEND ON HIS ISLAND (PRINCIPO) WITH VISITORS 342 + THE FIRST WARSHIP IN TURKISH WATERS: H.M.S, MONITOR 29 370 + + MAPS + OF KUT DURING SIEGE 42 + OF GENERAL AYLMER'S ATTEMPT OF MARCH, 1916 88 + OF TREK, INCLUDING PLANS OF ESCAPE 392 + + + + +PART I +TO THE FALL OF KUT, APRIL 29TH, 1916 + + + + +THE SECRETS OF A KUTTITE + +CHAPTER I + +EN ROUTE FROM HYDERABAD TO MESOPOTAMIA--VOYAGE +UP THE TIGRIS + + +_Kut-el-Amara, December 22nd, 1915._--At the present +moment I'm snugly settled inside my Burberry sleeping-bag. +The tiny candle that burns gloomily from its +niche in the earth wall of the dug-out leaves half the compartment +in sharp shadow. But through the doorway it lights a +picture eloquent of war. This picture, framed by the sandbags +of the doorway, includes a gun-limber, observation pole, +rifles, a telescope, and a telephone, along a shell-pierced wall. +Above winding mounds of black soil from entrenchments +hang the feathery fronds of the eternal palm. Only some +droop, for mostly they hang, bullet-clipped, like broken +limbs. The night is still and cold, the stillness punctuated by +the rackety music of machine-guns. As I write snipers' +bullets crack loudly on the _mutti_ wall behind my head. +Another night attack is expected from the trenches in front +of the 16th Brigade which we must support. When the +battery is in action the most unloved entertainment that +offers is the rifle fire that just skips the wall enclosing the +date-palm grove in which we are hidden. Sometimes the +sharp crackling sound of bullets hitting the trees increases +as the flashes of our guns are seen by the enemy, and resembles +in its intensity a forest on fire. One hears a sudden crack +just ahead like the sharp snapping of a stick, and in the early +days of one's initiation a duck is inevitable. I don't say one +ducks, but one finds one has ducked. For a time every one +ducks. It is no use telling people that if the bullet had been +straight one would have been hit before hearing it strike the +palm. Some people go on ducking for ages. Of course I'm +talking of the open. In the trenches ducking is a fine art. +The last time I ducked commendably, that I remember, was +yesterday. I was observing from our front line trenches +with plenty of head protection from the front, when a bullet +came from an almost impossible direction. It flung a piece +of hard earth sharply on my cheek, and I ducked. Afterwards +I laughed and took more care. + +By the way, as this is not a diary but an unpretentious +record of things not forgotten, and intended on reference to +dispel the illusion that all this is a dream, I may as well furnish +an explanation of how I, Edward Mousley, a subaltern in the +Royal Field Artillery, come to be in this dug-out here in +Kut-el-Amara, along with the Sixth Division under General +Townshend, that is to say, almost the whole original Force D, +besieged by the whole Turkish army in Mesopotamia under +Nureddin Pasha. + +My brigade was at annual practice near Hyderabad Scind +when a wire ordered another subaltern and me to proceed +at once on service with Force D (in Mesopotamia) to replace +casualties. Some very kind words and excellent advice from +my Colonel and innumerable _chota_ pegs from every one else +and the next morning we left, the other subaltern and Don +Juan and I, to exchange practice for reality. Don Juan is +my faithful horse. At Karachi I found several gunners of my +acquaintance who had come out from Home with me in the +_Morea_, a few months before, including one Edmonds, who +had tripped with me across India. + +At Karachi I stored much useless kit, motor cycle, and +spare saddlery, and notwithstanding a heavy bout of malaria +just before, left for service fit and well equipped and with as +excellent a horse as one could wish for. We sailed in the tiny +mail boat _Dwarka_ for Muscat, Bushire, Basra. + +Muscat is a mere safety valve of Satan in his sparest +wilderness, a lonely patch of white buildings completely shut +in by awful mountains, rocks that in remote ages seem to +have frowned themselves into the most fearful convulsions. +And, even in November, hot! + +After two days of scorching heat and tempestuous seas we +arrived at Bushire, where a spit keeps shipping off. + +Fifty Gurkhas, and a subaltern of whom I was to see +something by and by, came aboard. Fine little fellows they +are and very cheerful and contented even on the wretched +deck of a tiny steamer loaded with fowls, food, a Persian +donkey, vermin, and half-breeds. + +Then, in a resplendent dawn, I saw the banks of the +Shatt-el-Arab, verdant with the greenness of a new lawn, +where millions of date palms clustered side by side on the flat, +flood-washed shores. Here the river is half a mile wide. +One may imagine its changed appearance when the great +floods come, that are now three months off. Outside the +entrance on the right bank, Fao, a tiny village and fort, marks +the initial landing and conquest by Force D--General +Delamain's brigade--in October, 1914. + +Both banks of the river are thickly forested with date-palms +right up to Basra, a crowded spot of a few hundred +yards in frontage on both sides of a tiny creek Ashar, whence +once Sinbad sailed. It was brimful of soldiers and Arabs, and +quantities of stores and planks stood around half-erected +buildings. It had the appearance of a very busy port, some +dozen huge ocean-going vessels being anchored in the stream. +There was no wharfing accommodation at all. One communicates +with the shore by bellums. This is a flat-bottomed +pointed boat and propelled by bamboo poles or paddled by +sticks nailed on to a round blob of wood. + +The shipping included H.M.S. _Espiegle_, the _Franz Ferdinand_, +and the _Karadenis_, the two latter being large steamers captured +by us and used as accommodation boats, each taking a thousand +men if necessary. Pending the arrival of our upstream +transport I was ordered with the other officers on to the +_Karadenis_ which lay in mid-stream. Some wretched-looking +Turkish prisoners were aft. + +We little knew it at the time, but our few days on this +ship or mosquito-hive were destined to be our last in even +moderate comfort. Henceforth we were to be playthings of +the God of War. + +There was a strange silence about news on this front. +Some thought our army was near Azizie, over four hundred +miles up river; others that we were just outside Baghdad. We +were chafing to get away to our units before we got malaria. +A sudden chance with a detachment of the 14th Hussars was +offered to a subaltern nick-named "Fruit-salt," because +"'e knows," and myself. We left on a paddle-boat called +the _P.5_, a barge of horses, Don Juan among them, on either +side. + +To get on the _P.5_ again from the horse-barges we hop +over to the paddle-box and clamber on deck. Our camp +beds we stretched out forward, the men, arms, and maxims +arranged aft. We had a comfortable mess table set so that +we could see upstream and also a good deal of the left +bank. The officers of this troop of the 14th Hussars on +board were all very young, very pleasant, and very keen. +We sat and drank or smoked and talked, and war seemed then +very far away. Or we watched a wandering tribe of Arabs +trekking in the distance. The country was, of course, dead +flat and except for a scrubby grass there was nothing to +intercept one's eye reaching to the horizon. The river winds +a lot and far away the _mahela_ sails seemed to be making over +land. One thought of the Norfolk Broads. Somewhere in +the early morning we passed the confluence of the Euphrates +and Tigris, and Ezra's tomb. (Maxim fire increasing: I +must switch off here now.) _Later._--No harm occurred except +the heavy sniping has knocked out some poor horses and +wounded a syce and spoiled some more palms. I continue. + +There was also on board an excellent engineer, full of +"sunny retrospect." He could talk or listen, which is like +unto a horse that can gallop and walk. As he explained on +inquiry, he had never married, nor had he ever avoided +marriage. Altogether he was a delightful fellow for company. + +We passed the marshes of Kurna of an earlier engagement +in this campaign, where our army had dislodged the Turk +with guns mounted on planks between bellums, and whole +brigades punted and poled their way up. "Forward the light +bellums!" "Charge!" were the orders the commanding +officers yelled on that day. Britain was always irresistible +on the water! The whole affair is now called "Regatta +week." + +We also passed where the Garden of Eden was said to have +been. As a matter of fact, the whole of this country, like the +plains of India, is delta formation. The two rivers must have +been higher up and consequently Eden also. The latter fact +rather knocks out the little remaining romance about the +place. Sir William Wilcocks puts the site at Hit, above +Baghdad, and says that even going no further back than the +tertiary epoch would place the delta there. + +We reached Amara on the fourth day. It is a village of +some considerable size pleasantly lining both banks of a +beautiful straight reach in the Tigris. In the broad, clear +water one sees reflected the languid droop of the eternal date +palm, the great triangular sails of the _mahela_, the regular +contour of the Bridge of Boats. It is not unpicturesque. +Here, some months ago, a delightful _coup_ was effected by the +commander of H.M.S. _Shaitan_ and about a dozen men. These +were the first in the pursuit from Kurna, and the others not +having arrived, determined on a bold policy, as at any moment +the Arabs might have joined forces with the Turk and rendered +the taking of Kurna quite difficult. These few men went +ashore and, entering the barracks containing some several +hundreds of men, demanded their surrender and the immediate +handing over of the town. The prestige of the British Navy +or the eloquent silence of the gunboat's guns did the rest. +And so by this remarkable bluff Amara fell without bloodshed, +and was held although reinforcements did not arrive until the +next day. + +Above Amara the country is still perfectly flat, but appears +less marshy in winter than lower down. Here a thicker ground +scrub teems with black partridge and quail, some of which we +shot from the boat. A sub. in the Hussars, named Pope, +brought off a wonderful revolver shot into a jackal's ribs from +the boat: we practised revolver shooting hard. + +Arabs clustered in tiny tribes every few miles along the +river. The men, some of whom are quite naked, I thought +remarkable for great size of limb and muscular development. +They would sometimes accompany the boat for miles, doing +their weird undulating dance, hopping round first on one foot +and then on the other. They welcome us when we win and +torture and loot our wounded when they get a chance. Here +and there Jewish women and old men ladle water by a swinging +scoop into a drain for their irrigation. The dress and general +customs continually recall one's school days' pictures of +Biblical times. + +Two or three days later we got to Kut-el-Amara (pronounce +Kut like foot), passing the battlefield of Essin _en route_. +It was at Essin where Townshend, by leaving his tents on one +bank of the river and crossing in the night, deceived the Turk +into fancied security, and the next day flung him neck and +crop out of a position of great strength. + +Here the Hussars took my horse on by the desert and I +left in the _Shirin_ for Azizie. At Kut we had heard that +Baghdad would fall that evening, and later that night reverse +news that we had had very heavy casualties. The hospitals +were removed from the barges, and reinforcements' kit of the +West Kents and Hussars was left with us instead. "Fruit-salt" +and I messed with the West Kents, awfully good fellows, +one a youngster just from Clare College. The remaining +West Kents marched, escorted by the 14th Hussars, and met +us at some point on the river each day. One night we were +stranded ashore and in awful rain. The _tatti_ (rush) roof let +most of the water through, and what it did not let through, +collected in gutters that every now and then deluged over us. +My sleeping bag became a tank. Suddenly came the dawn +and we awoke to a steaming-hot sunny world. + +A heavily-armed launch protected with _boosa_ bales passed +us. Their answer--"Headquarters"--was our first intimation +of the seriousness of the position of our army. Two days +after this, and about eight or nine since leaving Basra, we got +to Azizie, a mere bend in the river with a few huts. There +were many horses watering and several hundred Turkish +prisoners on the bank. On every side we saw evidence of a +hurried march. It was all hustle and haste. We went ashore, +our last orders being to leave for Salaiman Pak, some thirty +miles up river and fifteen from Baghdad. But once ashore, +we saw from the ungroomed condition of the horses, the dust-covered +harnesses and wagons, the exhausted men, many +asleep in their roughly arranged lines, that our army after +tremendous exertions had just arrived and halted. The +C.R.A.'s flag hung over a mud hut. He explained that we +had fought a big action at Ctesiphon where the Turks were +heavily entrenched, that we had turned them out, and got +into their second line when the enemy had retired to the +Diala river, his third line. But the action, which was tactically +a brilliant success, had cost us a third of our force. The word +came that two Turkish divisions were reinforcing them, so +we retired in the night. It seems that for a time both armies +were in retreat, but the Turks, on hearing of our withdrawal, +gave chase. They were, however, doubly respectful in having +suffered casualties twice our own, and they held off some few +miles from Azizie. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +WITH THE SIXTH DIVISION AFTER CTESIPHON--THE RETREAT +AND ACTION AT UM-AL-TABUL + + +"Fruit-salt" and I joined our batteries, mine being +the 76th R.F.A. All the force bore marks of a +great struggle, great losses, keen hardship. The +weary army was resting. That was well. Some kindly god +that knew what still awaited them smiled on them, and they +slept. Here at last, I thought, is the famous army of General +Townshend, the fighting Sixth Division, that had overcome +difficulties that few other armies had been called on to do, +that had endured hardships of heat and thirst and pestilence +in the cauldron of Asia, marched hundreds of miles with +improvised transit, and moved from victory to victory until +Ctesiphon. General Townshend's was the most loyal of +armies in adversity. They knew that against his counsel he +had been ordered to risk the action, where even if doubly +victorious their tiny numbers would have been insufficient to +hold Baghdad. There was also the haunting dream of that +lonely river, our sole communication, winding through a +hostile country five hundred miles to Basra. Reinforcements +there were none at all in the country, which was a fortnight's +distance from India and more from Egypt. Anyway, this +was the army of which I, a subaltern in the 76th Battery, +Royal Field Artillery, was now privileged to consider myself +a member. + +Rapid plans were in execution to strengthen Azizie, as the +Turks might try a night attack. The troops had only arrived +that morning, but by nightfall we had thrown up quite a bit +of cover with gun pits and light breastwork for the infantry. +Perfect order reigned over the customary military procedure. +No Turks were in sight. Every man of the fatigued army +worked as happens on manoeuvres. It was only the battered +condition of the gun carriages, the gaping wounds in the +diminished teams of horses and that quiet "balanced up" +look in the eyes of every Tommy that told of a reality more +grim. On the flat mud desert, with no kind asset of nature +to assist them, the nearest reinforcements hundreds of miles +away, but with its own transport and some limited supplies, +this lonely British army formed its semi-circle on the river. +So it faced this unkind plain, its destiny in its hands. + +An atrociously bad place to defend is Azizie, merely a +meagre bend in the river, a floody or dusty desert with a few +mud-walled buildings on the Tigris edge. Much of our baggage +had to be left on a barge and the rest was taken from the Shirin +into the R.A. shed. The first was ultimately sunk and the +latter burned. None of it I have ever seen since--saddlery, +coats, uniforms, camp equipment--all went. + +All the officers of the 76th Battery had been wounded +except one--Devereux, who had been with me at Hyderabad, +and Captain Carlyle of the 63rd Battery was in command. + +I slept by the gun pits. Beyond the line of infantry that +separated us from the Turk, some jackals howled in ghoulish +song. They had followed on the flank of our army and waited +expectant, for they too had visited the field of Ctesiphon! +Their devilish symphony grew fainter, and I slept. Now and +then I was awakened by sniping. + +The next day, November 29th, we got matters in order, +rearranged teams and sections to replace casualties, and +overhauled. We continued our vigilance. There was much +to be done and, as might be expected after the recent ordeal, +many were nerve-ragged and irritable, but all were light-hearted. +We expected to move that evening, but did not. +I slept on the perimeter by the guns again, and awoke to find +my servant packing up. Orders to stand by to move in an +hour set me going at once. After an early breakfast I had to +go and relieve another artillery officer on the observation post, +which was merely a few sandbags on the roof of a house, +covered with rushes to keep off the sun. At 11 a.m. the +greater part of the force had got on the road. Southward ho! +The Staff left about 11.30. General Smith, C.R.A., asked me +my orders, which were to wait there until sent for, but which +should have included "unless the Staff leaves first," as I was +left without any guard and surrounded by hostile Arabs. I +thought it better to wait a little and give a last attention to +the column I had seen emerging from the northward clumps of +trees where the enemy was waiting. I am glad I did so, for I +was afforded the privilege of witnessing a spectacle at once +unique and magnificent. + +Below me the river lay blue in the morning sun between +the black winding banks, and dark Arab forms dotted its +shores. Somewhere ahead upstream was Baghdad. Distant +horsemen scoured the plain. Some cavalry of ours lay hidden +in an old smashed _serai_ just north of the village. Moving +south-eastward rose the dust of the main Turkish advance, +mounting in clouds higher and higher. The quicker dust +marked their cavalry, and here and there in dense column +formation their wheeled traffic came on. To the southward +in perfect order, and moving at an even pace, was our own army +in retreat. The khaki column reached away to the horizon +of dust, and the swarthy visages of our Indian troops doing +rearguard in extended order, and the gleam from the accoutrements +of the 14th Hussars were visible without field glasses. +The village itself that was burning in a dozen places now +broke into one great conflagration, and simultaneously some +Arab bullets cut their way unmistakably near. I decided +to rejoin my battery that was waiting half a mile off, as it was +selected for rear guard. Fortunately, before climbing down +the observation post I took the precaution to peer over the +edge at the doorway. I saw about a dozen gigantic Arabs, +one or two with knives, lounging round the exit, evidently +counting on my uniform and equipment after they had +despatched me. So I talked and answered for a minute, and +shouted an order for them to think I was not alone. Then I +ducked out the other side and jumped the back wall. I met +my orderly coming with my horse. The Arabs around the +doorway yelled in disappointment as we both galloped off. +I brought the battery into action just south of the town, but +we did not open fire. Then the C.O. signalled "Retire." It +was "Rear limber up, walk march, trot, canter," then a mile +farther on "Halt! Action rear," and so on. A delightful +battery, men and horses knew their job perfectly and foresaw +the order every time. + +We did about fifteen miles, and halted by the river side +at Um-al-Tabul, a mere locality without a building. I had +scarcely seen that the horses were fixed up and fed, when an +order came that General Smith, B.G.R.A., C.R.A., wanted me +as orderly officer. I was to report immediately. An orderly +officer, I was told at once, is responsible for the health and +well being of his general, and has many details to attend to. +In action there are countless orders to deliver and reports to +make. The Brigade Major, mistaken for General Smith, had +unfortunately been knifed by an Arab while asleep one night +on a boat, so the Staff Captain and I were the only Staff. We +shared a dug-out, or rather hole, eighteen inches deep and of +course uncovered. Reinforced with some bread, meat, and +whisky, I scooped a pillow place for the General's head, and +in the darkness tried to collect some little of my kit, which, +however, got lost in the subsequent events of the night. I +completed arrangements for the morning and then slept. + +General Townshend's _jugga_ was next ours. We were on +the river bank. Behind us lay H.M.S. _Firefly_ and other boats +and barges. + +Presently from out of the darkness shells began to fall +around us. We were right in the line of fire. It appeared +that they were shelling the _Firefly_. One shell pitched just +short of us and wounded the syces, another burst exactly +over us, but too high for the spread to reach us. Then a brisk +rifle fire commenced and here and there we heard a suppressed +groan. These were my first real moments under fire. The +darkness and scantiness of cover made it seem worse, but I +was not half so frightened as I thought I should be, and after +some minutes, when it was necessary for me to deliver some +messages, I gave myself up to Fate with a light heart and +blundered in the darkness on my several errands. That was +infinitely better than lying pinched up in the inadequate hole +watching the dried grass being cut by bullets a foot above +one's head. It is a great thing to be occupied in times like +this. In passing through my battery I heard that two drivers +of my section had been killed. On returning to the dug-out +I saw the Staff Captain ferociously digging with a mess-tin. +I did the same for the General's side with his own shaving mug,--which +I bent, to his disgust--and then got on to my own. +About midnight the rifle fire thickened. Now of all entirely +horrid things under these conditions you have first and +foremost the bullet. It is a thing conceived by Satan for the +dispatch of his outsiders and unbeloved. Invisible it comes +from anywhere. You hear it and know you are safe. Or you +feel it and know you're hit. Since then I have often been under +rifle fire, but that night the devilry of the bullets was strange. +At 3 a.m. General Townshend said he would attack in two +columns unless the fire ceased. I delivered orders connected +therewith, but the fire slackened. I slept, and awoke before +the dawn, and bustled around after our headquarters' transport, +as we expected an immediate move. I also got breakfast +ready. This was December 1st. + +At 8 a.m. the transport began to move. At 8.30 it had +got fairly on its way. At nine I was standing by the Headquarters +transport ready to move off, when the fog cleared as +suddenly as the shadows lift when the moon comes from behind +a cloud. Before us, some eighteen hundred to two thousand +yards off, on the higher ground, we saw a host of tents. Even +as we looked the guns of the Field Brigade on the outer +perimeter were limbering up. But within two minutes they +were down again in action, and the first shell sang out the +delight of the gunner at the prospect of so gorgeous a target. +For one minute it was splendid. The spirits of the incarnated +field guns ripped their music across the morning sky and over +the dewy earth in quick and lightning song. The next his +shells came back. I relished much less the white puffs up in +the air near us, each burst a better one. But almost immediately +I found myself taking a professional interest in the +faulty fuses of the Turk. Our own shells were cutting great +gaps in the tents and in the columns of panic stricken fleeing +Turks. I saw our bursts in excellent timing, quite low. But +their fire also thickened, and converged on the mass of troops +not yet under way, and also on our shipping, which was caught +at a wholesale disadvantage. Still, a great mass of transport +stuff and ammunition was on the move. + +At last it was all off, and only the perimeter of our camp +remained, the four field batteries and the single line of infantry +close beyond them. Standing in the centre of the shell-strewn +ground was General Townshend and his Staff. I stood +for a while between him and General Smith, from time to time +galloping to the several batteries with orders or inquiries about +ammunition. Away to our right between the Turkish advance +and our own, the 14th Hussars were very busy, now covering +behind the knolls and now swooping upon the enemy, who, +however, gave them no chance of getting in at close quarters. +S Battery, R.H.A., which worked with them, was pouring +shell after shell into the teeth of the Turkish force. + +One could not but feel the keenest admiration for General +Townshend, so steady, collected and determined in action, so +kind, quick and confident. There, totally indifferent to the +shell fire, he stood watching the issue, receiving reports from +the various orderly officers and giving every attention to the +progress of the transport. Some shells pitched just over us, +one, not fifteen yards away, killing a horse and wounding +some drivers. The restlessness of the horses, some stamping +their feet, others tossing their heads, betokened their objection +to standing still at such a time. It really is the most difficult +thing to do. One's mind was left too free to prophesy where +the next shell would fall. More than once I caught a humorous +smile on the General's face as some shell just missed us. + +Suddenly, to the southward, a thick dust wall appeared. +The Turks had got round, and our transport, uncertain about +advancing, was held up. For ten minutes it seemed that the +issue might become general, but our gunners, and especially +S Battery, kept up such a rate of fire that the Turks were +paralysed. The officer commanding this battery, acting on +local knowledge, remained in action after the order to retire +had reached him, and by so doing contributed greatly to the +success of the day. + +About nine o'clock General Melliss' Brigade, which had preceded +us from Azizie by several miles and which had been sent +for during the night, arrived on the scene of action, appearing +from the south-eastern quarter. That effectively threw back +the Turkish attack. + +Then, as we gradually gave way, the tide of action moved +very slowly southwards. The General motioned us to take +cover in a ditch. Our horses we had sent on. It was about +this time that H.M.S. _Firefly_ was hit in her boiler and +captured by the Turks. Several barges filled with wounded +and stores had to be abandoned. + +First one battery limbered up and fell into action half a +mile to the rear, then another, and so on. Several times I +took orders over the intervening ground that was now being +plastered with shells bursting either too high or on graze. Don +Juan behaved excellently. He shied once violently when a +shell burst just behind us, and again as he took off to jump a +nullah at the bottom of which a medical officer I knew, Major +Walker, was attending to a wounded man. For the rest he +went in his best hunting style over ditches and holes and took +not the slightest notice of the noise or bursts. I often give +him an extra handful of hay when I recall December 1st. + +The transport was now some miles on its way and the mule-drivers +were doing their utmost. Then the Staff mounted and +I was sent to see the whereabouts of the ammunition barge, +as the guns, especially S Battery, were running short. Luckily, +I discovered where it had got stuck. In feverish haste we +replenished the carts ourselves, General Smith, the Staff +Captain and I, our telephonists and horseholders, all loading +the first few carts at the run. In less than five minutes the +cute little Jaipur ponies and mules had galloped to their guns. +The batteries remained in action as long as possible without +jeopardizing their safety, and each covered the retirement of +the other. This went on for hours. We, the Staff, walked +our horses half a mile, dismounted and waited. Our pace was +the pace of the slowest fighting unit, _i.e._ a walk. Gradually +we out-distanced the enemy, the Cavalry Brigade keeping him +back. Once they caught us up and sent shells wildly over our +heads. The Turks don't know enough of the science of +gunnery. If their fuses had been more correct our casualties +could not have failed to be very heavy. As it was they were +extraordinarily small considering the huge losses we inflicted +on them. + +It was a most wonderful engagement, and General Townshend +watched its every phase with great satisfaction. An +exclamation of delight broke from him as he directed our +attention to a charge of the 14th Hussars. Over the brown of +the desert a mass of glittering and swiftly-moving steel bore +down upon the line of Turks, which broke and bolted. Then +the 14th came back. + +My next job was to gather spare men and protect the +General's flank from Arab snipers. Once or twice a bullet +hit the ground at my feet. These Arabs use a tremendous +thing, almost as big as an elephant bullet. + +At four o'clock I was ordered to ride ahead of the column +to find a watering place, which I did; but the Turks still +pressed in our rear, and we had to shove on without watering. +I managed to water Don Juan, however, and gave him three +of my six biscuits. The General had one and Garnett and I +had half each. We pushed on, the horses showing signs of +fatigue. At 6 p.m. it was dreadfully cold, and dark as +Tophet. The order of the column had now been changed, the +Field Artillery leading. The B.G.R.A. (General Smith), the +Staff Captain, and I, rode at the head of the Division. The +orders were seventy paces to the minute with compass directing. +We took this in turns of half-hours. The strain was very +severe. We had had no food except a sandwich for breakfast +for twenty-four hours--violent exercise under exhausting +conditions. The ten hours in the saddle had made me stiff, +which was to be expected after the slack life of a month on +board. We lost our way again and again as we got deeper into +the dense black night. Road there was none, only a few hoof +marks on the _maidan_. Tracks that went comfortably for a +mile suddenly proved false, and then we had to hunt for the +road. We all grew more irritable as we grew more tired, and +I got an awful wigging about every two minutes. It's no +joke leading an army on a pitch black night and endeavouring +to keep to a road that doesn't exist, especially when +thousands of Turks are in hot pursuit a mile or two behind +the tail of the column. + +"Is this the road?" asks one. + +"I don't believe it is." + +"I think he's wrong. He's taking that fire for the +star." + +"He must be wrong. That fire has been directly ahead +for hours and now it's to the left." + +This was the eternal conversation behind as one tried to +count the seventy and answer inquiries as to the magnetic +bearing at the same time. With such preoccupations one +could not very well suggest that the nearer one got to the fire, +the more to a flank it must appear unless we were to walk on +the top of it. + +Then arguments would follow as to whether such a mark +were really a hoof-mark or wheel track. The Staff Captain +lost his way several times running, and I confess my heart +rejoiced thereat. But we soon passed from levity that was +born of nervous exhaustion, to silence, grim and impenetrable. +I shall never forget that night. The want of sleep was maddening. +Since then I have gone without sleep for days together, +except for an hour or so once or twice. Then it came on one +unprepared. We stumbled on. I thought of the army behind +us, men as tired and hungry as I was, the army that had conquered +Mesopotamia, all bravely staggering onwards in the +darkness; heroes of Ctesiphon, full of painful memories of +lost pals somewhere behind, marching, marching, marching +to the pace we set, and following the indication of my prismatic +compass. + +Some of the Staff suggested a halt. But our Napoleonic +general drove us on. Again, as we learned subsequently, he +saved us. That night the Turkish army, reinforced, was +trying to outmarch us. + +We pressed on and on. Don Juan followed with my +orderly. It was awfully cold, but I preferred the cold to the +weight of my coat. I slung it over Don Juan. The poor +brute shivered from cold and hunger every halt. The march +became a nightmare. With frequent drinks of water I managed +to keep on. At eleven o'clock we were almost into the halting-place--Monkey +Village by name--when the whole column, +which was some five miles long, was compelled to halt owing to +a block. The ground was very uneven and scored with +nullahs, and had only the one narrow track leading to the +village. Across this track the Cavalry Brigade, which had +gone on ahead of us as advance guard, had bivouacked. The +block took about an hour and a half to rectify. + +At last we got to some open ground past the village. How +cold it was! We bivouacked on sandy soil. I scooped a +dug-out for the General, got a few handfuls of hay for Don +Juan, and a whisky and water for myself. General Smith +got some sort of a meagre meal with me from a tin of jam, a +little bully and a biscuit. We kept half for the morning. All +our delightful _yak-dans_ of stores, hams, fowls, biscuits, jam, +tea and coffee were miles away with the transport, and I +inquired a hundred times that night before turning in, without +result. Those of our blankets which were not lost in the +scurry of the morning fight, were there also with the transport. +So in the bitter cold wind, feet numbed and teeth chattering, +I scraped a hole for my arm and a sand pillow for my head, +and shoving my topee over my ears to drown the nervy rip-rip +of the Arab snipers, I slept. It was not for many minutes. +The cold was too intense, without a coat. Then I had to ride +to General Townshend for orders several times. Poor Don +Juan was awfully done, but very game. There was a tiny +stone bridge over a deep nullah near the village. Each time +I was held up there. The scene was of the wildest confusion. +Camels were being thrashed across, kicking mules hauled +across, troops trying to cross at the same time. Several overturned +vehicles complicated matters. The whole force had +to go over that tiny bridge. After all had crossed the sappers +blew it up. + +I was quite an important person that night, what with +orders and reports. The _Blosse Lynch_, with Major Henley +aboard and also plenty of food, if I had known, was alongside. +Captain Garnett was quite done up with continuous fatigue, +although he had not ridden very much. We couldn't sleep +for the cold, so we talked and hoped to get to Kut the next +morning. That day, December 1st, he informed me, was his +birthday. There could be many worse ways of passing one's +birthday than in participating in the engagement we had fought +that day. We felt a deep debt of gratitude due to our General +for bringing us out of such a tight corner so brilliantly. At one +moment the whole force was imperilled. The next our guns +smashed lanes of casualties through the Turkish troops. I +was assured by senior officers of much service that I had +witnessed one of the most brilliant episodes possible in war, +where perfect judgment and first-rate discipline alone enabled +us to smash the sting of the pursuit and to continue a retreat +exactly as it is done at manoeuvres. + +At 4 a.m. we were away again. We walked half a mile, +then rested. After an hour or two of this the pace got slower +and troops began to fall out and sit down. More than one +dusky warrior unconsciously depicted the Dying Gladiator. +We spoke kind words to them and where possible gave them a +lift. Many mules were shot as their strength gave out. I ate +my biscuit and gave Don a pocketful of hay I had kept for +him. He rubbed his nose on my cheek and wished he were +back in his excellent stable at Hyderabad. + +Once this day my General's horse nearly unseated him as +we crossed a nullah where a camel was lying stretched out. + +"Come on," he shouted to me. "It's dead, and won't +bite." + +Don hates camels, and was rearing up in fine style. Therein +he showed judgment more correct than did the General, for, +in answer to my spur, he had no sooner drawn level with the +beast than the "dead" camel swung its long snaky neck +round upon us and opened eyes and mouth simultaneously. +Don jumped the bank and the whole staff of telephonists and +landed almost on top of General Smith, whose horse objected +considerably. I laughed until the general restrained my +humour. + +The horses were awfully done, and in the batteries could +just move the guns at the slowest walk. We did about a mile +an hour. About 3 p.m. General Townshend shouted to +General Smith that one of our batteries was shelling our own +transport which appeared round the head of the river, miles +ahead. My general apparently forgot me, and went off on +his old charger. The transport could not have been saved by +the time he got up to the guns. I put Don at a ditch and, +racing up a knoll close by, blew on my long sounding whistle +"cease fire," and held up my hand. The battery commander +saw it, and when I galloped up I apologized for interrupting +his shooting, and explained. They had bracketed the transport +and a shot was in the breech of the gun, so my whistle +had just got them in time. A splendid fellow is the commander +of that battery, Major Broke-Smith, an excellent +soldier and cheerful friend. Unperturbed, he said, "Well, if +I'm to shell all Arab bodies, and the river will wind so----" +And when I got back General Townshend thanked me, at +which I was much elated. + +In the afternoon we halted for two and a half hours to +enable the straggling crowds to catch up. I rode miles trying +to find our transport cart with the stores, but it had got somewhere +in the front several miles off. Some one produced a +cube of Oxo, and we had that divided and a whisky peg each. +"G. B." slept, and I saw the horses watered and unsaddled. +The general had some biscuits given him, and some signalling +officer--whom the gods preserve!--gave me a sausage, which +I ate before considering whether it would divide or not. + +Then on again, on, on, for hours. Mules fell down and +were helped up only to fall again a hundred yards further on. +Then word came by aeroplane that we might have to fight +our way into Kut through an Arab and Turkish force. Later, +to every one's dismay, we heard that we were not to reach Kut +that night after all, but to bivouac five miles from it. In the +last light of December 2nd, we saw the sun on the distant +roofs of the village we had legged it so strenuously to reach. +The brisk and prolonged marching of yesterday, and of last +night, had reduced the present possible pace to a mile an hour. + +We found a ruined _serai_, a four-walled enclosure of ground +thirty yards square. Headquarters came here. A heap of +dust and trampled chaff I selected as a sleeping place for the +General, Captain Garnett, and me. It was colder than ever +and a biting wind blew through our very souls. No one who +has not sampled it for himself can credit the intense cold of +such a Mesopotamian night. I have registered the cold of +Oberhof, where twenty feet of snow and icicles forty feet high +rendered every wood impassable. I have boated on the west +coast of Scotland, where the wind from Satan's antipodes cuts +through coat and flesh and bone. I have felt the cold from +the glaciers of New Zealand. But I have never felt cold to +equal that of December 2nd of the Retreat. Perhaps hunger +and extreme exhaustion help the cold. + +We lay close together for warmth. Late in the night some +bread arrived from Kut. I had an awful passage of a mile, +falling over ruts and into nullahs, and once very nearly into +the river. We could not show lights as the opposite bank +swarmed with Arabs. I walked with General Hamilton to +the supply column. While we waited he told me of the battle +of Ctesiphon. I got five stale loaves, two of which I gave Don +Juan, who was shivering violently. Then I picketed the +horses close together for warmth and we three ate our loaves. +General Townshend occupied the far corner of the _serai_, and he +spoke very cheerily to me for a minute or two. It was very +extraordinary how well I had got to know some of the Staff +during the last two days. Our acquaintanceship seemed of +years. But then the retirement itself seemed that long. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +WE REACH KUT--BEGINNING OF THE SIEGE--THE CHRISTMAS +ASSAULT + + +We left at 5 a.m. and trotted over the _maidan_ to Kut. +The horses knew that there food and rest awaited +them. We got in at 7·30 a.m., but the column took +hours. I found Headquarters on the river front of the town +and our ill-omened transport already arrived there. I rode +on ahead to get things ready. First, I quieted my stomach +with some whisky and warm water, and then had a remarkable +breakfast of bacon and eggs, cold ham, cold fowl, toast +and marmalade and coffee. + +But there was no chance of rest yet awhile. A siege was +impending. No reinforcements were in the country and +Townshend's plan was to hold up the Turkish advance at Kut. +While we defended this strategical junction of the Tigris and +Shat-al-Hai, the enemy could neither get to Nasireyeh nor +down to Amarah. The river is the means of transport. And +so there was much to be done--wounded and ineffectives to +be moved downstream, trenches and gun-pits and redoubts +to be made, defences erected, and everywhere communication +trenches miles long to be dug and a thousand other things +arranged for. It was a race of parapet building against the +Turk. The army could not be spared much rest. I had to +collect the B.G.R.A.'s stores from _mahelas_ and elsewhere, get +a secure place for ourselves and our horses, and buy stuff for +the possible siege, although it might be for only three weeks. + +The river-front then became too hot for the Staff, so we +adjourned to dug-outs in the construction of which hangs a +story. In the meantime one learned that we had lost a barge +of wounded, several _mahelas_ of supplies, supply barge, +H.M.S. _Firefly_, _Comet_, and _Shaitan_ in the retirement. The +_Firefly_ was an unfortunate affair, the shell striking her boiler. +There might have been time to blow her up, but it appears +that there was a wounded man down below. The breech-blocks +of her guns were thrown overboard and the crew escaped. +An excellent range-finder was captured on her. At +the moment of writing she is pelting shells at us into Kut. +We also heard that two cavalry officers who had ridden +through the Arabs' lines to General Melliss' brigade with +orders to join in the Um-al-Tabul engagement on the night of +December 1st, had been recommended for the V.C. + +On December 4th, the day after we entered Kut, the last +boat left for down the river. On the 5th the Cavalry Brigade +and S Battery left Kut for down below, as they would not be +of so much importance in a siege. Before they went Major +Rennie-Taylor, commanding S Battery, had lunch with us. +A day later the aeroplanes flew away. Then we were +decidedly alone. Bullets fell from the north. Soon they +came from every direction. + +The dug-out for the B.G.R.A.'s Staff was to be made out +on the _maidan_ near the brick-kilns. The General added to +the plans of the Pioneers for its construction, and so the +thing was built like a long grave and the poles laid +cross-wise. As a traveller of some experience myself I saw +that trouble was obviously ahead. I hinted that as three +poles were bearing on the centre one, that was insufficient to +carry the total weight. My suggestion was dispersed by an +eloquent explosion on the part of my General. So it was +built; and somewhere in high heaven a humorous Fate +looked down and smiled. At midnight the roof that carried +tons of bricks and soil collapsed without warning. It was the +greatest luck we escaped without awful accident. I occupied +the end farther from the entrance where General Smith slept, +Garnett sleeping underneath beneath the ledge. + +Luckily I was awake and, hearing the beam snap, I was +out of my sleeping bag like a bullet, accidentally upsetting +the General on top of Garnett. As I moved it fell in. I +had taken the precaution to sleep with my head towards the +entrance, else I had never escaped. For the rest of the night +I shivered in the cold alongside the cook, without blankets, +sleeping bag, or even jacket. All these were pinned down. +In the morning when the working party came, we found that +the central beam had broken and the two broken ends were +forced a foot into the hard basement of my bed, just where +my chest would have been. My General offered the remark: +"An orderly officer is responsible for the health of his +General." And remembering the mental curses I had +manufactured at the time of the occurrence, and extracting +further humour from having accidentally omitted to remove +a stone from the part of the trench where the general had +been compelled to lie, I proffered embrocation, and, being a +dutiful subaltern, hid my smile. In the teeth of Turkish opposition +the West Kents remade the dug-out that day. It +has not collapsed yet. + +To get from the dug-out to the town we had to cross a +shell-swept zone. Every few yards was a splash of smoke and +flame. That was, of course, at the beginning of the siege. +Our dug-outs were near several brick-kilns, themselves +sufficient target without our gun flashes. We had a battery +of 18-pounders on one side, 5-inch on the other, and howitzers +behind. So we came in for all the ranging. It was out of the +question to leave any cooking utensils above ground, for they +were certain to be perforated within a few moments. + +A most wretched existence it was in that abominable +little dug-out, but the balancing feature was our proximity to +Colonel Courtenay of the 5-inch. A fountain of good-humour, +ever flowing, an excellent story-teller, and a very human +person. I delighted in his company. He was a very brave +man, not of the defiant sort, but rather as one who has learned +not to fear the inevitable. I saw him observing one day and +a burst described a complete zone around him, but he went +on stuffing tobacco into his pipe as if it was all November +fireworks. + +One evening I stood at the mouth of the dug-out giving +orders. Some snipers from over the river must have seen me. +A volley whistled past, one bullet cutting through the pocket +of my tunic close to the hip. More extraordinary was the +escape of the C.O. of the 63rd Battery, Major Broke-Smith. +One morning he had a bullet through his topee and one +through a pocket. In the afternoon another bullet got +another pocket. Some one suggested his requiring a new +outfit at an early date. + +[Illustration: THE BRICK-KILNS WELL REMEMBERED BY ALL KUTTITES. THE +GROUND HERE WAS HONEYCOMBED WITH DUG OUTS, GUN PITS +AND TRENCHES.] + +After the Cavalry Brigade had crossed our bridge of boats +below the town we found it necessary to destroy it, owing to a +Turkish concentration upon that side. Its demolition was +the occasion of considerable excitement. We lost an officer +and men on the further bank. At the last moment it was +found difficult to blow the bridge up. The heavy guns could +not reach it, and I set off with orders for the howitzers to +blow it up--an impossible target. The nearest shell was +somewhere about 50 yards off. Then General Melliss rode +up across the open to see what could be done, and interviewed +my General. Finally, the bridge was destroyed by a very +gallant subaltern assisted by another equally plucky in the +following way. + +At the further end of the bridge the Turks were in strong +force. When night fell, and a dark night fortunately it was, +a sapper subaltern started across the bridge with a charge, +fuse lighted, strapped to his back. That was to ensure the +explosion taking place even if he were hit. Strange to say, +he got out, planted his charge, and got back without a shot +being fired at him. The Turks must have been slacking. +Then the other charge was laid. Both were quite successful +and the bridge totally demolished. The officers have been +recommended for the V.C.[1] + +I was then quite busy for a few days with communications. +We were very short of thick cable, and the thin stuff was +being continually broken by fatigue parties. The General, +as a rule, slept a little after tiffin, and at such times I would +look up Colonel Courtenay. + +"Hallo, Mousley! How are you and the General? +Hope you are keeping him fit. Temperamentally of course, +yes." + +"Hello? Oh, they're all right. Except lucky ones. +Help yourself to that lot. But I've a cigar for you. Now +let's talk about fishing." + +Then there was Oxo (among the subalterns so named from +resemblance to an advertisement)--a fiery ha ha, hum hum +little colonel, as busy as a pea on a drum and exuberant +as a thrush in June. He came to see us frequently. + +On the 10th General Smith went sick. Captain Garnett +followed suit. We left the dug-out for Headquarters, a +building in the centre of the town with a courtyard. Like +most others it was a two-story building with a promenade +roof that was used for observation. Helio was used up there. +Why, no one knows. Shells came on the building too, +hundreds of them, and smashed the wall or thudded against +it. The three legs of the helio disappearing over the balcony +was the first sight I saw one early morning, and the signallers +came down with white faces. The shell had smashed the +helio without touching them. The Turks religiously refrained +from hitting the mosque, but the hospital got it badly, and so +did the horses which are stalled in the streets. + +The enemy's lines have drawn much closer in some places, +and are only sixty to two hundred yards off. The Turkish +commander, Nureddin Pacha, sent word to Townshend that +as our garrison was besieged by all the Turkish forces in Mesopotamia, +he called on him to yield up his arms. General +Townshend replied characteristically. Daily our General +issued _communiqués_ urging us to put up a good fight and to +dig deep and quickly. Within a week we knew what that +meant. + +On the morrow I was brimful of influenza and chill +contracted in the night the dug-out fell in, and was slacking +on the bed when a report came from the 82nd Battery R.F.A. +saying that a subaltern was wounded that morning and the +captain was in hospital sick. The other subaltern, who had +come from Hyderabad with me, had been slightly wounded +days before. The message asked if the General could spare +me. A very ardent soldier I was that morning. I jumped +into my accoutrements feeling very weak from the influenza. +However, I did not want to lose the opportunity, so with +revolver, field glasses, and prismatic, I set off at once. + +So delighted was I at the prospect of leaving the Staff for +regimental duty that I had not noticed the artillery duel +seemed to have developed into a general attack. No one +seemed quite certain as to where the battery exactly was. It +appeared to be somewhere in a palm wood some distance up +the river. There were no communication trenches yet dug, +so I went along the river-front which was shortest, and where +I had heard there was also some rudimentary trench. It was +a grave mistake, and I paid the penalty with as uncomfortable +a half-hour as ever I had in my life. The _maidan_ was +deserted. Shells plunged into the first wood which I skirted. +Rifle fire thickened and cracked fiercely in the trees. Snipers +fired at me from over the river and I ran for it, stooping low, +a hundred yards at a time. The Turkish gunners appeared to +be sweeping all the woods. I got through to a little _maidan_, +dead flat, not a blade of grass on it, and here was the hottest +cross-fire I have yet seen. I crawled along back into the wood +to get some way from the bank before going on. Then I +raced for it and did about a fifth of the distance, bullets +humming like bees in swarm. I took cover from the frontal +fire, and then flank fire from over the river made it intolerable. +About half way I saw a heap of rubbish and dirt about two +feet high. I arrived breathless and fell flat. Shells came too, +one burst on a building thirty yards nearer the river and the +bullets splashed all round me. I had evidently been spotted +over the river; bullets began to make a tracery around the +rotten little heap. One dug itself in a few niches from my +knee. The base of the mound stopped some, but when one +bullet came clean through the middle, the dust being flung +over my face and eyes, I got up and ran my best. This time +I reached a nullah where a mule that had been hit was kicking +to death invisible devils. From here I was fairly protected +from flank fire so I bolted through the wood, and two hundred +yards in I heard the battery in action. I shall never forget +that horrible little affair behind the dust heap. I could see +the Arabs' heads over the river as they shifted to take better +aim, and the dust every yard or so that the bullets knocked +up reminded one of Frying-Pan Flat in the volcanic region of +New Zealand. + +I sprinted over to the cover of a wall in the centre of the +palm wood, and following it came across a gun-limber on end +used sometimes as an observation post. It was protected +by a few sandbags in front. I found the sergeant-major +carrying on, the subaltern just hit being in a dug-out near by, +where he was left until the "strafe" was over. The sergeant-major +asked me to take better cover as several casualties had +just occurred. I am now writing the first pages of this account +from the identical dug-out near the limber. For hours I +could not leave the post. The telephonist lay huddled +underneath the wheels and orders coming by wire from the +major I shouted on by megaphone to the battery, which was +dug in thirty yards in front. Later on, reporting myself to +my C.O. and the colonel of the brigade, I was laughed at for +coming across the open, and they were astonished at my +arriving at all. + +"It's a miracle you weren't knocked over," was the +colonel's comment. + +The fire slackened and fell to mere sniping. I looked +around. The battery had excellent gun-pits, sandbagged in +front. The dug-outs were very well built, the roofs being +supported by beams and trees. Each detachment had its +own dug-out, and the men had furnished them snugly with +old horse-rugs and rush curtains and ammunition boxes +inlaid into the walls. Our chief zone was directly up river. +My own dug-out was built up rather than dug out, being +constructed against a _mutti_ wall which we believed was shell +proof until one day three shells plugged straight through near +by. Then we dug down. The mess was a very thick-walled +building and heavily sandbagged. It also formed brigade +headquarters. To get to the mess from the battery or from +one's dug-out, one had to run the gauntlet through the +incessant sharp music of rifle bullets cracking against trees or +branches. As a rule, we one and all arrived in the mess +breathless from an ever-improving sprint. This, of course, +and also the going from here to Kut, will be better when the +communication trenches have been dug. + +On the same evening at dinner a native servant brought +in most startling news that a bullet had gone through the last +barrel of beer. But jubilation succeeded dismay when we +found that a gunner, with the instinct of the British soldier for +preserving anything in the "victuals" line, had turned the +barrel over. The bullet had entered near the ground, so +quite three-quarters was saved. I hear on good authority +that the gunner will get the D.C.M. We are almost out of +anything drinkable and the siege may go on several weeks. + +At 9.30 p.m. I felt tired from the excitement of the day +and from the influenza, and turned in. Ten minutes afterwards +I was summoned on a night job. Two guns of the +Volunteer Battery were in difficulties in an advanced position +near the river bank and just behind the first-line trenches. +They had been under heavy rifle and maxim fire at two +hundred yards range, and were enfiladed from over the river. +The guns were thus rendered unworkable. I was to take two +gun teams and a G.S. wagon at midnight to retrieve them. +This meant crossing the main _maidan_ in the open without an +inch of cover. It meant going almost under the rifles of the +enemy scarcely two hundred yards off, and being visible in +any sort of light to the enemy over the river. A guide was to +await me at twelve midnight, near the battery. + +I arranged for the teams and wagon to be there at +11.40 p.m., and for all links, swingle-tree hooks, drag-washers, +and pole-bar to be bound up with rag so as to render them as +noiseless as possible. The teams arrived punctually, their +breath steaming up in the cold night air. The G.S. wagon +had had a mishap over a rut just before pulling up, and the +body was flung backward off the axle trees and jambed. We +all tried our best to rectify it, but the jamb was so bad that +it involved taking the thing to pieces. Here was first-rate +luck already. The adjutant had spoken of the difficulties of +the job, and strongly doubted the advisability of taking the +wagon for the detachment's kit. A wagon is a rattling affair +after any length of service. I utilized the accident as an +excuse for waiting until the moon had gone down, which I +thought advisable. I then awoke the battery sergeant-major +and a detachment for a final attempt on the wagon. That +was unsuccessful. + +My drivers were all picked and excellent fellows. I +mounted an old cavalry stager, and we set off about 1 a.m., +when I met the guide, who, to my surprise, instead of being +an officer or European N.C.O., was a half-caste, and as hopeless +an idiot as ever got lost. His teeth were chattering with +fright from the start. The _maidan_ we had to cross was scored +with trenches and barbed wire, and there was only one crossable +place on each occasion that had been purposely made for us +to cross. The guide could not even find the first flag. I +threatened him with all sorts of disasters if he didn't find the +place at once. We wandered about inside the _bund_ of a communication +trench for thirty minutes in awful darkness, that +was at once our salvation and greatest difficulty. I rode along +several trenches, and at last found the bridge the sappers had +built for us. I believe they had measured the wheel-tracks +of a gun-limber and deducted one-eighth of an inch from each +side just to test the driving capacity of the field artillery. +We found a plank and shoved it down. It was quite dark, +and any light was fatal. The drivers pointed out the difficulty. +I told them to do their best. They deserved a medal, every +man of them. The teams dressed exactly for the bridge, and +then, when all was ready, moved forward and crossed safely. +The noise brought rifle and machine-gun fire on us at once, +but the bullets went high, a few hitting the ground with a +sticky thud. I took the first team to a flank, and then we +got the second over. The fire increased. I ordered the +second gun team to keep one hundred yards behind the first +in case of a volley. I didn't want to lose both. Again the +guide was at fault, leading us bang upon our first-line trench +some one hundred and fifty yards off the Turks. But the +breeze came from the enemy to us, and, besides, the limbers +moved almost noiselessly, so excellently taut did the drivers +keep their traces. At last we found the small scrub and the +guns. A subaltern rushed out and said we should be shot +to the devil in two seconds if we came an inch further. Two +days under continual rifle fire and no chance of doing anything +had naturally not improved his nerves. I remember saying +certain "things" about guides. I was much concerned with +the state of his guns. They were in a banked hollow, close +together in such a way as to render it impossible for the teams +to hook in. Besides that, tins and rubbish were right across +the track of any team attempting to approach the guns. +As for the guns themselves, they bristled with the surplus +baggage. All this meant noise, and my orders were for the +greatest silence. + +I ordered all baggage to be taken off the guns, and ammunition +to replace it, as we had no wagon. We loaded all the +ammunition, and after some trouble got the teams hooked +in and away, following two feet of cover along the river edge. +It was on the knees of the gods whether the enemy heard us. +The fire had dwindled to sniping only, but we could see the +lights of the Turks. A second guide now appeared. He was +to conduct us to the new position for the Volunteer Battery +guns in the middle of the _maidan_. To get there we had to +cross three or four trenches and barbed-wire entanglements. +The new guide, also a Eurasian gunner of the Volunteer +Battery, was more confident than the other, but as utterly +useless. He led us everywhere except in the right quarter. +Once he was certain he had found the crossing that had been +shown to him that evening. On approaching it, however, I +found it to be the flimsy roof of an officers' mess. In desperation +I led the guns towards the original crossing, intending to +reconnoitre for myself. The fire now increased, and a maxim +opened. I believed we were discovered. But the bullets flew +high. The Turks never dreamed that we could be so close. + +At the bridge we made an awful row, the heavy guns +straining and creaking abominably. It took some time to +dress on to the narrow bridge. I wanted to get both guns +over without delay, as I knew we should be spotted then. +The first team refused to cross, but were persuaded to follow +my horse, an old cavalry thing I had for the evening, that +wanted to gallop on hearing the bullets. The drivers handled +their teams magnificently. A few inches of error would have +landed the guns in the deep trench--here quite ten feet wide +on the top. The first gun got over, and something snapped +in the bridge. I cautioned the drivers to have their whips +ready. The second gun smashed the plank, and the bridge +gave way. But the limber was over, and with whips and +spurs the gun was bumped over also. We hurried to a flank, +as several machine-guns opened on us. The fire was too high, +and neither man nor horse was hit. One or two bullets +cracked on a limber, and my old horse reared, breaking his +girth, and the saddle and I found the ground together. I +exchanged horses with a sergeant, and we went on. For the +best part of an hour I rode alone up and down trenches, and +at last found the crossings and the new gun emplacements. +General Delamain, whose dug-out we missed by a few feet, +asked if we had had casualties, and what had happened to +our guide. We got back about 3.30 a.m. The sergeant-major +had lain awake anxious. He is a father to the battery, and +was delighted we had had no casualties. "Didn't expect to +see you all back, sir." + +My adjutant said he felt certain we were all done in when +he heard the machine-guns open fire; and Colonel Maule said: +"Good show," and complimented me kindly on the affair. +Looking backwards now, I am sure we could never have +managed it with the G.S. wagon. + +On the evening of the next day, December 12th, the Turks +made an attack they had evidently been preparing some days. +It started so suddenly and decisively we felt no doubt as to +the matter. The bullets came without warning, a veritable +blizzard. I rushed out to the limber 'phone box, and we were +soon at it hammer and tongs. The attack was on the fort, +and a demonstration supported it from the trenches and scrub +in the zone in front of our guns. We raked the trenches with +shrapnel for hours. Subsequently the Arabs reported that +while the Turks were concentrating in the scrub, our fire had +killed a great many. We also fired some star shell, getting the +burst well behind the enemy so as to show him up. Guns +were booming all around, and the rifle fusillade on the walls +and in the trees crackled like a forest on fire. + +On December 13th I began duty as Forward Observing +Officer for the field batteries. That meant that from our first-line +trenches I was to range our guns into the enemy's trenches +and saps. I was advised to dispense with helmet and wear a +comforter as offering less target. I left with a signaller so as +to reach the trenches at dawn, which was about 6.40 a.m. A +surprise was in store for me. Instead of the roomy deep +trenches with firing platforms, dug-outs, and so on, I found +wretched little ditches, in many cases only three feet deep at +the traverses. I did not know then, as I know now, the +tremendous amount of work required in digging a good trench, +and in Kut there were miles of them to be dug. The first few +days I crawled miles on my knees. Every few yards some +one had been sniped, so it came to crawling round the traverses. +The trenches smelled horribly in the parts held by the native +regiments. The dead were slung over the parapet, and sometimes +not buried for days. The Gurkhas are truly gorgeous +little men, patient, and very keen. They soon had their +trenches wonderfully improved. The parapets varied most +unreliably in thickness, and one had to keep one's head below +the level, as bullets often came through. Turkish snipers were +quite good. One day I saw a Punjabi carrying a pot of curry +on his head and a bullet knocked it off. It spilled its hot +contents over him and several others that blocked the road +as they sat huddled up in the trench. + +I ranged our fire on to the Turkish trenches that in places +had got so close as fifty yards, and at one place where they +were sapping, only thirty yards off. We were firing 18-pounders +at very close range, the nearest being eight hundred +and fifty yards. It was great fun to correct back a few yards +and see the shell burst twenty yards in front of me, having +travelled about five feet above one's head. One such occasion +I was ordered to empty the trench for some yards in case of +accidents. It was as well we did so, for one or two prematures +burst behind us, and quite an appreciable amount of shrapnel +got in the trench. Several times after ranging I saw dead +and wounded among the digging parties of the enemy's trenches. + +These trenches! They have their advantages, it is true, +for the Turks dare not shell them, and if you keep your head +down they are about the safest place in Kut; but in the +course of their construction it was a case of a breaking back +from hours of stooping, or a bullet if one stretched. I've had +bullets knock dirt into my face, so that I thought that I was +hit, and had periscopes smashed to bits in my hand. Once a +bullet cut dead in the centre of the glass of the exposed end, +and pieces crashed all around my head, burying themselves in +the wall of the trench, and wounding a _naik_ near by. The +Turks even came to know my yellow ranging flag, and cut the +bamboo rod time and again. They also had a nasty trick of +ricochetting bullets at us by firing them just ahead on the +ground. Not a few came into the trenches, especially before +they were very deep. Another factor that brought more fire +on us was the necessity of signalling from the trenches to the +battery by flag, and also having a danger flag. The reason +for this was the shortage of wire. The Turks always opened a +hot fire in the vicinity of the flags, and observation was very +difficult, except by periscope, as the loopholes were most +unsafe. + +One afternoon I had been trying to discover a hostile +maxim that was playing havoc in our main communication +trench. A native reported that he had located it, and while +looking through a tiny loophole in plate iron he was shot +through the forehead, the bullet making a ghastly mess of +his head. Such a quick, silent death makes one careful. By +and by more periscopes were made by the sappers, and there +were fewer casualties. One mistake is enough, unless one is +very lucky. Turkish snipers lay with their rifles ready on a +part of our trench that was insufficiently deep. The first +sign of a movement there was the signal for a volley. After +a time we got accustomed to the dead things in the trenches, +and ate by them and slept by them. After all, they are only +earth full of memories as is an old coat. + +Direct hits were very rare, but on one occasion I had the +satisfaction of seeing a machine-gun hurled over the Turkish +parados. The 82nd was an excellent battery, and shot well. +It was great fun ranging on the new trenches that had begun +to appear since the night. We blew one whole trench completely +out of shape and there was a stampede of Turkish heads. + +Great luck decreed that two shells, on different days, both +premature, should scatter shrapnel in our trenches, while +emptied for safety. On one occasion Major Nelson, of the +West Kents, I, and my signaller were there standing at the +end of a traverse. A kerosene tin and some utensils were +scuppered between us, and dozens of our shrapnel bullets +buried themselves in the wall of the trench. But incidents +of this nature grew too numerous for mention, and happened +to many. Another round from a cold gun landed into the +cookhouse of the 76th Punjabis. No one was there, but the +cookhouse was not improved. Another tragic premature +killed a private of the Hants and badly wounded a second. +Some of the shrapnel of this burst reached to where I was +in the trenches nine hundred yards away. + +We were in daily dread of another attack, and at night all +our guns were placed on their night-lines, each to its zone, just +over our trenches. On the first indication of a general attack +we thus made a curtain of fire that the Turks funked breaking +through. Two or three times a night we would sometimes +have to go into action for this purpose. + +The West Kents improved their trenches splendidly, and +made them quite comfortable. A very nice regiment they +were, and on many occasions I have been grateful for their +hospitality at a breakfast. + +They had a wee wooden home-made trench-mortar that +we christened "Grasshopper," as every time he was fired he +jumped, sometimes several feet back over the parados, out of +the trench, and had to be recovered with lassos. Once he tried +to range to some trenches farther away, and blew himself to +small bits. The casualties during these first weeks were very +heavy. Our line was short, scarcely more than a mile and a +half, and the enemy swept this with fair regularity. The +fatigue parties often had to risk going over the top in the +night, and there was almost always a casualty. I often think +of my great luck on that night when I went for the guns. + +Nor shall I easily forget the first time I was in a trench +when an attack began. This trench was about eighty yards +from ours, and the rate of fire was terrific, but not so fast as +ours. The Turks well knew that although only eighty yards +had to be crossed nothing human could arrive. + +My trench incidents would fill a volume, which I have no +time to write, and even with time it would be difficult to +isolate individual instances of extraordinary routine. + +What a kaleidoscopic mixture this diary is, to be sure. I +confess that on reading a passage here and there it seems merely +an autobiographical sequence, and egoistical into the bargain. +But the truth is, that personal experience in this thing called +war is at best an awakening of memory from a dream of seas +and foggy islands bewildering and confusing. A few personal +incidents loom a little clearer, deriving what clarity they have +from the warmth of personal contact. Then incidents fraught +even with the greatest danger become commonplace, until +the days seem to move on without other interest than the +everlasting proximity of death. Even that idea, prominent +enough at first, gets allocated to the back of one's mind as a +permanent and therefore negligible quantity. I firmly believe +that one gets tired of an emotion. A man can't go on dreading +death or extracting terrific interest from the vicinity of death +for over long. The mind palls before it, and it gets shoved +aside. I have seen a man shot beside me, and gone on with +my sentence of orders without a break. Am I callous? No, +only less astonished. Death has lost its novelty. I am +tempted to diverge into a speculation as to the necessary +permanency of Heaven's novelty, a novelty of which one can +never tire. Alas, I am not now up in the cloistral peacefulness +of Cambridge, so I can't follow up that speculation. +Life never seemed so wonderful a thing as it does now. I am +extracting more fun and fact to the square inch here than I +ever did before. Now we know death as a tangible and non-abstract +affair. Let me not be accused of irreverence if I say +we walk in his shadow and lunch with him. + +Every evening I return to the battery and enjoy a meal in +mess or relieve my major at his post. Then follows a look +around my section and inspection of the night-lines, and then +bed in my dug-out among the date palms. Our sergeant-major +is the best I've seen yet. The other day, just as he +put down his megaphone in the speaking hole, a bullet plugged +clean through it into the opposite wall, a vicious twang. He +laughed quietly. "I believe it was alive," he said. + +The Turks have moved their big guns closer, and their +shells crash straight at this wall, which before was perfectly +safe. On the 20th, two days ago, a shell smashed into our +ammunition boxes after coming through the wall, a few yards +from my dug-out, which I have been deepening this afternoon. +It is a quiet day, and I left the firing-line early. The enemy +can't locate our guns, as there is a wall some eighty yards +ahead of the battery, so his gunners range just over the wall +and search. Several shells have been through the gun emplacements, +and some trenches have been smashed. Now and then +a palm tree goes down with a crash. I've often awakened in +the night thinking the whole place on fire. Sometimes, again, +I awake to the sound of soft ceaseless swishing, that full and +incessant sound of early morning in England, dear England, +when the gentle rain washes open the eyelids of the waking +world and green trees murmur, and birds begin to sing--but +I look outside my dug-out and see only a mass of black +crows flying over a palm-dotted wilderness to their Tigris +haunts. + +This morning the Gurkha regiment relieved in the first +line. I am quite keen about them, a manly, silent, respectful +set of men; but children, too, mere children, for all that they +are tigers in a scrap. Their genial colonel and I had a pleasant +conversation after my morning ranging was done. We discussed +the war and the Mesopotamian campaign and the +eternal question of relief. He is a most active C.O. +of a sprightly regiment. It yet remains a wonder to me +how these full-sized colonels can possibly get along the half-completed +trenches, which the first fortnight were only some +3 ft. 6 ins. deep, and often barely 2 ft. wide, and partly filled +with ammunition boxes, stores, men's kit, and sundry cooking +pots. + +Among the gunner subs, is one known as R. A., which +some say means Royal Artillery, and others the Ricochetting +American. He has just returned from ranging, with the +announcement that he knocked out half a dozen maxims with +his 18-pounders. We have been ragging him by suggesting +his field-glasses must be faulty, and asking to see them. + +At a conversation in Kut to-day one heard many conclusions +about America, who is not yet in the war. "It is a terrible +New World," as Dooley said of the war; "but it is better +than no world at all." Not the least of our blessings is the +gift of Time. Time it is that invites us to sit tight and say +nothing while bounders and cleverly veneered barbarians +romp rapturously through an applauding world. We have +found them out. In time others will find them out. In the +meantime we wait patiently. And patience is life. This has +no connection with America, except that the Americans, with +all their virtues, and they have many, have adopted impatience +as their national characteristic. And Impatience is the offspring +of Ambition, and Ambition is forgetful of many things. + +"Hitch your wagon to a star," suggests Emerson to his +countrymen. "I guess I'll do better," says the American +citizen, "I'll hitch it to a comet." At what time the shade +of Don Quixote, that excellent gentleman, smiles quietly as he +recalls having once hitched his charger to a windmill! + +_Later. Quos Di Amant._--I hear that poor Courtenay and +Garnett are dead. Some days have elapsed since writing the +last lines owing to a severe engagement we fought on the +24th and 25th. I will revert to that in a moment, but just +now, as I sit here writing in the Fort, my narrative seems +incapable of any reference quite fitting for that excellent +soldier Colonel Courtenay. My General was ill when I left +Headquarters to replace a casualty in the 82nd Battery that +day under heavy fire. + +Colonel Grier became C.R.A., and got hit in the head with +the splinter of a shell. Then Colonel Courtenay became +C.R.A., and Captain Garnett, Staff Captain of retirement +memories, removed with the office of the B.G.R.A. on top +of the building where the helio men had been. It was quite +a good place, but conspicuous and dangerous, and shells +struck incessantly on the wall behind. It was also in line for +Headquarters, which the Turks had located. Not long after +my leaving the building a disastrous shell killed Captain Begg +instantly, an awfully nice fellow, with whom I had often had +a joke, wounded and burned Captain Garnett severely in the +leg, and hit Colonel Courtenay badly in the lower leg, smashing +it. I tried hard to get along to see them, but urgent duties +prevented. Garnett's case was complicated with jaundice. +He died suddenly, to our great surprise and grief. I thank +goodness I am not married just now. The General, he, and +I, were together in that awful retirement, and during that +time we exchanged many confidences, and he had censured +me for taking risks. Now he is fallen already. Colonel +Courtenay died heroically two days after the amputation. He +was known throughout India as "Mike." After the operation +we were discussing how fine it would be for him to be able to +ride still. They had amputated his leg some few inches below +the knee, leaving plenty for a grip. I suppose the shock took +him away, that and the inadequacy of medical conditions. He +was a robust soldier, and every one says the Service has lost +a great sahib and an excellent officer. + +Several other amputated cases have died with equal +suddenness. It seems that they are mostly run down with +the effects of this dug-out, exerciseless life. And the strain is +constant. No part of Kut escapes the shell and rifle fire. +The hospital has several casualties daily. + +We have been on half rations in some things, and others +have ceased altogether. Tinned milk and fresh have both +stopped. There were a few goats, which have gone under +from shell fire. Drinks have become a memory, except for +the lucky ones who had huge mess stores awaiting them in +Kut. The bread ration is one half, bacon twice weekly, (a +tiny portion), no potatoes, and some cheese. Bully and +bullocks will last for some little time longer. The trouble is +that very many have dysentery, or colitis, or acute diarrhoea, +and cannot take much except milk and eggs. These are +almost unobtainable. What little there is, goes to the +hospital. + +The weather is bright and sunny, quite warm at midday +and freezing at night. The extremes serve to emphasize the +cold, and I find I require more blankets than ever I did even +in the coldest weather at Shoebury. I have contrived to be +comfortable by the help of my Burberry sleeping-bag and +riding coat, combined with a travelling rug that is warm with +distant and pleasant memories. + +During the week preceding Christmas the assiduous Turk +completed alternative positions for most of his guns, and it +became necessary for us to do the same, so that at emergency +we could shoot over the river also. For this a place was +selected on the _maidan_, as we call the bare flat plain. We +began with the pits by night fatigues, under fire the whole +time. The high parapet of a communication trench probably +saved a lot of us from getting hit. In two nights we equipped +my section, which was on the right, with a communication +trench, and I then fixed up an excellent little observation post +by a wall for myself. Long ramps were made for the guns, +so that we could get them into and away from the pits without +difficulty. It was to be my show, and I was very keen on it. +Then I chose a dark night and took my section down on the +edge of the _maidan_ near the river to demolish a _mutti_ building +that came in the way of our fire zone. Very heavy fire, but +fortunately much too high, broke out from over the river. +One man had a shovel hit, and another bullet struck a huge +lump of _mutti_ two men were carrying in my direction. Then +we built a wall with the _débris_ to screen us from machine-gun +fire immediately over the river. Altogether we made a good +job of it. + +The horses are having many casualties daily. Already we +have lost a fourth of their number. + +The relieving force is rumoured to be expected about +January 3rd. It cannot be a very large force, although on +the date of Ctesiphon large reinforcements were wired for +immediately. At first we were told that our concentration +was taking place near Shaik Saad, some thirty miles below, +on December 15th, but the rumours and counter-rumours cast +considerable doubt on the whole thing. + +On December 24th the enemy tried to storm Kut with a +surprise attack by way of the Fort. It was a cold but eventful +Christmas Eve. About 12.30 midday a hot rifle fire broke +out over our trenches, and within a few seconds the symphony +of bullets crackling in the palm trees swelled to a roar like the +falling of fast and dense hail. + +We went into a fast rate of fire at once with the battery +on our prepared zones, and immediately put up a heavy barrage +of shrapnel just in front of our first line. At first the densest +fire seemed to come from in front of the 16th Brigade, but soon +it extended right round our perimeter. + +Woolpress appeared to be busy in action also, and then +our guns were hotly engaged by enemy guns of varying calibre, +but chiefly 16-pounders, shrapnel, and high explosive. From +our concealed position in an old orchard surrounded by a high +thick wall we were not definitely located, and the Turkish +gunners, often after having got our exact range, went on +sweeping and searching, hoping to get us. More than one +dug-out and gun-pit was entered by a shell, and one particularly +narrow shave was when a 16-pounder crashed through the +revetment of sandbags, smashed the shield of the gun, and +buried itself in the earth behind without exploding. The rifle +fire was so thick that our telephone wire in the trees was cut +through the first two minutes. Major Harvey, our adjutant, +had selected this position for the guns. The dug-outs of the +gun detachments and the communication trenches were by +this time well and deep down. + +The fire became general all round Kut. High above the +roar of rifle fire and scream of shell rose the sharp high note +of the Turkish mitrailleuses. Suddenly most of his guns concentrated +on the Fort, a salient by the river, none too strongly +held. The Turk was evidently merely demonstrating on our +sector, and intended to attack through the Fort. All our +available guns in turn were switched on to their Fort lines, +_i.e._ for a barrage, already prepared, just over the walls of the +Fort. We increased our range and searched, getting in among +the Turkish reserves all piled up and awaiting ready to support. +A red glow hung over the low mud walls, and reports said that +the Turks with great gallantry and determination had rushed +up to the outer ramparts with grenades and charges of dynamite. +By this time their guns had made a breach or two in +the eastern sector known as Seymour bastion, and heavy +hand-to-hand fighting ensued. Grenades and the bayonet +were chiefly in operation. At one time some hundreds of +Turks had entered the ramparts, and it was touch and go. +The Oxfords and Norfolks were hurried up to stiffen the Indian +regiments, and every available man, sappers or pioneers +included, was given a weapon and pushed into the fray. The +Volunteer Battery did extremely well with rifle and grenade. +Instances of pluck and daring were many. Handfuls of men +from the British regiments in little knots formed the backbone +of the struggle, and, nipping around behind the attackers, +dispatched them to a man. Finally, thanks largely to the +terrible casualties our guns had inflicted on the enemy supports, +the pressure slackened, and the last Turks were bombed out +of the bastion. It was a great resistance, and successful +chiefly owing to the outstanding merit and fighting quality of +the British regular infantry. + +Firing continued intermittently all day, and while on duty +at the guns pending any renewal of the attack, I inspected +the Christmas decorations of the men's dug-outs. + +Above ground we saw merely the several sandbagged +emplacements of the guns among the long grass and fruit +trees, with six ominous muzzles peering through the revetments, +and ammunition awaiting ready near the pits, the +limbers drawn up snugly in rear for protection. Below, the +communication trench ran into and through the dug-out of +each gun detachment. The men had made those comfortable +by letting into the wall ammunition boxes as receptacles for +their smokes and spare kit. Rush curtains hung over the +entrance, and matting purchased from the bazaar was on the +ground. To-night decorations of palm-leaves were spread out +gaily on all sides, and the artistic talent of the various subsections +had competed in producing coloured texts: "God +bless our Mud Home," "Merry Xmas and plenty of Turks," +"Excursions to Kut on Boxing Day." One humorist had +hung up a sock without a foot, and suspended a large bucket +underneath to catch his gifts. + +Our mess secretary, Captain Baylay, an officer of much +resourcefulness in cooking and making shift, arranged an +excellent plum-and-date duff for the men. + +Several alarms were given through the night, and we stood +by our guns hour after hour. However, nothing much +happened, as the Turks had evidently had enough. Orders +came for me to proceed to the serai, River-Front Artillery +observation post, and to be ready to open fire, if necessary, at +daybreak, and to have my telephone wire already laid. This +entailed getting up early, so after an hour's rest without +sleeping, I set off with my telephonist. We laid the wire +accordingly, direct on to our own brigade headquarters, +through the palm grove to the serai. Dawn found me among +the sandbags and _débris_ of the dismantled heavy gunners' +observation post, looking around on the vast plain, seemingly +quiet and deserted and divided by the great broad sheets of +the Tigris. Gradually the darkness rolled away. The soft +glow of approaching day climbed up in the eastern sky. Ray +after ray stole across the water-dotted plain and revealed to +me the coloured minaret of Kut silvered in the dawn, emerging +from the night. The outlines of Kut followed, our defences, +river craft, the palm groves, a few Arab goats grazing out on +the Babylonian plain. Less than fifty miles from the scene of +my Christmas morning once arose the Babylon of the Ancient +world, and her chariots coursed all around this vicinity. +Babylon has gone. For thousands of years her memory has +slept wrapt in the silence of oblivion except for the passing of +Arab or Turkish heel. Perhaps the war is to see this ancient +land once again awakened by England to life and a new +destiny. + +Wild geese and duck were the first to stir. Buffalo far +down stream followed. Then small dots began to move along +the black lines. They were the heads of Turkish soldiery +moving along their trenches. + +Suddenly a rifle fusillade broke out, and bullets ripped into +my sandbags, and some flew just over. I moved my telescope, +for the light of the sun was on it. At the same time one, two, +three, four small white fleecy puffs appeared away to the +north-west. Immediately after one heard the report. Before +the shells had reached us my message was through to the +brigade. "Target 'S' opened fire. Bearing so-and-so, new +position." Our guns engaged them. Other targets opened, +and the morning entertainment began. I was joined by the +garrison gunners, Lieutenants Lowndes and Johnston, who +took me down later to a wonderfully good breakfast. + +I was relieved at lunch, and finding my way back to the +battery slept a little before having to stand by for action +again. In the evening I had permission to go into Kut to +attend a Christmas dinner at the Sixth Divisional Ammunition +Column given by "Cockie" R.F.A. It was dark when I left +the battery, and rifle fire became lively. The communication +trench, however, had progressed considerably, and one went +most of the way under cover. I overtook some stretcher +parties bearing wounded men from the first line. Arrived +at the D.A.C. I found a most cheerful entertainment in +progress. A long decorated table seating a dozen guests was +full of good things. We commenced with a gin concoction +of considerable potentialities. There was Tigre Crème, +Turques Diablées, Nour Eddin Entrée, Donkey à la lamb, +Alphonse pouding. I sat between Cockie and Major Henley +of Dwarka memory. The Navy, Indian Cavalry, Flying +Corps, and the Oxford Regiment and West Kents were also +represented. A limited supply of whisky was available, and +with such a good fellowship we abandoned ourselves to a +joyful evening. Anyone hearing our shouts of laughter would +not have imagined we were in a siege. + +[Illustration: MAP OF KUT DURING SIEGE] + +From the pudding I drew a lucky coin, a brand new half +rupee, which I am keeping as a mascot. A sweepstake on the +date of relief was opened, Lowfield January 1st, Highfield +(which I drew) the 31st. So optimistic were we on immediate +relief that I was offered for it only four annas. We had a +miniature game of football in the tiny quadrangle to terminate +proceedings, and at ten o'clock, in joyful frame of mind, +I struck out in the pitch-dark night for the palm grove. I +missed my way again and again before getting the trench, +and finally found the many turnings so bewildering without +a light that I got up on top and followed the river-front once +more as I had on joining the battery. A faint moon emerged, +and the Turkish snipers followed me along. Several shots +striking the wall alongside me I went inside it at the first +breach and came across a dismantled tent behind which dark +forms moved stealthily. On looking to see what it was, I +found several jackals and pie-dogs mangling a horse that had +strayed and been sniped. They sprang out with most dreadful +yells. This commotion was heard across the river, and the +Turks turned a machine-gun on. I lay quiet in the wood for +some time listening to the rain and the bullets in the palms. +It was a most ghostly spot--what with dead horses and mules, +dismantled tents, graves, cast clothing, and shell-stricken +trees. At this minute I became aware that I was not alone, +a feeling one can very well have on such occasions. And I +watched a certain shadow move by inches along the ground. +It had been hiding behind a tree, and I imagine had been +following me some little distance. There were from time to +time rumours that the Turks sent Arab spies into Kut to +pick off stray people in the hope of getting any plans. With +my cocked Webley in my hand I called out. It proved to be +an Arab who took to his heels and vanished like a wraith. He +had probably been salvaging. I reached my dug-out very +tired an hour later and found all the battery asleep. An order +required me to stand by from four to six, so I slept with my +boots on. At four I went around the battery and had the +men standing to, which means awake and dressed ready for +action but resting. Nothing happened. At dawn I was told +to get my kit and report for duty at the Fort as Observation +Officer to the Tenth Field Artillery Brigade, the other officer +having been wounded the preceding day. Slinging a few +things together to be brought along by my servant, I walked +the two miles of trenches to the Fort, which I entered for the +first time. + +It proved to be a mud-walled enclosure of about seven +acres with a few bastions extending beyond. The garrison +of the Fort were all underground and dug in. In fact, the +place was a network of communication trenches, dug-outs, or +store-pits. It was an easy target for the Turkish artillery, +and shells of all sizes kept leisurely arriving from all sides, and +at this close range we hadn't any warning report of the Turks' +guns, besides which, grenades and bombs were slung or fired +over the wall indiscriminately into any part of the Fort. In +the centre an observation mound of bags of _atta_ (flour), some +fifteen feet high, commanded quite an extensive view over +the walls on to the plain beyond. One could see three-fourths +of the horizon and a very good view of Turkish activities upstream. +This observation post was frequently a mark for +the Turkish machine-guns, and one had to run the gauntlet +in getting up to it by making a sudden bolt, and frequently +a r-r-r-rip of bullets into the flour-bags followed. Sometimes, +generally during the firing of a series, the Turk ranged +several machine-guns and small pounders on to the post. + +Besides myself there was an observer for the heavy guns. +When registering we seized the most favourable hour of the +day for the minimum of mirage, usually just after sunrise or +before sunset. As the artillery duel became general, one had +to range on several targets in succession and sometimes two +simultaneously. When one was too preoccupied the services +of the machine-gun officer were utilized. Although not trained +for artillery observation, and talking of "degrees over" or +"short," which frequently puzzled the gunners, he nevertheless +had a good eye for a bursting shell. He was a big-game shot +endowed with a large imagination and a bad memory, as he +constantly varied the same story, but what one lost in veracity +one derived in entertainment. I liked especially to get into +the "stack," as we called it, at dawn, and watch the shadows +lifting over the plain and the wild duck and fowl flying away +to their feeding-grounds. + +On one such early occasion, after a heavy "strafe" the +night before, I had no sooner entered the "stack" than two +or three of the several bullets hitting the bags came through +and struck the inside wall. We placed another bag or two +on the spot, and then in the afternoon a bullet came through +between another officer and me. We could not understand +why this had happened, as the "stack" had frequently +been subjected to the heaviest Maxim fire, and if there had been +any flaw we must have been riddled several times. Late at +night, before the moon was up, I climbed on to the bags from +the outside and found that the machine-gun fire had cut grooves +into two sacks and the flour had run out on to the ground, +making an excellent mark, and what was worse, the outside +bags were three parts empty, allowing the bullets to come +through the second. + +The long tedious hours of the day were diverted by the +Volunteer Battery Section firing at any target that offered. +Other things failing, a basket ferry at near range was engaged, +and excellent sport it made, the Arabs or Turks ducking out +of it into the river. A small mountain gun called Funny Teddy +was ubiquitous, appearing on all sides. He was extremely +annoying to us, and once several guns were turned on to him. +He was fairly well protected, but one round turned him completely +over. Great joy reigned over the Fort, and word was +sent into Kut. But the last message had scarcely been dispatched +when he appeared behind a tent and spat out several +rounds almost into the "stack" just to show his spite. + +Early one morning, a few days after I had reached the +Fort, I observed that the _Firefly_, formerly H.M.S., now S.A.I., +was not in her accustomed spot. We usually located the ships +of the Turks and reported any activity to G.H.Q. Suddenly +there caught my eye something like a perpendicular stick +moving at a rapid rate downstream towards Kut. Her +funnel appeared immediately after. We informed Kut and +a fire was opened on her from our five-inch and four-inch River +Front Guns. This stopped her, but not before she had got +some of her 4·7's into Kut. This gun, with some small supply +of ammunition, was captured on the _Firefly_ and was the +hardest hitting gun the Turks had. + +_January 1st._--I was up a half-hour before the dawn on +first spell of duty, Captain Freeland taking the second hour. +We usually took breakfast in turn. Food at the Fort I find +much worse than in Kut, the distance out being accountable +for that, and the special chances of getting horse-liver or +kidneys, a great delicacy, quite a remote one. We live in a +tremendously large dug-out, some sixteen feet by ten, the roof +being spanned by great beams of wood, eight by six inches, +but much too low to allow one to stand upright. The beam +is already bent considerably with the great weight of some feet +of soil on top, and one lies smoking on one's back staring at +this beam and applying the Aristotelian axiom that just as +"some planks are stronger than others, so all will break if +sufficient weight be applied," and hoping a 60-pounder won't +just add the difference. + +I am writing alone in the observation post. The New Year +has just been heralded in with a wonderful dawn. Shades of +mauves and heliotrope and violet are diffused over the most +extraordinary geography of floating cloud islets, continents, +and seas, sailing and sailing up and away. From a belt of +electric blue fringing the southern horizon down to Essin +past the Tomb, and over the Eastern desert, cloud island after +island has broken from its aerial moorings speeding like +sailing ships across the ocean sky up past Shamrun Camp of +the enemy towards Baghdad. The first streak of dawn beheld +this phenomenon of smartly moving Change. How much +more prophetic this than the stillness of a static dawn. As +Horace says, one sees not into the future, but such a moving +dawn may well be taken as an augury of big happenings in +the year just born and, ultimately, let us hope, of a convergence +of British destinies moving onward like these cloudlands to +Baghdad. But I for one as a traveller do not believe we have +yet nearly appreciated the tremendous vitality and potentiality +of Germany or fully realized the great strength and solidarity +she draws from her geographical centrality. + +In the meantime, here am I in a siege, believing in a +certain relief within a few days or two weeks if British luck +holds, sitting in an observation post of many tons of _atta_ +(flour) which seems to have been used for defences on all sides +and no tally kept of it at all. Sitting on an _atta_ stack talking +of dawns!! + +_Evening._--Quite a few shells fell about our dug-out, and +machine-guns were turned on the stack while I was ranging +on to a party of Turks working on two distant gun-emplacements. +The Turks seem to know most of the ranging is done +from the Fort, and when our guns in Kut open fire the northern +sector invariably strafes our observation stack. The working +party we can observe quite well taking cover when the shell +is heard coming, and immediately after the burst away go +their shovels and picks again. We fired sectional salvos, and +I believe did good execution, as we observed carts coming +out from their hospital and some stretcher parties. The +work evidently proceeded nevertheless, and this afternoon +two guns in the new position opened fire on Kut. Our heavy +guns, however, soon silenced them. + +This afternoon I visited the battered sections of the Fort +known as Seymour Bastion, still in a most dilapidated and +shattered condition from the heavy assault of the 24th, and +only roughly reinforced as yet with corrugated sheet iron, +barbed wire, and trestles. The bombs and shells have made +great breaches in the wall. We went along in the dusk to the +listening post and along the bastion, a corridor running out +past main wall towards the Turks, and enabling the defending +party to enfilade an assaulting party on the outer wall. However, +on the 24th, the bastion itself became the scene of a +hand-to-hand struggle and it got choked with dead. It is +a pity we haven't Lewis guns as they have in France, which +are much lighter and more portable in case of an assault. +But when our machine-guns were out of action, bombs and +bayonets and rifles held him off. The bastion, I was informed +by a man of the Oxfords, was a most unhealthy spot. It +proved so. As we passed a loophole, bullets entered that one +and the one ahead. The Turk here is ever alert, and he has a +big tally to account for. One passes a loophole (they are +quite low and unavoidable in walking), and then waits for +the rifle fire before rapidly crossing another. In one place +bullets simply pour through a cavity or chink in the mud wall. +This is to be built up to-night. The Oxfords and Norfolks +are very proud of the part they took in the fight and showed +me scores of dead Turks scattered all around. There were +hundreds, only many have been removed by the enemy during +the truce. In this heat of the day, the odour that comes to +the stack from the "unburied" is at times almost overpowering. +More than one Turkish "trophy," rifle, belt, or +helmet has been boldly retrieved by our men, and one sepoy +has recovered no fewer than three helmets and an officer's +sword. + +Our frugal breakfast is rice and bully and tea. We have +no butter nor sugar. For dinner we are to have a small ration +of potatoes, fillet of horse, date and _atta_ roll, and to divide +two bottles of beer the Mess has providentially saved--a very +good New Year's Day meal considering one is not a Scotsman. + +_Later, 7 p.m._--Dinner over. I feel in conscience bound +to say it was excellent and almost half enough. I have a +Burma cheroot from a very precious supply of a kind-hearted +subaltern here from Burma. + +_January 2nd._--The event of to-day was the arrival of an +enemy aeroplane flying quite fast. It came from the Shamrun +Camp and flew over taking observations, followed by a fusillade +from every available rifle and machine-gun. + +Later in the day another aeroplane flew over us likewise +from the north. Our big-game friend insisted that it was a +Turk. One could not see the colour, but I saw what looked +like rings. General Hoghton, who came into the stack, agreed +with me about it, and on its return so it proved to be. A +Turkish plane has a crescent on its wings or generally the +German cross. This brigadier is a most intrepid and fearless +man, and is to be found everywhere at the loopholes, digging-parties, +and observation posts. The Fort is merely part of +his command (the 17th Brigade), but one sees much more of +him than the C.O. Fort. He is a most genial and kind general +and very cheerful about everything. To-day I met Colonel +Lethbridge, now commanding the Oxford Regiment, and one +of the few officers of that regiment to survive Ctesiphon. We +had a most interesting and diverting talk on European politics +in general. He is an extraordinarily well-read man and over +everything he says plays the quiet light of a well-focussed +intellect. We talked of Germany, where I had spent a considerable +time before the war, and he asked me many questions +of the French front. I hear I am the only one of the garrison +who was in France in August, 1914, and only two other officers +have been there at all. In fact, one notices that this Division, +having come direct from India early in the war, has, for the +most part, no idea of the significance of the war and of the +new armies. Neither has it, or could it be expected to have, +any sort of perspective of the many fronts of the war. They +allow either too much or too little. They are focussed sharply +on to Mesopotamia and the Sixth Division, and the perspective +of the World War suffers. Moreover this front is not contiguous +to any other front. But this Colonel of reserved +utterance in his grave way dismissed many of the current +rumours of Kut as being out of proportion, and made one feel +at least how very vast and far were the ultimate issues of +the war. And for listening respectfully I had a most entertaining +hour and two large whiskies and water. On my way +back I saw the work of the Sirmoor Sappers, a most keen and +enthusiastic body of men who are never idle. + +_January 16th._--I am writing in an excavation of four +mud walls and beneath a tiny roof of corrugated iron topped +by some feet of earth. Two tiny camp chairs, a wooden table +with legs driven into the earth, and two niched candles form +the furniture. It is the mess of my battery, 76th R.F.A., +whither I have been ordered some days since from the Fort +to replace Lieut. Edmonds who was wounded while mending +a telephone wire. The man accompanying him was killed +outright, and Edmonds had a narrow shave, the bullet cutting +a deep groove across his neck and just missing the spinal +column. + +Captain Baylay of the 82nd Battery relieved me at the Fort. +He has about eighteen years' service and is by general admission +a very good gunner, quick, resourceful, and of instant decision. +Apart from the fact that I am getting back to my own battery +I feel he will be more able than I am to deal with the ever-increasing +responsibilities of observation officer out there, +which goes pretty close to having two or three targets almost +simultaneously. It will also enable the machine-gun detachment +commander to devote his attention to his own particular +job and incidentally to become conversant with the theory +and terminology of field-gun ranging. + +My battery is just behind the middle line out on a solitary +position on the _maidan_. Unlike any other field battery we +have no cover whatsoever except that of the earth. Every +time a gun fires the flash is visible to every Turkish gun on +the north or eastern sector. We are swept by rifle fire all +around, the nearest some few hundred yards over the river, +and we get all the "shorts" intended for the heavy guns at +the brick kiln, five hundred yards behind us. Our Major +(Lloyd) is away at the Brick Kilns from where he can observe +much better than in the battery, and he messes more comfortably +with C.Os. of other batteries there. The only other +officer in the battery is Lieut. Devereux, my junior of a few +months, who had been sent from Hyderabad before me. He +has a keen sense of devotion to duty and is most conversant +with every detail of horse management, harness, and guns, +but less quick at figures and in making up his mind. I leave +much to him, as for some months he had been a sergeant-major +of M battery before coming to Hyderabad, and we owe more +than one good meal to his knowledge of the Q.-M. department +in Kut, and "Coffee-shop" official ropes. We live and sleep +in the mess with our boots on, as we frequently go into action +during the night. + +The new dug-out for myself, just behind my section of guns, +is almost complete. It is large and deep, and although in +danger of floods, I am content. Some trestle beams from a +dismantled dug-out I am using for the roof. The difficulty +is to find wood of sufficient strength to support the weight of +earth necessary to keep off rifle fire. + +The 40-pounders we cannot compete against. For a +radius of one hundred yards the battery is thick with holes +which in one place have joined up and made a pond where I +have counted over sixty unexploded shells. Before I came +one of these arrived in the mess, having entered through feet +of soil and beam and iron. The thrilled occupants had reason +to be thankful that it did not explode. It has been inserted +in the hole, which it fits exactly, just above the doorway, its +nose pointing at the table, a standing reminder of the thinness +of line described by the Circle of Destiny. + +We are awfully short of firewood, only enough being +available to cook one meal a day for the men, and provide +hot water besides for breakfasts. Sometimes there is not even +that. Theft of wood is punishable with death. The G.O.C. +is loth to destroy the town. We shall, however, have to do +that very soon. + +News there is none, except that on January 12th General +Younghusband smashed into heavy Turkish forces at Wadi, a +stream coming down from the Pusht-i-Kuh mountains, and +got through with the tremendous losses of four thousand. +The liner _Persia_ has been sunk by a submarine. + +The patience of the garrison is beyond all praise. I can +honestly say I have learned to love the character of the British +soldier who has acquired the habit of doing cheerfully what he +does not want to do, at the moment when he just does not +want to do it. In other words, bigger than himself is the +momentum of years, discipline become a habit. There are +rumours that the Relieving Force has retired. The fighting, +we hear, is in deep mud and must indeed be terrible. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +RELIEF DELAYED--FLOODS--LIFE DURING THE SIEGE + + +_January 21st._--A black-letter day for Kut in general +and myself in particular. About 6 a.m. in the pitch-dark, +the water burst into our front line by Redoubt D +and flooded the trenches up to one's neck. All the careful +and dogged efforts of our sappers could not stop it. +Lately the weather has been what an undergraduate would +call the last edge. On the 17th it poured. In fact the +heavens opened and lakes of water tumbled down. It has +kept this up on and off ever since. To-day we have had to +abandon our first line from Redoubt B to the river on the +north-west sector, and the line now falls back at a tangent. +The salient at the Fort has been kept with the greatest difficulty; +but the enemy on the flooded sector has had to go back likewise. +It was a queer sight to see them all running over the +top where we had previously seen only their pickaxes and +caps. Our casualties from rifle fire during this movement +were not so many as his. We shelled his ragged masses with +great glee. A mile or more of silver water now surrounds this +part of the line. As to food, we have eaten up some very +tough bullocks, and I much prefer donkey to mule. We are +down to horse in a day or so. The floods have put our meagre +fires out, and for dinner we had half-raw donkey, red gravy, +and half-cooked rice with some date stuff that made me feel +like an alarm clock just set off. + +_January 26th._--The weather gets worse. I am in my new +dug-out, cold and shivery. In fact my lower half is almost +without feeling. The water percolates from the four sides +and from the roofs in several streams. This I have diverted +into buckets and ammunition boxes by means of pipes and +waterproofs strung up with any available tackle. The +various sounds of water falling into its several receptacles +remind one of fishing in the rain by a cliff-side. + +Our trenches are half full of water, and as we have no +change of dry kit we run the gauntlet along the battery to +the mess. It is difficult in the dark to get along, and of course +no light is permitted, as every day some one pays the penalty +of chancing it. One runs low and slides along the mud. In +the day a heavy fire is invariably opened. But one just gets +through in time. I can tell where I am by the sound of my +boots in the water. Once I slipped down with my megaphone, +and when I found it a second later it was pinked with two holes +from a bullet. + +To-day General Townshend has issued a lengthy communiqué +dealing with the failure of General Aylmer to get through, +and predicting relief by the middle of February, but noting +our last day of resistance under reduced rations as reaching +to about April 15th excluding horse rations. We are, however, +beginning to see how vital a part the floods play in every +movement of troops. Here in this dug-out, streaming with +tiny rivulets and squelchy underfoot, one feels rather than +sees the plainness of the issue between the Turks and us--our +advance of four miles with four thousand casualties, a rumour +of repulse with as many more, a sequence of Turkish trenches +similar, floods rising, etc., etc. + + * * * * * + +Kut-el-Amara, +January 26th, 1916. + +The relieving force under General Aylmer has been +unsuccessful in its efforts to dislodge the Turks entrenched on +the right bank of the river some fourteen miles from the +position of Essin, where we defeated them in September +last when the Turkish strength was greater than it is +now. + +Our relieving force suffered severe loss, and had very bad +weather to contend against. More reinforcements are on the +way up river, and I confidently expect to be relieved some day +during the first half of the month of February. + +I desire all ranks to know why I decided to make a stand +at Kut during the retirement from Ctesiphon. It was because, +as long as we hold Kut, the Turks cannot get their ships, +barges, stores, and munitions past this, and so cannot move +down to attack Amarah, and thus we are holding up the whole +of the Turkish advance. + +It also gives time for our reinforcements to come up from +Basrah, and so restore success to our arms. It gives time to +our allies the Russians, who are now overrunning Persia, to +move towards Baghdad, which a large force is now doing. + +I had a personal message from General Baratoff in +command of the Russian Expeditionary Force in Persia the +other day, telling me of his admiration of what you men of +the Sixth Division, and troops attached, have done in the +past two months, and telling me of his own progress on the +road from Kermanshah towards Baghdad. + +By standing at Kut I maintain the territory we have won +in the past year at the expense of much blood, beginning with +your glorious victory at Shaiba; and thus we maintain the +campaign as a glorious one instead of letting disaster pursue +its course to Amarah, and perhaps beyond. I have ample +food for eighty-four days, and that is not counting the 3,000 +animals which can be eaten. When I defended Chitral, some +twenty years ago, we lived well on atta and horseflesh, ... +but, as I repeat above, I expect confidently to be relieved in +the first half of the month of February. Our duty stands +out plain and simple. It is our duty to our Empire, to our +beloved King and Country, to stand here and hold up the +Turkish advance as we are doing now; and with the help of +all, heart and soul with me, together we will make this defence +to be remembered in history as a glorious one. All in England +and in India are watching us now, and are proud of the +splendid courage and devotion you have shown; and I tell +you, let all remember the glorious defence of Plevna, for that +is in my mind. I am absolutely calm and confident as to the +result. The Turk, though very good behind a trench, is of +little value in the attack; they have tried it once, and their +losses in one night, in their attempt on the fort, were 2,000 +alone; they have already had very heavy losses from General +Aylmer's musketry and guns, and I have no doubt they have +had enough. + +I want to tell you all now that when I was ordered to +advance on Ctesiphon I officially demanded an Army Corps, +or at least two Divisions, to do the task successfully, having +pointed out the grave danger of attempting to do this with +one Division only. I had done my duty: you know the +result, and, whether I was right or not, your names will go +down to history as the heroes of Ctesiphon, for heroes you +proved yourselves to be in that battle. I, perhaps, by right +should not have told you of the above, but I feel I owe it to +all of you to speak straight and openly and take you into my +confidence, for God knows I felt our heavy losses and the +sufferings of my poor wounded and shall remember it as long +as I live. No general I know of has been more loyally obeyed +and served than I have been in command of the Sixth +Division. + +These words are long, I am afraid, but I speak straight +from the heart, and you will see that I have thrown officialdom +overboard. We will succeed, mark my words, but save your +ammunition as if it were gold. + +(Sd.) CHARLES TOWNSHEND, +Major-General, +Commanding Sixth Division. + + * * * * * + +I grow sleepy. Two nights ago we had a disaster I have +not recorded. The flood burst a _bund_ adjacent to us, and +surplus flood water travelling fast swept across the battery +carrying along with it the revetments and emplacements. +The soft side of the trenches collapsed with a sickening thud, +and in places filled right in. I was awakened by the sound of +trickling water pouring down the earthen steps of my dug-out. +It overflooded the _bund_ which I had taken the precaution to +build between the battery trench and my cavern. On +climbing out I saw that the whole plain was a reach of water. +I shouted to my orderly. We seized spades and shovels +and filled in. This kept out further water which was still +rising. The men were similarly engaged. One dug-out +was close to the main trench and only supported by a tiny +wall of earth which collapsed when wet. Trench and dug-out +then ceased to exist. It was a pathetic sight to see the +men, eight to a detachment, diving in five feet of mud and +water for their belongings, some of their friends holding up the +roof of their dug-out with poles. No bunnies flooded out ever +felt more "out" of it than the men of my section. I had all +their clothes dried as best as our scanty firewood could do it, +some hot tea made for them, and their spare kit put into my +dug-out. All night long the fight continued. My floor +was two feet under water. In the gun-pits it came up to +the breech-blocks of the guns, some of which had collapsed +through their planks which had sunk into the mud. This I +had foreseen weeks before. In fact, I had drawn up a simple +scheme for putting in each gun-pit a foundation of filled +ammunition zinc linings, then the planks, and on top the +bricks from the brick kilns close by. There were a great +quantity of these. My Major, however, possibly for some +good reasons of his own, thought this unnecessary, and I was +not permitted to go on with it. To-night, as I lay in my +dug-out after hours of useless battling with the floods and in +endeavouring to get the guns into action, I felt glad that my +scheme had proved well-justified, for the ammunition pit +which I had made as an experiment was the only dry part of +the battery. We had the greatest difficulty in endeavouring +to traverse the guns. After getting the wheels level we +found every movement of the trail brought it off the scanty +planking, and our many targets required considerable +traversing. We reinforced the telephone compartment but +the mess was feet deep in water. About two dug-outs +remained more or less habitable, and in these the men crept +while a few still went on trying to retrieve lost kit. + +"'Ere, Bill, 'old me 'and, while I reach for this boot." +The next moment oaths followed as the unfortunate pair fell +in owing to the bank collapsing. Gaspings in the dark +indicated where the unfortunates were. "'Ere I tell yer! +Take me 'and! That ain't me blanky 'and. That's me +blanky foot." + +In the morning a most deplorable sight met our eyes. +The trenches were unrecognizable, and from six feet had +become in places only two feet deep. We had to go into action +with the guns in this state and had to depress the gun to get +the shell home into the breech without wetting it. Then we +elevated the gun. After hours of bailing and bunding we +reduced the water in the gun-pits to about eighteen inches, +but two guns were still out of action. We now put all hands on +making a bunded wall right around the battery, and on this +we worked for two days and nights. On this second night I +went to Kut and had dinner with "Cockie." We dined on +horse and dahl peas quite satisfiedly. My way home was in the +pitch dark. Myriads of starlings were screaming and wheeling +in the sky. On the plain the high yelping chorus of jackals +arose over the steady crack, crack of the enemy's snipers. +Beneath all as an accompaniment was the rippling music of +the running floods. + +[Illustration: REMAINS OF MY (76 R.F.A.) BATTERY-POSITION ON THE MAIDAN. +THE GUN ENPLACEMENTS AND DUG-OUTS ARE STILL DISCERNIBLE] + +From a reminiscent I got into a prophetic mood, and then +I suddenly found myself tumbled headlong over some obstacle +on the _maidan_. The trenches were for the most part eighteen +inches deep in mud and water, and apart from the discomfort +took hours to negotiate, and I had leave only until 10 p.m. +from the battery. One therefore walked on top. I found I +had stumbled over a horse that had no doubt strayed and +been sniped. His four feet turned skywards. As I got +up, the moon appeared and played full on his ghastly +head with bared gums and teeth. Assuring myself, from an +inspection of his hoofs that he wasn't of my battery, I moved +along and got into quite an amount of rifle fire. I ran and ran +until I almost fell again over Number 2 gun emplacement. +Two large saddles, a limber pole, and packal very much +known to me, located my tiny boarded bed staked into the +wet earth. + +Everything is wet. I must stop smoking this drenched +Arab cigarette. These are like small spills filled with bad +tobacco dust and invariably burn one's clothes. Last +night again the rain came! The tackle did not work. +Streams poured on to my head and chest. I lit the tiny rope +that floats in my dubbin tin. I lit my pipe that had belonged +to Colonel Courtenay, my good friend, now resting among the +date palms. This tobacco burns well. I listened to the roar +of the four sectors of heaven all raining. Heaven, earth, and +the waters under the earth, all rained. A raining world, in +the centre my dug-out, a beleaguered town, a Turkish rampart. +Outside the desert, and somewhere across it home, home, +home! One searched oneself to see if one could do ought +else, but ever returned to the sound of the rain.... It was +at this moment that I bethought me of Timon.... + +Now Timon was a wee green frog that came to me some +days ago from out the deluge. I fed him on many things, and +he couldn't escape over the line of my dug-out. Him I +watched and addressed on more than one occasion, and our +talk found common history. [My notes here are broken, but +I find them continued with an address to Timon before going +to bed, written probably an hour before the procession of +mule carts wound their way out to the Fort with rations, as I +frequently smoked in the rain near my doorway until they +passed, somewhere about 9.30 p.m. They were my signal +for sleep----] + +"And so, Timon, thou tiny frog, now shalt thou hear more +of thy long history. Before Daly's Theatre or America was, +before 'dry land was or ever the sea,' before there even +roamed a Brighton bather along the shore, nay even before +the forests themselves had appeared, thou wert. That, wee +frog, was long, long ago to us men. It was in the twilight days +when this round earth beneath our feet had just rolled out of +primeval Night, and upon her still hung the shadows of +Tehom which is Chaos. Then all was still, there were no +forests, and no birds sang. In that deeper silence was only +the whispering of racing stars and the humming of the spheres. +A great symphony was that, the lullaby of the earth's infancy. +After a long time and many changes, came the marsh reeds +and the squashy moss plants that did for vegetation. It was +all bog, wee frog--all. No wonder thy eyes grow big with +wonder. And somewhere in that great marsh that covered +the world was thy first great ancestor born. God knows what +freakish fancy of a frolicsome couple in that distant Walpurgis +night brought _him_ forth. He was a salamander and he had +the world to splash and croak in. Thou hast a question? +Ah! Yes to be sure there were many insects and pulpy sedge +for thy meat and vegetable. Wouldst have been there, my +Timon? Well! and then alongside the salamanders came +toads, and these multiplied and filled the world with noise. +Such was the first chorus that arose from the dank, dark +reeds--ten billion million jumping, diving, frolicsome little +fellows, all lifting their voices in one tremendous +croak--croak--croak--croak in perpetual chorus. Then was thy +ancestor, the salamander, the largest animal or moving thing. +But in time the water receded and shrubs grew, then themselves +fell and sank deep down to form the coal beds of other +ages. That was the coal plant. And then small trees +appeared, later forests, and great beasts hung therefrom or +walked beneath. But thy line remains distinct. Ages flew +by and then I found thee, Timon, in my trench. + +"Thou listenest intently as if thou rememberest it all. +Canst hear the voice of thine ancient father still echoing +adown Time's corridors? 'Tis a great thought, is it not, my +Timon, that the earth, being a female, possessed herself of +many-coloured draperies and the moving fancies of ten +thousand hues, and man, that extraordinary biped, then +appeared, and invented locomotives and whistles and violins +and guns. Truly we are large frogs equipped with ancient +instincts. Imagine thine ancient ancestors in the primeval +swamp ahorseback on tiny horses, or standing boldly up to +their guns from which they shot fire at other obstinate frogs. +It's a lovely idea is it not? Of course at the first shot there +had doubtless been a tremendous plop and a universal view of +disappearing hind feet, but they would have got accustomed +to it as have we. Thou hast forgotten. Man never knew. +But the earth hath a memory long and sad, and it is said that +she longs for the ancient stillness and turns yearly more cold. +And one day when the sun no longer warmeth her glaciers +and frozen seas she will return to that cold contemplation of +the eternal problem from which she was diverted to watch +the careering antics of man. A mere wraith of memory will +she retain of tiny bleached bones gripped once again in the +eternal snows--the last relics of that small and daring race of +unaccountable beings. And then the wraith will be closed +over by the mists, and Night shall descend once more. Thou, +Timon, and I, will be what Thomas Atkins calls 'done in.' +Hast still a smile? 'Tis well! 'Tis very well. Thou art a +game little devil, and altogether the queerest little cus I've +ever come across. So! Thou wishest a stroll after our long +talk. Bravo, thy profile is absolutely wreathed in smiles. +That was a right merry little hop. I wish dearly that I could +teach thee to dance. Thou would'st make Gaby blush, and +she is no small fish at the game. Now what in the name of +the Seven Gods art thou at, poking thy head in that fashion? +Thou shalt to supper and bed. Here are three flies and a +squashed worm. Fill thy small green belly and sleep. _Pax_, +I say, _vobiscum_. For thou also wert made by God." + +_February 13th._--I have had a half cup of milk. This +morning I awoke feeling abominably seedy with sharp pains +across the small of my back, awful head and wretchedly +feverish. Devereux and I are suffering from dysentery, as, +in one form or another, are many others. This complaint in +its mildest form is diarrhoea which becomes colitis, which +becomes dysentery, which turns sometimes to cholera. The +doctors shake their heads and say: "Diet." They might as +well recommend a sea trip. But of course they are right. +Some fellows in their unwillingness to enter hospital stuff +down dozens of leaden opium pills, various powders, much +castor oil with chlorodyne and camphoradyne in between. +The last is an excellent drug. It's all a matter of constitution, +but sooner or later it's a case of hospital and injection of +emmatine. A hostile aeroplane flew over to-day and dropped +bombs on the town and brick kilns, evidently potting at the +5-inch guns there. A brisk rifle fire from our trenches +followed it. Accounts suggest the unpopularity of this +demon bird with its unhappy trick of laying, in mid-air, eggs +that explode on reaching the earth. Another danger is from +falling bullets fired at the place. The circuit is now complete. +We are shot at all round and from on top. + +General Aylmer's forces concentrated on the 6th for a +new effort in a new position. It wants two days only in which +to disprove General Townshend's prophecy about the date of +relief. We hear that a Division has left Egypt for here. +Every one is asking why it didn't leave months ago. Impatient +questions are quite in vogue, but then we are many of us +seedy and "siegy" and "dug-outish," and the end does not +seem in sight. The latest news is that at Home no one knows +a word of it all. We are merely "hibernating in Kut." Well, +if it isn't known now it will be one day, that the siege of Kut +is probably the most important and vigorous siege in modern +military history. + +I finished a novel to-day. It has at least made me long +for England again. We are all full of longings; and the +chief blessing of civilization is that it supplies the wherewithal +to quieten them. Lord! for a glass of fresh milk and a jelly. +Temperature 103° and shivering. I am going to have an +attempt at sleeping. Everything is very quiet. The sentry's +steps beside my roof make the earth shake. + +It is the seventieth day of the siege. + +_February 14th._--Well, here am I again in my sleeping-bag +at six minutes past eight p.m. Everything is dead quiet. +Stillness itself is throbbing with the pulsation of a very real +thing. Two sections are away digging at the alternative position +by the kilns which faces both ways. There is a great deal of +work required to complete such emplacements for a whole +battery. Besides the gun-pits and parapets and communication +trenches, there are ammunition dug-outs, a telephone and +battery dug-out where the battery headquarters are, officers' +mess, officers' dug-outs, men's dug-outs, cook-houses, and +water dug-outs, and latrines. Then a trench and _bund_ must +be made around the position to keep out rain floods. + +Dorking came to see me this morning for a time. The +fever has decreased but my boasted fitness seems to have +deserted me for good. I believe those wretched floods did +the damage. Sleeping more or less under water tells on +one in weakened condition. I have no cold though, +luckily. Number 3 gun's detachment has appalling coughs, +and every dug-out is the same. They have two blankets, but +when the dug-out gets wet they have nothing even wherewith +to dry themselves. + +Cockie, who rather prides himself on some rudimentary +knowledge of Egyptology, sent me a perfectly undecipherable +note in hieroglyphics to come and dine. At least I guessed +this out. What other interest could men have in common so +much at such a time? I sent a figurative reply with a linear +representation of myself in bed, a procession of ancient +Thebans filing out of the dug-out with fowls, snipe on toast, +puddings and fruits--all untouched. I hope to be able to +toddle out for a walk to-morrow. + +We have laid in a stock of Arab tobacco--half branches +and twigs, and make our own cigarettes. Our reserve bottle +of whisky to be drunk the night of relief we have divided, as +firstly the relief may never come, and secondly we may be +bowled over beforehand, in which case the one concerned +would lose his share. Finally, I suggested that when the +relief does come we shall be sufficiently intoxicated with joy, +even supposing no refreshment is with the relieving force on +that fortunate day. + +The Turkish aeroplane bombed us again to-day. Yesterday +thirty-five people including Arabs were wounded. + +The sniper fellow over the river hit a gunner in the back +yesterday at the next gun. The poor fellow is mortally +wounded I hear. I was at my own gun at the time and heard +him sing out. He didn't fall but walked about a little, "just," +he said, "not to let the swine know he had been lucky." We +sent him to hospital and will visit him to-morrow. + +How very horrible to be quite poor! Here am I longing +for hot milk and buttered toast, and instead I have a coarse +slice of black _boosa_ bread with the chaff sticking out of it--and +a tiny portion of tinned cheese! But I will forget these +abominations of the flesh and hope my twenty--one aches and +pains won't pursue me into dreamland. + +Venus, in her whitest robes, is shining resplendent over +the Eastern horizon above my mud staircase. + +_February 15th._--I am feeling somewhat better, thank +goodness. I hear that Pars Nip, the garrison gunner sub +that came out from India with us, is in hospital with dysentery. + +There is quite a deal of sniping. A bullet whinged off +a limber a few minutes ago. My candles are finished and I +don't like sitting alone in a dug-out on a foggy evening without +any sort of light. It suggests being buried alive. + +A shocking report is to hand concerning Don Juan. +During the last two days he has taken advantage of the cold +weather to eat three successive blankets, four jhuals, and his +companion's head-collar. I suggest turning him loose in the +dismantled hospital camp on the _maidan_, now a wilderness +dotted with rotten tents. Some horses have commenced to +eat their tails and are not above snapping at their mates' tails +if they get a chance. It's great fun watching them all on the +qui vive sparring for an opening to attack one another's tail, +or cover, or head collar. Don has even gnawed his wooden +peg to chips and swallowed most of them. + +_February 16th._--This morning we had a heavy artillery +duel. Fritz, the Turkish planist, flew over several times but +did not bomb. He is evidently observing. His plane proved +to be an old pattern Morane and is certainly very fast. + +I have been for a little walk in the trenches. I felt awfully +groggy and returned to R. L. Stevenson's "Silverado +Squatters," which rings so very true even in a Mesopotamian +dug-out. In this volume Robert Louis, without the addition +of the terrible occurrences so dear to the sensational writer, +and so rare to the lives of most of us, has left the beauty of +simplicity unadorned. + +_February 17th._--Fritz flew back this afternoon and dropped +bombs on the town. The one nearest to us was 300 yards +towards the 4-inch guns. One bomb fell in our horse lines in +Kut, just missing several drivers in a harness room, and taking +the adjoining room completely. Everything therein was +wrecked, but the effect of a bomb is very local. They are as +yet only 30-pounders, all of which along with some larger +ones, 100-pounders, were captured from us on a barge in +Ascot week. Ascot week represents the temporal series from +Ctesiphon to Kut. The passing overhead of Fritz's Morane we +view with feelings compatible with our universal conception +of him as the Destroying Angel. All deeply detest his tricks +and damn him most devoutly, and I have heard many say +that to be bombed by an aeroplane is the worst experience in +the field. Not in the trenches, for there one is comparatively +safe unless it pitches to a yard. Who doesn't take many more +risks motoring? But when one's duty requires one to move +about a battery in action, the fire of which is a perfect target +to the plane hovering overhead, or to move about Kut or the +horse lines, it is a considerably smaller joke. For the most +part the dug-outs are entirely unproof against bombs, or, of +course, a direct hit by a shell. The town quarters of the +regiment on relief from the trenches are dug-outs covered +with canvas or straw _tatti_-work and three or four inches of +soil. The only safe place is in these Arab houses of two floors. +The roof explodes the bomb which wrecks the upper room +and possibly the first floor if not very substantial. Now an +S & T walla sprinting for cover is considered, not being a +combatant, quite in order, but an infantry officer not so. As +for an artillery officer, he is supposed to be so used to high +explosives that if the table and everything thereon blows up +while he is drinking his cup of coffee, he must nevertheless not +take the cup from his lips until he has drained it dry. + +The first indication of his visit comes from the alarm gong +which hangs near the river front observation post. All eyes +strain skyward and a little black speck scarce distinguishable +from a bird dots the blue sky. It approaches, and our +improvised air-gun, a 13-pounder worked on a circular +traverse at a high angle, has a pot at it. This gun was set up +by Major Harvey, R.F.A., our adjutant, a most efficient +gunnery expert from Shoeburyness. He worked out the +mathematics, too, with schemes of ranging in the two planes, +perpendicular and horizontal. A little white puff of cloud +appears near the plane and one hears the report. Then +another shot is fired and the plane mounts or swerves and +still comes on. His propellers and engine are heard quite +distinctly as he gets within range. A fierce burst of rifle fire +and the still sharper maxim gun's staccato music is the signal +for all to take cover. One sees him now directly over the +Gurkha regiment's bivouacs, and hears a faint hissing +noise as of rapidly spinning propellers. The hissing increases +for several seconds until it becomes quite loud and terminates +with a crashing explosion. One bomb has dropped. The air +is full of other hissing things in various stages of their careers. +A creepy feeling suggests that the bomb with its tiny propellers +rapidly spinning, is going to pitch on the top of one's +head and blot one out of existence, like stamping out an ant. +It strikes a building a hundred yards off and the resounding +smash of falling timber is caught up by another smash which +has struck earth, a third that has landed in the hospital, +scattering death all around, a fourth that has splashed small +pieces of horseflesh and hair on the surrounding walls and +trees. + +All these are our captured bombs. A Tommy to-day +observed that the Turk was flinging our bombs about as if +they belonged to him. Another wag suggested Fritz was +merely returning them. + +_February 18th._--This afternoon we had to shoot at a gun +target that was pestering the Fort, and as a consequence drew +thick shell fire on ourselves. Shells fell all around every gun. +We went to the fastest rate of fire, gun-fire, the first heavy +firing for over a month. Last evening the 82nd Battery, +R.F.A., had its turn when, although concealed in the palm-grove, +it was bombed by the plane and shot over by three +or four targets. + +There were several wounded and two killed. The guns +on the water front are very active. The greater attention +which the Turks have paid us during the last few days suggests +that something startling is doing. + +_4 p.m._--I have just received orders attaching me temporarily +to the ammunition column, which is practically without any +officer as Cockie has several guns on the river front, and is +continually up in the observation post there. I am to take +charge of the column and incidentally relieve him at observation. +It is thought that the enemy may try to rush boats +down the river. They could never get past our four-point-sevens +in horse barges moored on the river, or the 5-inch or +the 18-pounders or the 12-pounders from the Sumana. But +great vigilance is necessary. The river is at least 400 yards +wide. + +It is quite good business getting attached to the column. +I shall be practically C.O. with all the horses and wagons +and ammunition, and two guns to keep my eye on, and +observing between whiles. It will mean living in a house, for +which I am very thankful. Anyway, I have been moved +about owing to casualties certainly as much as any other +subaltern, and up till now I have been fairly fit all along. +Those early days in the brick kilns, then in the shallow +trenches, then in the Fort, and especially during the floods in +this battery, absorbed my fitness, and I am now a bag of +pains and have lost ten pounds in weight. + +I have had tea, and am already packed up. Farewell my +dug-out, in which I have spent many wonderful hours and +thought many strange thoughts. I am wiser at leaving than +on entering thee. Timon, also my friend, thou hast earned +thy freedom. Thy supper eaten, I shall put thee near the +pond behind the old communication trench near the palm +woods. I have no time to write an elegy upon thee. Thou +camest sharply into my life and leavest it as suddenly. It is +the way of the army and of life. Thou hast been a soldier's +companion. Many, many are the fantasies we have indulged +in, have we not? Many thoughts exchanged that could never +be set on paper, oh dear, no. What better confidant than a +wee green frog! Mind not thy unceremonious dismissal. My +advice is to smile. When thou seest thy fly, go for him between +wind and water, and smile even if thou art unsuccessful. +Joyful days and full rations I wish thee. Never think! +Farewell! + +_February 19th._--Graoul removed my kit to the building +in the town occupied by the 6th D.A.C. near the Minaret, +where I had enjoyed my Christmas dinner. It is close to the +mosque, and two minutes from the guns on the river front. +There is the usual tiny concrete square with rooms all around +it, mostly occupied by the servants, and one large room with +wooden shutters which was the mess. Cockie sleeps in a +basement room as being presumably safer and wishes me to +share with him. But he is such an extremely exuberant and +nervy companion, I have taken a small room on the first floor +which has a thick wall on the side from which the shells come. +Of course the doorway is also there, directly in line of the +usual fire direction, and many bullets have at one time or +other entered there and gone through the front wall which is +quarter inch wood only. However, I have enough room for +my bed, and must learn to lie close. Outside my room is a +tiny promenade space of the flat roof and the basement rooms, +and bounded by a low wall which stops a lot of bullets. I +have often sat up there close to the wall and read while bullets +cracked into the other side of it or flew overhead. Looking +over this wall, one may see the deserted shell-ploughed ground +between the battery and the palm trees that fringe the river, +the river itself and the Turkish trenches beyond. + +I dined with Cockie and Edmonds, who is convalescing, +and enjoyed an excellent cup of coffee with tinned milk. + +I commenced duty this morning by inspecting the horse +lines. Cockie has not been near the lines for months, and +the general condition of things is highly creditable to the +N.C.Os. who have carried on. The horses, I find, are easily +the best conditioned in Kut, but that is because they are by +far the youngest, and also have not had the work of the +battery horses. The wagons and harness require attention, +and I have ordered inspection of each in sections. We are +almost out of dubbin, which is in great demand for light. A +twisted piece of rope, or wick, if possible, gives a mild, dull +light. + +Graoul I had to send back to the battery, which is too shorthanded +to spare men. My new servant is a Punjabi Mohammedan +from the lines, by name Amir Bux. He is a good, +silent lad, and very attentive. This morning the aeroplane +got up and then went down so we have been spared one +entertainment at least. + +This afternoon I spent some hours in Cockie's observation +post, river front, which is a tiny sandbag affair arranged +around an opening in the roof to which a ladder leads from the +first floor of the heavily bricked and sandbagged building on +the river bank, and some forty yards from the water. This +tiny strip of land, once the wharfage, is now grass green. To +cross it is certain death. The observation post is certainly +the most exposed in Kut, being nearer the river front than +the Heavies, and getting all the 5-inch over and shorts. The +Turks are thickly entrenched on the other side of the river, +and have a bee line on every brick on the water front. The +two-horse artillery guns and the 18-pounders are behind +emplacements just below, and are within megaphone distance +from the observation post. Our telephonists are at the foot +of the ladder on the first floor. The post commands a view +of three quarters of the horizon, the whole of the right bank, +and has artistic advantages all its own. The solitary waters +of the sunlit Tigris and the misty distances between and +beyond the palm trees invite one to pleasant dreams after +the strenuous times of trench days, and fort days, and perpetual +dug-out days. + +Edmonds returned to the battery and my dug-out. He has +had a delightful period of convalescence here on the balcony, +and seems much more fit. + +This afternoon there was quite a strafe. The Turkish +snipers' nest near the mouth of the Shat-el-hai, opposite our +observation station, became troublesome, and we popped a +few into them from the 13-pounders. That shut them up. +Then Fanny, the huge Turkish trench mortar near the Woolpress +post we hold on the other bank, popped her bomb of +150 pounds weight towards us. The bomb comes slowly at +about the pace of a falling football, and of course is quite +visible. It burst about a half-minute after reaching this bank, +but did no damage. Then Fritz flew over and dropped three +crashing bombs on the town, and returning to the Turkish +lines for more ammunition, dropped four bombs near the +104th heavy battery. We gave him a hot rifle fusillade, and +our improvised anti-aircraft gun did quite well. One burst +was just below and two just in front. Fritz mounted very +hurriedly. + +As I write, guns are rumbling downstream in a most +pessimistic way. Reuter reports this campaign has been +taken over by the British War Office. The reinforcing +division is said to have embarked at Port Said on the 10th. +That would remove the date of relief at least to the end of +March. Food may be made to stretch, but the casualty list +of sick will be very high. Even now some castes will not eat +horseflesh, and the Mohammedans have refused to touch it. + +To-night for the first time in three months I am sleeping +in pyjamas, as my only duty with the guns is to relieve +Cockie. + +_February 20th._--I have to-day continued inspection and +altered the horse-lines in case of a flood. I also went to the +first-line trenches for a walk, the second line that was, for the +floods compelled us to abandon the original line. I scarcely +knew the place. The trench was a fine broad pathway ten +feet deep with firing platforms several feet wide where the +men bivouacked and the officers had tiny mess tents. A wall +or _bund_ loopholed at the top, some five or six feet high, +sloped towards the Turkish position for fifteen feet. Beyond +it, in patches, are the waters of the last flood. The loopholes +lend this firing-line an appearance of mediæval embattlements. +My old acquaintance, Dinwiddy, in the West Kents I found +doing awfully well under awnings, but looking very thin. +This flood scheme is one of the most praiseworthy incidents +in the siege of Kut. Every day the flood waters of the +approaching annual floods are creeping across our front. We +believe the _bund_ will save us. + +It was a beautiful day, and I enjoyed my walk immensely. +At midday the sun is unpleasantly warm, and the nights are +quite cold. We have all gone back to helmets, and perspired +freely in the day. We hear the _avant-courrière_ of the summer. + +Last night Wells of the Flying Corps came into the mess, +and "re-flew over Ctesiphon." I should like to fly. He has +had the bad luck to lose all the fingers of one hand while +engaged manufacturing hand grenades for the trenches. The +old Flying Corps has been of great assistance to us in Kut. +Another Flying Corps officer, Captain Winfield Smith, rigged +up old engines and made our corn grinders and mills practically +out of scrap-iron. + +Cockie wants me to promise to go Egyptologizing with +him after the war! Fancy a mummy awakening from a +silence of three to five thousand years to hear a voice like +Cockie's! + +Frolicsome Flossy, that very aggressive female, made four +overtures to the gunners on the 4·7 barges. Needless to say +her warm attentions met with the cold reception they merited. + +I also visited the hospital to look up some sick friends. +One who was in with jaundice had a complexion like grass-green +oil flung into a bowl of rich Jersey cream. The sight +made one bilious. I'm not so seedy as I was, but the +universal complaint still pursues me. + +Don Juan is in his new lines with a native syce. He has +already eaten both tails off his new companions, one of which +is Cockie's charger. Cockie is furious, but seeing that Don +has eaten his own tail also I don't see much for Cockie to +grumble at. + +Erzeroum has fallen. That may relieve the pressure here. + +I have just come across Longfellow's "Daybreak," an old +favourite of mine that I once heard that excellent song writer +Mallison and his wife render in a most delightful manner. +One misses any music except this endless fire symphony! + +_February 21st._--The eightieth day of siege. We fired at +Snipers' Nest across the river, otherwise the day was very +quiet except for the visit of Fritz who had evidently had +sufficient taste of our anti-aircraft gun, and he flew diagonally +across the town and right around to avoid it. + +Upon the tiny observation station, which is scarcely large +enough for two to sit down in, Cockie entertained me with +antiquities. He likes to talk of empires and dynasties falling, +and thousands of years gone by, and Good-God-look-at-it-all-now +sort of thing. To which I always lend a careful ear, and +if he ever asks me a question to see if I am attending, I say, +"Good heavens! How extraordinary! Don't spoil it by interrogations. +Go on!" Not that I'm not interested in such +things, far from it, but Cockie gets impatient with his inadequacy +of description. + +Sealed orders arrived at 10 p.m. to be opened at 4 a.m. +Something is agog! I must sleep again in breeches and +field boots. + +_February 22nd._--At 4 a.m. by the dusky dubbin's misty +light, Cockie opened the secret orders with an air of mystery +becoming an Egyptologist having the secrets of forgotten +worlds beneath his thumb. + +The General Staff has been hatching a scheme for some time +past, and this is why I was wanted in the column so urgently. +Cockie is to remain C.R.A. of the river front artillery. I'm in +command of the ammunition column. General Townshend, +our G.O.C., intends to attack in two columns, Column A comprising +General Melliss's 30th Brigade and one battery R.F.A. +to debouch through Redoubt A, Column B with the 17th Brigade +and two batteries R.F.A. to debouch through by the +Fort. The show is conditioned to take place if the Turkish +forces retreat past Kut to their main camp on this bank--or +if any reinforcements proceed on their way to the Turkish +Essin forces downstream. The latter condition makes it +appear that something should happen soon. + +Some say it is a risky thing for us to move outside our +position, but somehow one has every confidence in such +an old campaigner as the Sixth Division. The intention is for +the 16th Brigade in front of the 82nd Battalion position, to +demonstrate, holding the Turks there and thus enabling +Column A to move on. One section per battery (R.F.A.) will +remain to cover the advance. The advance of either column +must necessarily be subjected to a lively enfilade fire from +across the river and by the transverse trenches rounding the +Fort. Enfilade from our left, _i.e._ the right bank of the river, +must be kept down by the river-front artillery. The sappers +will go ahead to spring the many-rumoured mines of which I +doubt the existence, as the Turks are not very up to date +this way. + +I have everything ready, wagons loosened up, shovels and +picks on, ammunition filled, double feed in horse bags, men's +rations ready for one day. The ammunition column does not +move off until the last guns of the 63rd have moved clear. +So we are not harnessed up, as there will be more than doubly +sufficient time when the batteries get the order to go--and it +will save the horses a lot, as it may be a long waiting affair. +Our job will be to keep in touch with both columns and have +a first position outside Kut only if either column advances +into the open. The trip will have to be done again and again, +so we shall not escape without casualties. + +It is on the knees of the gods, and I for one hope it comes +off. In fact we all do. An impression has stolen upon us that +if we don't help ourselves we shall stay here altogether. + +_2 p.m._--There is heavy firing downstream. Fritz has just +flown by to see what's doing. The G.O.C.'s intention, according +to rumour, is to consign matters to final issue, and to force +a great battle, provided the show downstream goes decently +well. + +I am glad the horses have not been in their harness all day. +Four teams have had to be lent to the batteries as theirs +have been eaten more largely than ours. + +Now I'm off to have another look round my show and then +on to the observation post. + +_6 p.m._--There has been nothing to report except a decided +Turkish movement downstream from the right bank. It has +been a beautiful day with plenty of cloud. + +Downstream the firing, which had lulled this afternoon, is +increasing. I have been on the _maidan_ near the pine woods +watching distant bursts. + +_February 22nd._--There has been another hitch downstream. +The Turkish position blocking the relief advance is +evidently much stronger than was anticipated. This we hear +in the form of a rumour that there was insufficient artillery +preparation of the position before the infantry got in. Also +a lot of difficulty and uncertainty has arisen over some of the +native troops. Two or three times to-day the heavy bombardment +downstream has suddenly ceased, a phenomenon pregnant +with meaning in war, for it means that the infantry has +advanced to the last stage and awaits the cessation of gun-fire +to spring up and rush the position. But as often as it ceased, +it recommenced an hour later and continued until the next +break. + +As yesterday, we are all ready and awaiting the order for +immediate debouch. I am "booted and spurred" and feeling +very important. The Turks are reinforcing heavily on the +other bank, the sly dogs, as appears from the movement in +their trenches. Our little affair is supposed to be awfully +secret, but there is no doubt that Arabs scuttle away across +the river or swim it and keep their religious pals in the know. + +_February 23rd._--Last night at 11.30 p.m., as a counter +demonstration, there was a night attack on Woolpress Post, +our village over the river. This induced an attack from the +enemy facing our 16th Brigade. The town was alive with +bullets that cracked incessantly on the _mutti_ walls of the town. +Through the deserted streets I ran to the observation station, +river front, in case the field-guns were required to go into action. +For forty yards I had to run the gauntlet from the street end +to the door. There was not an inch of cover and the bullets +were splashing on the road and into the buildings on my left. +The fire was swishing as thick as water from a powerful fire +hose. Goodness knows how I got through. I passed several +poor wretches on stretchers and ran up the ladder. + +On the first floor bullets were viciously cutting through the +_tatti_ and interstices, and some plopped into sandbags, and the +air seemed full of that tiny buzzing music as from some lightning-winged +bee. + +When I returned I found that some men and several horses +had been hit, and in my room one bullet had ricochetted across +the bed and three others had entered by the doorway and gone +out by the window. Anyway it is more pleasant up here, and +the bed zone is safe enough, so I'm going to risk it. And I must +dress on the far side of the room. I am sure, after the awful +air in that wretched dug-out, with swamp water oozing through +it, that most people would risk something for this comparatively +delightful air. + +_February 24th._--We are to remain in a state of diminishing +expectancy and increasing disappointment. We acknowledge +the colossal difficulties that beset our friends downstream, +nor do we forget one division there has been previously decimated +in France, and has many recruits. The fighting is +against the pick of Turkish troops entrenched behind seas +of mud. + +The Mussulman soldiers here will not eat horseflesh. +Among their excuses is one that the signature from India of +their High Priest's permission to eat it is not authentic. It +came by wireless! + +Generally speaking, the native soldier for first-rate work in +the field is only third class if he has no _khana_ (food). + +_February 25th._--The show downstream has been postponed. +More reinforcements are necessary. History repeats +itself, and we are down to three slices of bread a day. It is a +lovely morning. Some gunners and Fritz, R.A.M.C., were +around to dinner last night bringing their own bread, as is +the correct order of things in Kut. We had an excellent roast +of horse. For sweets we had rice and date juice, and instead +of savoury, "post mortems" on Ctesiphon. + +Our friend, Tudway, R.N., has been awarded the Military +Cross for Essin services. This we celebrated. + +_February 26th._--Much firing downstream. Last night I +dreamed that Alphonse (Townshend) was communicating with +Aylmer by megaphone, all Kut excepting I being asleep. And +this is what happened-- + +"There, Aylmer?" + +"Of course." + +"Why didn't you attack on the 22nd? What happened?" + +"Sweet damn all. Didn't even get a look in!" + +"Then why on earth didn't you? You've had your reinforcements +and sufficient time." + +"'Tis not in the nature of mortals to command success. +We've done better, Townshend--we've deserved it!" + +"Rot! There's a screw loose somewhere. At Essin I +turned him out of a much stronger position than he's got now, +and with one-fourth of your force. Do you suppose we like +being here or can hold out indefinitely?" + +"Don't gibe! Do you know you're certain for a peerage--Townshend +of Ctesiphon, I hear--nice alliteration too." + +"No, really? Well, old chap, get through when you can. +Some old time! We're eating door-mats and dubbin [Liar]! +My pigeon though." + +"Oh, I say! Last night I thought of suggesting we risked +a plane landing in Kut for you and bringing you away so that +you could have had the honour of relieving Kut." + +"Then why didn't you?" + +"Well, I thought what a godless ass you would look if +you didn't succeed. Nothing seems certain except these +floods!" + +"Do you really think there is any chance of your getting +through?" + +"Not in the least! Even Lloyds wouldn't look at it. +But the Bishop of London says you are making a glorious +page in British history!" + +"Page, sir, be damned! We've finished two volumes +long ago. Is there anything else?" + +"Yes! The people in all the churches at home are +praying for you." + +Loud laughter sounded through both megaphones, and I +bethought me of the queer temperament of our race--and +awoke. + +_10 p.m._--Cockie has retired to bed. I am alone with the +"dim glim." The Turkish aeroplane has left us unmolested +to-day, and for a change one of our own machines from below +flew past us and bombed the Turkish main camp. It also +dropped some money for the troops and letters for the General, +as it has several times previously. There has been a considerable +increase in the scurvy cases lately among the native +troops. Of course all the drivers in the ammunition column +are native troops. I had a scurvy inspection to-day, and the +regimental surgeon picked out the grubby ones. It is due to +total lack of vegetables. This is what we must chiefly guard +against--disease. + +Anthrax also has broken out in a few isolated cases and +the orders are for livers of all animals to be buried. + +I am much more comfortable here, as we have a long table +and chairs and two or three stock books, "Monte Cristo" and +Longfellow. That simple poet's lines in "Sand of the Desert +in an Hour Glass" seem to have added to themselves additional +appeal since the siege. + + "Or caravans that from Bassorah's gate + With Westward steps depart; + Or Mecca's pilgrims confident of Fate, + And resolute in heart!" + +That is the old Basra downstream: I must, if possible, +visit the ruins of Babylon some sixty odd miles from here and +forty directly west of Azizie. Also I would like to see +Istamboul as they call it: and if Aylmer doesn't hurry up +I possibly shall. + +_February 28th._--Alarming reports are to hand that the +river is rising. It is already three feet higher than it was two +days ago. The Shat-el-hai now has changed from a water-course +to a broad deep river that _mahelas_ can navigate quite +easily. It is worthy of mention how very close the _mahela_ +resembles one's nursery pictures of the Ark and possibly +most correctly so, for with its great beams and high +bow and stern it has remained unchanged for thousands +of years. This land, we are told, is God-forsaken. Animals +there are none, beside the goat, sheep, camels, donkeys, jackals, +and river buffaloes. A few herds of the latter used to bask +downstream near Kut. Now they too have deserted us. + +It is reported that the Russian General Baratoff has taken +Kermanshah on the road to Baghdad. We are all anxiously +hoping he may get through. + +A large sweepstake on the date of the relief has been +started for all European troops. Relief is defined as the time +when our first boat passes the Fort. The contingency of our +having ultimately to surrender is not included. For who +could entertain that possibility except in the extremest banter? + +A Reuter tells us of a big German shove at Verdun. What +an awful slaughter yard that will be! The news has become +most unsatisfactorily fragmentary. We hear that something +or other is about to take place; then subsequently the wireless +is blocked and we never know whether it happened or not. + +There is much anxiety in the town about the floods that +must soon come, and the river's level is the all-absorbing topic. + +The fine spell of weather seems about to break. + +_February 29th._--It is raining in a most shocking fashion. +Lord! How it does rain here--when it wants to! The +sun goes, the sky shuts its eyes and rains with all its might, +so that it is difficult to believe there ever was a time when +it did not rain. + +Cockie is sick. I took his duty on the river-front observation +post and watched for hours the deluge of water falling +down and flowing past in a yellow turgid current. The reports +are that it is hourly rising. Every endeavour is being made to +strengthen the _bunds_ and build others. The main _bund_ across +our front still holds and the other side of it is already a great +lake where our former position was. The Turks have had to +leave this part of their line and go back a few hundred yards +to the sand-hills. Through my telescope I can see tiny waves +dashing up against the _bund_ like a drifting sea against a +breakwater. I met Captain Stace, R.E., to whom I lent a +clinometer while he worked at this invaluable construction. +He is most reassuring in his quiet optimistic way. + +The next most important event of to-day is that Dorking +was persuaded to exchange seven cigars for my ten cigarettes. +I came by them yesterday in a special issue "found" by the +Supply and Transport people. By the way, there are more +things in the Supply and Transport philosophy than heaven +and earth ever dreamed of. + +It is the gala-day of Leap Year, but I have no extra proposals +to record--not even from Sarah Isquashabuk, the Arabian +lady with bread-plate feet and small gate-post legs and a +card-table back on which she carries small trees and walls of +houses. She is a hard worker and always cheerful, but with +a most murderous-looking eye, and I confess that one doesn't +always see daylight through all her actions. This morning +I saw her dragging a stalwart Arab along by the unshaven +hair with much laughter--possibly her truant Adonis. + +The Arab population have done themselves fairly well +until recently, for they had hidden much foodstuff and stolen +considerable supplies since. But the last few weeks they have +been begging, and the children search corners and rubbish +heaps. + +If the siege goes to extremities it will be ten thousand +pities that the Arab population was not removed out at the +outset. For the laws of humanity would restrain our pushing +them out now--the Turks or surrounding hostile Arabs would +murder the lot. But we should have had the food they are +getting now for rations, and that might have saved the lives +of thousands of British downstream. All we did was to invite +them to stay at their peril. They accepted. + +_March 1st._--A most eventful day. Cockie is still down +with dysentery, and I have relieved him all day at the observation +post. Everything was very quiet on my way to tea. +I walked through the palm grove intending to examine the +mountings of the anti-air gun when I heard the muffled boom +of guns to the north. Then others sounded--that ruffling +sound of a blanket being shaken. I hastened back to the +observation post, shells falling in the trees and alongside the +trench. I got on top and ran until I got back. The fire +increased into the biggest artillery bombardment the enemy +has yet made, lasting for two and a half hours. About ten +batteries opened out on us, searching the palm grove for our +4-inch, and then four batteries concentrated on the 4·7 guns +in the horse boats and barges moored in the river 150 yards +from them, and also on the 5-inch heavies immediately below +them but thirty yards to a flank. Thankful I was indeed for +that thirty yards respite. At least fifty shells pitched at +exact range for my few sandbags that any direct hit would +knock flying--exact range but always within those thirty +yards to a flank, and of course on the other side into the river +dozens of them. But not all, for sometimes they "swept" +and the heavy Windy Lizzies tore up the green ground all +around, and the building, on the roof of which were my bags, +shook so much that the bags moved. Then one lucky shell +struck the _mahela_ near by, another got the building I was on, +smashing down the end room, and yet another pierced the +side partition ten yards off, and for a few seconds I didn't +know whether I had been blown into the river or not, for the +shock was severe and all was yellow darkness. Large pieces +of wood and _mutti_ were hurled all around my sandbags, one +piece fetching me a clout on the helmet and denting in my +megaphone. I remember a faint cheer from the Supply and +Transport shelters when the smoke cleared away and the +observation post was seen still to exist. All this time I had +been engaging one target with our 18-pounders, and keeping +the rifle fire of Snipers' Nest down with another. + +It all seemed to come about so very quickly. One moment +I was walking out of the trench in the date grove threading +my way over the slippery ground when the first three muffled +booms told me B target had opened fire. The next, without +wondering what the grimy Turkish gunners at B were shooting +at, or what the result of the shells still in the air would be, I +was tearing back to the river front. One counted the usual +twelve seconds from the distant boom of these targets and then +heard the invisible singers in the mid-air, and then +krump-kr-rump-sh-sh-sh-sh as the shells struck with a deep bass +explosion followed by the swishing sound of falling earth that +had been hurled up aloft. I recollect now seeing a mule bolt as +it heard the increasing hits, and although I felt quite as +uncomfortable as the mule I was tickled with the notion of a +mule developing the fire instinct, for it bolted intelligently +to a flank. That mule deserves to live. + +From the observation post there was no need of a telescope +to tell me that B was in action. The three puffs stood out +very clearly and three more to the right. I reported a new +target, gave the bearing, and watched our 5-inch and 4·7's +reply. This brought A and B targets to engage our 4·7 and +5-inch below me. The 40-pounders tore up the water, going +very close to but always missing the barges, and the shock +from a Windy Lizzie hitting the water was always much greater +to my sandbags on the roof, than when hitting the earth +beneath us. In the former case my six-foot stack vibrated +several inches. I saw one shell actually enter the 5-inch +emplacement. It exploded on touching the other side, missing +a gun-layer by inches. The shock knocked him down--that +was all. Ten minutes later another shell got there again, +within two feet of the former one. This time the men were +taking cover. It was now that the battery opened on the +town with 16-pounders, and on my engaging them the Turkish +heavies lengthened and shelled my observation station, also +the other observation station for our heavies 100 yards away. +As I have noted, they got me in a beautiful 100-yards bracket, +the one crashing into the poor devils in the hospital amid +awful yells, and the two nearest getting the end of this building +and smothering me with débris. Some pitched into the +hospital forty yards away, their trajectory just above us. It +is extraordinary the tricks one gets up to on occasions. The +sergeant-major, an excellent soldier and very cool fellow, +stuck his hands on his head more than once, and I found myself +leaning hard up against the sandbags the hissing Lizzies were +directly making for, just as if my doing so would help the bags +to stick there. They came with a slow hiss that finished in +a vicious whip past for the last bit. The sandbags stopped +scores of bullets this afternoon, and that is all they are meant +to do. I had very good luck with the target we had previously +registered on. It is a target of three guns over the Shat-el-hai. +I shut them up with half a dozen rounds, and then took on +another new target that opened further south. Then still +another target on the Woolpress sector shelled Kut and the +82nd engaged them. We had barely shut up this target M, and +also S, when several other Turkish batteries that had been +silent for months opened up on the town. This proved too +much for the youthful spirit of Funny Teddy, that ardent and +sprightly young mountain gun, which just as a puppy watching +a fight between his seniors tries to have a look in too and barks +and bucks about in the most promising style, opened up on +H.M.S. _Sumana_. From my observation post I could see +targets all round the compass being engaged by our guns. +The Turk was out-gunned and out-shot absolutely, but his +target was Kut and ours merely his guns. + +A hot rifle fire sprang up from the Snipers' Nest, Shat-el-hai, +and from across the river by the tomb. This we kept +down in a fashion in our sector, and the 12-pounders +of the _Sumana_ also gave them hot music, as the men +call it. + +The town then came in for it badly, the hospital especially +catching it. We may thank heaven the Turks haven't anything +much in the way of high-explosive shell. They use old +stuff, common and segment, and the thick crust of baked mud +wall is usually sufficient percussion to bring about the burst. +The danger then is from the fragments. The building usually +escapes. I have seen segments of a Windy Lizzie as big as a +half loaf embedded in a wall opposite to the aperture it made +on entering. High-explosive shell would demolish the building +altogether. + +At the height of the show the sharp notes of the alarm +gong rang over Kut, and Fritz, with a second machine +accompanying his Morane, was seen approaching rapidly from +the north. Our machine-guns opened on them and also a +brisk fusillade from the trenches as they came over. They +bombed Kut and then returned to their camp for more bombs. +This was repeated again and again, making a dozen trips in +all. Every one took cover in basements. Scarcely a soul +was to be seen. We had to stick where we were, as our guns +were still in action, but one had plenty of time to look skyward +and see the death-bird there, as I did three or four times this +afternoon, directly in a plumb-line over our heads, and to hear +the whirring propeller of the bomb increasing in loudness and +pace as it fell. One trusted in Providence or luck. He got +the bank of the river and the hospital several times, but his +nearest to us was at least forty yards off. The bombs cannot +be placed with great accuracy, so they drop three or four +close together to make a zone. Some of the bombs were +100-pounders, which would blot a fellow out as effectually +as an hydraulic stamp. + +Funniest of all, the heavy mortar, Frolicsome Fanny, tiring +of acting wallflower on the other bank, chucked her big bombs +at us. But she is a left-handed and cross-eyed filly, and the +gods have set a limit to her range for evil. Some went in +the river near the horse boats. These were received calmly +by the Tigris. Another got into the sand-heap near our +butchery and fell into it without exploding. Some scientifically +minded Arabs charged up to secure it and were within thirty +yards when the thing went off to their huge astonishment. +We had a good laugh at the way they sprinted back +jabbering with rage and fear. The mules have got to know +her, and, keeping one eye on the bomb as it comes over the +river, continue grazing until it is nearly across and then bolt +the opposite way. + +One of Fritz's bombs, a 100-pounder, we saw toppling +over and over in the air quite plainly. It didn't go off. But +another such sent a table at least two hundred feet into the air. +This is true. I won't spoil it by saying that the cloth was laid +and set. It was merely a table and its four legs stuck up +towards the evening moon. + +The bombing raid continued until it was too dark for +Fritz to see. Then I went home, and on my way saw interested +little crowds that had emerged to examine various shell-holes. +Arabs ran up and down the streets howling for their dead. +Over a thousand shells have been flung into the town and there +were a good few hit among the hospital patients, and the +Arabs lost many. About a score only were killed, but many +more were injured. Considering the intensity of the bombardment +this is an excellent tribute to the shelters of Kut. + +_10 p.m._--Every one is extra vigilant to-night although we +think it hardly likely the Turks will try to storm us. That +they cannot easily do now, and the floods increase their +difficulty daily. + +_March 2nd._--The whole night long wild howlings and dismal +wailing of the Arabs for their dead and wounded continued +and kept me awake. Now and then some other Arab extra +full of despair would let out a yell like a steam-whistle that +rose high above the universal hubbub. The Jews here cry +in a different key altogether, a wobbly vibrato long sustained, +much less sweet but not wholly unlike the _tangi_ of the Maoris +in New Zealand. A Jewish funeral is a sad little affair. +Dressed in long black robes and carrying lights in little tins +they escort the dead to a grave way out on the _maidan_. They +walk with bowed heads in twos, a tiny column and a sort of +acolyte person following the body. They perform their +ceremonies by night so as to avoid drawing fire upon themselves. + +It is a peaceful day, the peace that follows a violent storm. +Rumour has it that various Turkish guns which had been +withdrawn for service downstream have been brought back +here, and the bombardment was intended to acquaint us with +the fact. Or else they are thinking of sending the guns down +and wanted to disillusion us on the point. This is most likely. +It certainly hasn't done much harm, and surely Khalil Pacha +does not suppose he can give us "nerves" by this sort of thing. + +A beautiful aeroplane of ours flew over, her wings resplendent +with the morning sun. + +It has been very cold and windy all day, but so very +peaceful--not the peacefulness of calm but of a windy, lonely +day. + +During the show yesterday I was practically doing C.R.A +River-front, a high-sounding title especially pleasing to +Cockie, but as a matter of fact it is merely an observation job, +as all he does is to command his own three guns. He is still +seedy and inconsolable at his inaction. + +_March 2nd._--An uneventful day. We fired a few sniping +rounds. I hear the 76th Battery got its share of shelling the +other day, and a bombardier was killed. + +I persuaded Cockie to talk about ancient Egyptian kings. +He annotates himself in a most delightful way in talking +history, and has an extraordinary imagination for detail. +This imagination it must be admitted does not get much of +a chance in Egypt, which has been fairly well explored. I +would suggest turning him loose among visions of the lost +Atlantis. I believe he would even produce the history of +the other Adam's first love affair in that continent. Some such +sentence as this--"Yes! In that extraordinary land which +history has almost forgotten and which geology never knew, +Phargon the bog-king, the præcursor of Romeo, proceeded +to divest himself of shoes and jacket, and taking in another +hole of his belt, plunged, according to Whinny, feet foremost +after Phargette." + +_March 3rd._--The cold wind, or the wet, or something, has +made my back so rheumaticky that I can hardly turn round +or get down to tie my bootlaces. I am very lucky to have +kept as fit as I have. Dozens of men from the trenches are +in hospital with muscular rheumatism from the floods--the +source of many evils. + +I have finished "Monte Cristo." What an artist he was! +And I have started "David Copperfield" again. + +I omitted to record that a shell tore down the house at +the front of this, and one wrecked the base of the column +office. Several horses were wounded during the bombardment. + +We had a parade of Mussulman drivers, and I read a communiqué +asking them to eat horseflesh, as their Mullah in +India requested, this being required by the exigencies of the +service. Not they! I believe, nevertheless, there is only one +thing rooted deeper than a man's religion, and that is his +appetite. This proves it, for hunger is driving them to eat it. +What an awful joke on the part of Charon if, when these +fellows reach the banks of the river Styx, he informs them the +only available ferry is astride of swine. + +We have finished the inspections. The horse rations have +fallen away to very little. We give them pieces of palm tree +to gnaw at. + +_March 4th._--The rheumatism is much worse. It is bleak +and cold in the observation post. On such an occasion the +vigil is a wretchedly dull one. I'm too cold to dream. One +can only psychologize viciously on the difference in point of +view between a full man and an empty one. Eating maketh a +satisfied man, drinking a merry man, smoking a contented +man. But eating, drinking, and smoking maketh a happy +man--that is, the heart of him glad. + +It is not far from the truth to say I have to-day done none +of these. For by _eating_ one cannot mean half a slice of chaff +bread, nor by _drinking_ a water-coloured liquid like our siege +tea, nor yet by _smoking_ a collection of strange dried twigs and +dust. Man, it has been excellently observed, cannot live by +bread alone. How much less, then, can he live upon half chaff +and half flour? + +Far away on the edge of the western horizon I watched for +hours, through my telescope, a convoy of camels, each with a +tiny white dot of humanity aboard, striding away with delightful +patience to the Turkish camp downstream. They were +conveying stores from Shamrun, the enemy depot on the +river above us. + +General Smith, of former mention in these notes, has been +dangerously ill in hospital, but the crisis has been passed. He +contracted pneumonia on the retirement. I have been to see +him. He is very full of pluck, and gave me a _Times_. + +Tudway, R.N., dropped in for a pipe. We talked of the +sea, and he spoke of the soft life on the Chinese station. + +The adjutant of the Dorsets was killed while strolling in a +communication trench yesterday--a chance bullet getting his +heart. The D.A.A.G. is being operated on to-day with an +abscess in the thigh. The facilities for operating on such cases +are very modest. But nothing less than raising the siege could +alleviate these matters. And in this little maelstrom of +destiny here at Kut, we and our weaknesses are whirled around +together. Some of us disappear in the vortex, and others +continue circling around the swift walls, and may or may not +be fortunate enough to so continue. But from this seething +cauldron none can escape by his own effort, for we are all up +against a thing greater than ourselves. + +_March 5th, 6th._--Shortly after daybreak, as usual, I got up, +feeling awfully full of aches and unsteady. Cockie, however, +being still seedy, it was necessary for me to be on duty on the +observation post, so I flannelled myself up and went. I stuck +it until 9 a.m., when I returned for breakfast. Our Parsee +regimental doctor, from whom I required a dose of rheumatism +physic, sent for a major of the Fourth Field Ambulance, who +pronounced me bad enough with muscular rheumatism to have +to go into hospital. I was awfully disgusted at this after +holding out so long, and begged to be allowed to stay in my +billet. But it was of no use. He said strict orders made it +imperative, also that in hospital eggs were forthcoming. Four +native bearers and a stretcher turned up shortly afterwards, +much to my disgust. Anyway I walked, after fixing up for +the sergeant-major to carry on. + +I entered a ward too terrible for words, next bed to a most +sad and awful apparition of a poor fellow who had been very +ill. It was a long skin-covered skeleton with skinless ears, +eyes protruding so far that one wondered how they stuck up +at all, teeth on edge, legs thinner than a pick handle, and two +arms like gloved broom-sticks catching frantically at various +parts of his apparel where creatures of the amoebic world fled +before those awful eyes. Add to this a half-insane chattering, +punctuated with a periodical sharp crack as louse after louse +was exploded between the creature's two thumbs, and you have +the picture entitled, "A Hospital Shikar." Altogether it was +a sight utterly terrible. + +I thought of flight, and other things, but the hospital was +small, and there was no other available room. So I wished +them all good morning, and sat on the side of my bed farthest +away, and having undressed got into bed as the assistant-surgeon, +otherwise apothecary, directed. I had not been there +for more than three minutes when the Enigma's Hindoo bearer +entered. He became quickly engaged with his master in +strenuous argument relating to curry, what time the Enigma +ricochetted on and off the bed, and his mouth became the +exhaust valve for his pent-up opinions of the world in general +and his bearer in particular. I discovered later that malaria and +dysentery had between them rendered him temporarily insane. +He had been in the hospital for the whole of the siege, but was +now slowly recovering. While he was _in extremis_, however, +I should say from all accounts that he must have been by far +the most interesting person in Kut. For many days it seems +his main hobby was in trying to make his bearer precede him +through a door which did not exist at the foot of his bed. +Another diversion was in seating himself on the window-sill +stark naked about 1 a.m. in the night and mimicking, often +with ghastly relish, the sounds and noises of various members +of the Turkish artillery from Windy Lizzie to Naughty Nellie, +the buzzing howitzer. I believe he was quite good at the +bullets, and very promising on Frolicsome Fanny, which was +easy, and only required an awful noise without warning--for +as I have noted Fanny's jokes sometimes held fire for minutes. +But in reproducing vocally the aeroplane's 100-pound bombs +he is reported as having outdone even the bomb itself. In +fact his own nerves could not stand this performance, and he +generally wound up the item by taking cover under his bed. + +Other nights he has been known to get behind his overturned +bed and preach in a most entertaining way. Why he +took to preaching was, he explained, due to the fact that he +had been to church only once in his life, and that was his +wedding-day. His sermons may be described as unorthodox, +and varied from blatant sarcasm in such texts as, "When ye +hear of war and rumours of wars be ye _not_ troubled" ("Not" +being considerably emphasized) to sheer optimism, one being, +"Eat, sleep, and be merry, for to-morrow ye starve." But +he did not always stick to his text, and in the last-mentioned +sermon made a humorous digression on Kut, the way in and +the way out, this being, as he informed his midnight audience, +the prelude to a book he had recently written called "The Last +of the Sixth Division," by a Field Officer. One day he insisted +on believing he was on board a P. boat going downstream in +charge of Turkish officers, and having attempted unsuccessfully +to rejoin his boat in scanty apparel, finally consoled himself +with fishing out of the window. However, he is now supposed +to be more or less permanently located in the sane region, but +this from the other would seem to be separated by a mere +dividing line, and he occasionally strays back. + +But these interesting events are past, and the poor fellow +is a dull subaltern once more. Other occupants of the ward +were the Welsh Bulbul and an awfully decent subaltern in the +Territorial Battery named Tozer, whom they called the Eye-Opener, +because he never slept. + +An awful place is this hospital. Our ward is on the first +floor on one side of the yard, and the barred windows are +sandbagged up part of the way. + +I read and slept, and then stole downstairs to interview +"G. B.," who was in a most kind and amiable mood. + +The only advantage to be derived from being in hospital +here is that one has facilities for dying under medical supervision. +Not that the authorities don't do all they can, for the +officer commanding the officers' hospital is as kind and thoughtful +as he is able, and altogether the best of good fellows. But +his difficulties are enormous. There is the scantiest of sick +diet left, medicines are more or less exhausted, only the simplest +drugs remaining. Besides, the pressure of work on all the +medical people here necessitates the use of untrained orderlies. +One of these, a podgy and giggling recruit, enters twice daily +with a handful of pills in his fist, and distributes them as per +order, but it is well to know one's ailment and the remedy, for +sometimes the ardent youth is forgetful. The C.O. comes +round once a day, which is the event of the twenty-four hours. +He is all patience, encouragement, and industry. The orderly +rubs the backs of the rheumatic patients, and this is a delightful +relief. + +As for food it matters not. Dysentery and rheumatic +cases can be safely starved, I believe, and if this is the chief +way of getting well there is every facility here for rapid +recovery. Two small portions of Mellin's food and one egg +with a small piece of white bread are the daily ration. A few +extra things came for me, but I could not eat them. + +From 6 to 8 p.m., as we have no candles we have a spelling +game, each one in turn adding a letter that continues to spell +a word. The object is to avoid saying the last letter of the +word, and consequently the words changed or lengthened in +an extraordinary fashion. One-syllable words were barred, +and we had challenging for bluffs. Each fall meant a life, and +three lives was the total. Thus o-s-t-r-a-c-i-z-i-n-g. The +defeat was staved off "ostrich" and "ostracize" on to some +one else. It proved highly entertaining, and abuse flowed +freely, especially as the abuser was more than once let down +deliberately by all hands. Doubtful words we voted on. I +got into trouble with "phrenolophaster," which we carried +by three to two, I pointing out other words, poetaster, philosophaster, +etc. One wouldn't dare to tell Dr. Johnson so, but +it "did." + +There joined us in these evening orgies a subaltern of the +Oxfords named Mellor, otherwise Square-Peg, who was convalescent +from a bomb wound in the arm. On the morrow I +got out of bed and walked with him to the vegetable gardens, +which were planted at the beginning of the siege, like they +were in Troy. I hate bed when I'm not fit, and the walk was +refreshing. I am trying to get permission to go back to my +billet and do duty on diet. + +_6 p.m._--There is an order for the Arabs to remain confined +to their houses as another sortie is imminent. + +I have just been talking to Woods, a cheery fellow who +got the Military Cross for saving men from a dug-out at the +Fort during the heavy bombing of December 24th. He is +gleefully nursing the stump of an arm, and tells me how he +proposes to still enjoy himself in life with the other. "The +Enigma" has just begun another _shikar_, the severalth this +day. + +_March 7th._--Late last night there was talk of a brigade +going over the river to stop the enemy's forces attempting to +retreat that way. We had no bridge, but Major Sandes had +prepared a trestled bridge for the Shat-el-hai, and if wanted +the brigade was to be ferried over in _mahelas_. We were all +wound up and restless in hospital, and did not wish to miss a +show. All night long there was the clang and clump, clump, +of marshalled forces, and the champing of bits and the tramp +of men under full arms. A few rounds were fired during the +night, and at the dawn a signal awakened us, but nothing else +happened. Anyway orders for the debouch were about to be +issued the second time, and with this as an excuse I persuaded +the C.O. to let me out to resume duty, and I was to remain on +diet issued from the hospital. I left the Enigma my midday's +rations. It was a relief to escape from the dreadful ward. +This I did at 11 a.m. + +But before I left I visited General Smith's room on the +other floor. From him I learned that Verdun is raging with +unabated fury, and Epinal and Belfort still hold out. The +Russian General Baratoff is almost on to Khanakin through +the mountains. If this were only true the Turks hereabout +would have to retire on Baghdad. + +The general was what girls call "very nice" this morning. +He reads three books at once, so that when he is tired of one +he changes to the other. We talked more fishing, and what +we would do when we returned to India. This I find the +most interesting topic for invalids. + +_9 p.m._--It is rumoured from headquarters that an attempt +is being made by General Aylmer to get through to-day or to-morrow +with a dawn attack. The weather is favourable to a +long march. We are all ready with our _mahelas_ and launch +and _Sumana_ to convey a brigade across, if necessary to cut the +Turkish retreat or assist General Aylmer. It is, however, a +serious impediment that we have none of the bridging trains +which were so famous in the history of the Sixth Division and +so efficiently handled by Major Sandes. The last was blown +up on December 5th. + +_Later._--We partly expect some orders this evening. I find +I am almost too stiff with this rheumatism to mount my horse. +I have been practising on the table, but once in the saddle I +shall be perfectly right. + +I am overjoyed to have got back to my billet from that +hospital ordeal. Have played chess with Mellor. + +There is sound of distant firing--a dull smothered roar of +an engagement down at el Hannah. + +Everybody is talking about Baratoff, and hence this verse: + + "The mountains looked on Baratoff + And Baratoff looked on me; + And in my evening dream I dreamed + That Kut might still be free." + + + + +CHAPTER V + +GENERAL AYLMER'S ATTEMPT--MORE FLOODS--PRESSURE OF +THE SIEGE--PREPARATIONS FOR RELIEF--FAILURE--LIFE +IN A SIEGE MESS + + +_March 8th._--In the night a terrific explosion from +the direction of the Shatt awoke Kut. Someone +says it was caused by a floating mine going aground. +It had been intended for the bridge some distance up the +Shat-el-hai. Not long after dawn we awoke to the sound +of intense gun-fire so close to us, that for a time it seemed +like our own guns in Kut. At first we surmised this to be +Turkish artillery turned on positions won by the Relief +Column, but, on climbing on to the roof, we saw the flashes +came from what the experts knew as Dujaila Redoubt. +Our own guns were preparing on the Turkish position! +This in itself seemed difficult to believe, although, no doubt, +some good reason existed for it. As the light got better, +before eight o'clock, we saw quite clearly hordes of Turks +rushing up towards the Shat-el-hai support trenches, and +some troops were being ferried over near Megasis from the +other bank. General Aylmer's night march had evidently +been a complete success, and the Turks were taken by surprise. +Why, then, were we waiting to prepare? The fire grew heavier, +the bursts thicker, and all the while the Turks were rushing up +troops. Then the fire ceased. We held our breath and waited +for news, knowing that the bayonet was busy, and the men at +handgrips. No news has come. We have waited hour by hour. + +Is anything amiss? Why haven't they got through? +Was our artillery preparation intended to be so deadly as to +pulverize the Turks' whole series of trenches? Could so +many heavy guns be got up? If not, why did we wait? +We only know that up to 9 a.m. the Turks' trenches were +rows of moving heads, and many went over the open. The +fact seems to be that our arrival at the redoubt was absolutely +a surprise, and yet, through not pushing on, the benefit of +surprise has been lost. + +[Illustration: Aylmers Dujailah Attempt +8^{th} March 1916] + +_March 9th, 3 p.m._--The relieving force did not get through. +We have heard this unofficially. We all have the feeling it +is "the big effort," and not a side show. We are disappointed, +but having had little else than disappointments we are accustomed +to them. + +_March 10th._--There is another famous _communiqué_ from +General Townshend, our G.O.C. It is interesting to see how +"Alphonse" improves every occasion. Here it is: + + * * * * * + +_Communiqué to troops._ + +"As on a former occasion I take the troops of all ranks +into my confidence again, and repeat the two following telegrams +from General Aylmer from which they will see that the +relieving force has again failed to relieve us. + +"_First telegram: March 8th._--'To-day's operations terminated +in a gallant but unsuccessful attempt to storm +Dujaila Redoubt. Our troops pushed home the attack and +carried out the operations with great gallantry, but the enemy +was able to mass great reinforcements which arrived from the +left bank at Megasis and Shamran, and we were unable to +break through. Unless the enemy retires from his present +position on the right bank, which does not seem probable, we +shall be unable to maintain ourselves in the present position +owing to lack of water, and unless the enemy evacuates the +Essin position to-night, we shall be obliged to withdraw to our +previous position at Wadi.' + +"_Second telegram: March 8th._--'We have been unable to +break through to relieve you to-day and may have to withdraw +to Wadi to-morrow, but hope to make another attack +before long and relieve you at an early date. Please wire +movements of enemy, who in any case suffered most severely, +as their repeated counter-attacks have been repulsed with +heavy loss.' + +(End of Telegrams.) + +"I know you will all be deeply disappointed to hear this +news. We have now stood a three months' siege in a manner +which has called upon you the praise of our beloved King and +our fellow countrymen in England, Scotland, Ireland, and +India, and all this after your brilliant battles of Kut-el-Amara +and Ctesiphon and your retirement to Kut, all of which feats +of arms are now famous. Since December 5th you have spent +three months of cruel uncertainty, and to all men and all people +uncertainty is intolerable; as I say, on the top of it all this +comes--the second failure to relieve us. And I ask you also +to give a little sympathy to me who have commanded you in +these battles referred to and who, having come to you a +stranger now love my command with a depth of feeling I have +never known in my life before. When I mention myself I +would couple the names of the generals under me whose names +are distinguished in the army as leaders of men. + +"I am speaking to you as I did before, straight from the +heart, and as I may ask your sympathy for my feelings having +promised you relief on certain dates on the promise of those +ordered to relieve us. Not their fault, no doubt--do not think +I blame them; they are giving their lives freely and deserve +our gratitude and admiration. But I want you to help me +again as before. I have asked General Aylmer to bring such +numbers as will break down all resistance and leave no doubt +of the issue. Large reinforcements are reaching him, including +an English division of 17,000 men, the leading brigade of +which must have reached Wadi by now--that is to say, General +Aylmer's headquarters. In order, then, to hold out, I am killing +a large number of horses so as to reduce the quantities of grain +eaten every day, and I have had to further reduce your ration. +It is necessary to do this in order to keep our flag flying. I +am determined to hold out, and I know you are with me in +this heart and soul. + +"(Signed) CHARLES TOWNSHEND, +"Major-General, +"Commanding the Garrison in Kut. + +"Kut-el-Amara, +"10th March, 1916." + + * * * * * + +The rank and file of the garrison, from what one overhears, +are all for sympathy with their G.O.C. They are quite +sure that "Alphonse would have got through" and have +altered the name of the relieving general to Faylmer. Why +wasn't the action delayed until the new division could have +taken part? As a matter of fact, one should suspend judgment +until all the facts are in, and in the last analysis the blame +must rest on Governments rather than on generals. When +first besieged we expected to be relieved within a month, and +so far as the Government knew we could hold out for about +two months. Fortunately we secured various supplies of corn +from Woolpress, and from dismantled engines we erected +milling facilities which enabled us to turn corn and barley into +bread. + +But reinforcements have been sent into the country at a +slow trickle and the enemy has found no difficulty at all in +out-reinforcing us. When one considers the state of Turkey +this is most incredible. One would think that the lesson of +Ctesiphon was sufficient to chasten the authorities out of the +belief that the Mesopotamian campaign could be dallied with. +By sheer brilliancy of arms a whole country had been conquered +by a single unsupported division. This achievement was +not enough, however, and the cheap methods in vogue further +required this one division to risk the whole fruits of a campaign +in a single doubtful throw, and this against the advice +of its generals. Through the same cheap methods of having +insufficient forces to follow up a brilliant victory, our army +was badly let down and several thousand lives flung away. +Then only the same brilliant generalship of General Townshend +disengaged the division from a force several times its size, and +completed a masterly retirement for ninety miles, with the +whole Turkish forces on top of it. Extraordinary success of +the rearguard action at Um-al-Tabul enabled the division to +reach Kut, where it is intended to hold up the Turkish advance +and keep back the enemy tide from reswamping Mesopotamia. +The post was surrounded and bombarded at once, but the public +evidently does not know this owing to very necessary censorship. +The garrison, then, can hold out for a certain time. It +can forestall disaster for that time only. + +One might imagine that the Indian Government would by +this have become awake to this aspect of the crisis, have taken +prompt action and sent out three or four divisions at once. +Even admitting the difficulties of river transport, six weeks +from the date of Ctesiphon, _i.e._ January 9th, would have +allowed ample time for arrival at Basra. But the first +reinforcements did not arrive in the country until considerably +later, and then only depleted divisions. British divisions, +which are really required, were only sent for recently and have +hardly started. And now difficulties of transport will delay +their transit up river. One cannot help recording these facts +in black and white. Every day lost now is piling up tremendous +difficulty for the future and swelling the list of lives +downstream that, please God, will one day retrieve a disaster +that might easily have been avoided. The world knows +nothing of the siege of Kut, and the authorities are not being +goaded by public opinion. In other words, the Indian Government +has played with a serious situation. The price will be +disaster. I am not setting this down as my own opinion +merely. It is the point of view of every one in Kut. As a +soldier one must refuse to believe that the position has been +mishandled or that Kut will fall. But if I were a politician, +which I am not, then would I add a lot of things here which I +will not. + +As I write it rains, and with every drop of rain the time +within which the garrison, and, more important still, the +strategic position at Kut, can be relieved, shortens. Soon +come the annual floods, and when the whole country is under +water reinforcements will be of no avail. And the time is +short. It is the eleventh hour, and unless considerable forces +are already on the way it is even now too late. But that is +an affair between the authorities and the floods. Our problem +is one of food. + +The position here is much as it was in the Dardanelles. +Excepting for floods and natural conditions we can outgun +and outfight the Turk every time here. Moreover, we are +tremendously relieving Aylmer of pressure, as the Turkish +river communications must stop at Shamrun above us, and +then his transport has to go overland. This is the marvellous +thing about our enemy. He is daily carrying on a colossal +bandobast of transport away from the water. + +_5 p.m._--Reuter reports the Verdun battle is going satisfactorily. +One imagines that the German Kultur Geist must +be bilious by this time, according to the numbers they are +offering at his shrine. I am wondering how Nietzsche's +Zarathusa would speak now if he saw the Verdun shambles. +And what his blonde-haired, pink-limbed Über Mensch would +say about it too. Somehow I can see old Rudolf Eucken at +Jena with outspread hands invoking "Schicksal" (destiny) +as once he used to "Die Unendigkeit, Die Ewigkeit." Deep +down in the German nature is a connative impulse towards +the dramatic, and this is fed by a presentiment coloured with +all the hues of harmony sweetest to them. It is not unknown +for students at Jena and Heidelberg to extract such exquisite +juice out of the word "Unendigkeit" (Immortality) or "Ewigkeit" +(Eternity) as to become intoxicated therewith and +commit suicide shortly after in the pine forest, or near a +ruined "Schloss" (castle) what time the sun sets. + +He loves the experience of the actor, likes to feel his gamut +of emotions considerably twanged. This dramatic tendency +showed itself on the occasion of that delicious utterance of the +Kaiser on the eve of the Great War: "Now let my ministers +put their hands through mine in token of fidelity, and let the +nation follow me through Need and Death." Now, the Roman +did this sort of thing rather well, but the German makes an ass +of himself. One feels the Kaiser said it to see how it felt to +say it. + +The Germans tell us they are doing well, but I believe there +is a sight becoming more familiar to their eyes, a phenomenon +it is their daily delight and wish to behold, and that is the altar +of this "Schicksal"--Fate. The Germans think in battalions. +They have yet once again to go mad as a nation, as they did +on the outbreak of war--absolutely "verrückt,"--and to bolt +with competitive haste towards the national funeral pyre. +They are not fanatics. They are temperamentalists--and from +the spleen of a German musician it is said that in a successful +operation you can cut a piece of temperament nine inches long +and twenty-five ounces in weight. Apropos of this general +digression one may consider their "New Year's Picture" of +"Tod" (Death), of which a copy reached us in the autumn +of 1914 in France, and cheered us up considerably. +"Tod" (please pronounce "toad"), an awfully unpleasant +looking "Death," a snobbish skeleton with a bad seat, rode a +heavy horse through a smitten land, a tremendous scythe over his +shoulder and his metacarpal bones holding his reins incorrectly. +The scythe flung a gigantic shadow, and as for Tod, his shadow +reached almost to the horizon over black, burned villages, +sacked cities, and many corpses. The horse had reached a +double signpost which showed the way to St. Petersburg and +the way to Paris. But, more interesting still, the skeleton +had the lantern jaws of a Prussian. Fancy turning such a +fellow loose! Truly the "God of Want and Rapine and +Death!" and a most excellent subject for the Germans' +accepted New Year's Picture. + +I remember my limber gunners having the same picture, +months afterwards, at Aldershot. And Chopin composing the +"Marche Funèbre" with a skeleton between his legs while he +played wasn't in it with them. They had stuck the picture +on the muzzle of the gun while they cleaned it. I hope every +one of them goes untouched through the whole war. + +Poor Germany! I have had some happy days there, but +when I compare the Kaiser's words to his nation on the eve +of war with those of our own dear King, how I thank God I +am an Englishman. And who would not mind being a +Pharisee at the price of being an Englishman? I ask you. + +It may be suggested that when Germany falls, the same +cement that holds that extraordinary nation together will +assist it in falling together. In the meantime it will be an +interesting spectacle for history to observe--the German +nation sprinting on hot foot towards the registered funeral +pyre, with all the dramatics of the bolting horse that gathers +speed and insanity from its own flight. + +Talking of horses, I hear that to-day is the slaughtering +day for numbers of them. This is good-bye to any possibility +of debouch, for there will be insufficient horses to move the +guns. It will eke out our corn and barley that can be made +into bread; but what is wanted is sugar or jam for the +body, and tea for the spirit. + +"You are," says Townshend, "making a page of history." + +"I would rather," thinks Tommy, "make some stew." + +_March 11th._--We have all been made acquainted with +Sir Percy Lake's condolences on our misfortune, but also +promising us relief; but the floods are gradually increasing, +and we fear it will be a case of Lake _v._ Lake, and there will +be no appeal. + +Sir Percy Lake is the Army Commander in place of Sir +John Nixon, and General Aylmer is Army Corps Commander. +Before going to bed last night we told fortunes by cards. The +results in short were these: Firstly, a climax is to be reached +shortly. (I quite agree.) Secondly, March 27th, my birthday, +will seal my matrimonial affairs, the marriage to take place +before the following March 27th. (Doubtful, unless I marry +an Arab or Turk, or get freed for the event.) Thirdly, the +star of the Fortune-God is in the ascendant, and his horoscope +is wreathed with smiles. Which we two subalterns, and +Cockie (a junior married captain), devoutly pray may come true. + +Personally, I hold with that excellent fellow Horace that +"the gods only laugh if they behold mortals showing an +unseemly interest in their destiny." It is essentially a plebeian +instinct, a relic from barbaric days when the world was brimful +of curiosities for the twilight intelligence of recently-born man. +But many decades taught him that unbridled curiosity ended +in burnt fingers. Then he avoided with a fearful dread all +that he did not know, and not the least of his tortures was +occasioned by the Inexplicable straying upon him across the +border from the Great Unknown. Later on he gets more +nerve and he pioneers--still later he becomes scientific and +investigates. And when the facts are more or less all in, his +curiosity instead of his investigativity once again gets the +better of him, and he fortune-tells and goes table-rapping, and +tries to lassoo his astral body and to open up direct communication +with those "not lost but gone before." It is, one +might say with some truth, a mark of spiritual breeding to +know how to acquiesce. Somehow one cannot picture the +greatest of the gods tremendously excited. Equanimity is at +least more dignified and always useful. + +Nor should prophecy be confused with fortune-telling, for +it is to the latter what investigation is to inquisitiveness. +And inquisitiveness was always bad form. The personal +factor looms too large. + +Ah! how infinitely colossal and strangely beautiful is +that great thing the Future, that ever bears down upon us +from across the seas of Time. That dark tidal wave bearing +great histories in its bosom and pregnant with joys and sorrows +for us all. The gymnastics of living philosophers teach us that +Time does not exist--but to me here in Kut it is almost the +only real thing. O Futura Divina Ignota! thou mighty +engulfing wave advancing from horizon to horizon upon us, +with Change and Hope lightly treading thy combing crest--how +pricelessly excellent a thing art thou, and what could we +do without thee? Whence art thou? From what distant +regions of Eternity art thou sped, on what strange shores do +thy billows break! We know not. It is beautiful not to +know. And thus is Faith born. Thou art a beautiful +stranger. We dread thee not. We trust thee--for thou +art God. + +Truly it is a great and wonderful world, and considerably +reflected upon before patented. Some day a great man will +write a book on "Some Attitudes to the Future"--wherefrom +it will be gathered that the happiest is he who trusts but does +not seek to know. "If," writes the prospective Plato, "it +were permitted me of God to be the only mortal in the history +of the human race to discover the lever that raises the curtain +between us and the next world, and even if by so doing we +might at once behold the flight of angels, the life of the spirit +world, the procedure of heaven, yet would I certainly refuse +to reveal the secret or to use it. Because to behold that +Ultramontane would be to remove from life the two essential +factors of discipline and hope. Moreover, if likewise I only +were accorded the power of turning the searchlight on that +land of mists we know as the Future so that all might see what +is ahead of each, yet again would I not do so." And on second +thoughts, who would? It would indeed be a dreadful ordeal +to have to live. And if you don't believe this, then go and +ask a certain gunner subaltern in Kut. + +_9 p.m._--My hospital acquaintance, Square-Peg of the +Oxfords, came along this afternoon for a game of chess, and +asked if he might join our mess, as he is convalescent. Square-Peg +and we talked 'Varsity gossip by the pipe-dozen. He is +at present doing light duty on patrol of the gardens, technically +known as "C.O. Cabbages." + +I managed to best Edmonds later. He conceded me a +knight, but then he is a very good player. + +I made another acquaintance at the hospital, one Father +Tim, the Catholic padre, who called to see me to-day. + +A few rounds fell into the town. We did not reply. + +We are informed that the English division of which we +have heard so much is coming up-river now. + +Rations have been still further cut down. We get bread +and meat, nothing else, and of the former merely four ounces +per diem. The garrison is in a bad way. Men go staggering +about, resting every now and then up against a wall. I hear +that the number succumbing in the trenches is daily increasing. +As for the native hospital, the sight is too appalling for words. +Skin-covered skeletons crawl about or turn over to receive +their scanty nourishment, but nothing else, not even shell +fire, engages their attention. One sees a coma stealing over +them, a coma not less relentless than the Arctic Sleep of +Death in the snow. The poor devils cover up their faces with +blankets or tattered turbans, and dream of Home. One told +me the other day that he heard the steps of Kismet. + +It is roughly estimated that this further reduction of +rations will give us two to three weeks--not more. + +There is every confidence in our army below. One thing, +however, we dread: that is the floods, which may or may +not leave sufficient time. + +_March 12th._--Rain fell last night and again early this +morning. Then we heard the sound of distant artillery, which +increased to the subdued throb of gun-fire far away. But this +was drowned in the grander music of a thunderstorm. How +splendid is the artillery of the gods! How majestic their +salvos billowing across the heavens! + +Last night we felt what we believed to be an earthquake, +but which proved to be the sappers trying to dynamite fish +in the river, which experiment was completely unproductive. + +_5 p.m._--It is still raining, which is bad for the river. I +did my rounds and straightened up pay books, etc., in the +office, and then played chess. I am a little better, and Amir +Bux is an excellent masseur, a distinct improvement on +Graoul, who used to treat my shoulders like a punch ball. + +The soldiers have re-named this place Scuttle-Amara! + +_March 13th._--More rain has fallen! The Tigris is almost +bank high, and still rising. + +I have been around the horses. Every tail is bare, and +the _jhuls_ and head ropes disappear as fast as they are put on. +They all remain perpetually on the _qui vive_ to prevent their +stall-mates from biting them. Some are scarcely horses, but +rather half-inflated horse skins. + +Father Tim, the worthy Irish padre, who divides his +attention between wistful ultramontane meditations and an +excellent appetite, played chess with me to-day. He rooked +me beautifully once. + +_March 14th._--Heavy gun-fire has been heard downstream. +The irrepressible humours of Tommy inform us that it is our +own guns covering Aylmer's retirement to Basra. + +_5 p.m._--The rain has stopped. I have been writing to +King's College, Auckland, of many memories, and also to my +acquaintance, "the delicious Conservative," at Corpus--Cambridge. + +I find in the latter's epistle this sentence: "To-night I +shall think of you in that delightful room with chairs so easy +and cheroots so persuasive, soliloquizing on the eternal destiny +of the American Conservative candidate." + +He does not regard all Americans favourably, and I +remember well how once when a Southern son of that enterprising +nation averred that in the Northern States there were +no aristocrats or conservatives, still the South was full of both, +that he replied he had always understood it to be merely this +way, that the Northern States had neither, and the Southern +believed they had both. Which was very severe. But then +he had a delightful, disarming smile. Oh, for a disarming +smile! ! ! + +_March 15th._--The Ides of March! Moreover they are +come and gone, for I am making this entry, I find, on the 16th. +The river rose eighteen inches, and for some hours lapped over +the banks. Then it subsided a little. I had a walk through +the palm grove and back via the Gurkha communication +trench. + +_March 16th._--It is a beautiful day, warm and sunny, and +the only blur on the silvery brightness is the muddied Tigris +winding like a yellow ribbon over this flat desert land. I felt +so weak during my walk yesterday that to-day I merely +strolled about the "gardens." + +It was a fine sunset. Away over the muddy plain the +Western skies were dragon-red, and clouds stirred by the +evening breeze sailed in and out of the luminous belt which +reflected a soft pink on the face of the rising moon climbing +over the Eastern horizon. + +I stale-mated a game of chess. Also received a gift of +three brace of starlings that are the veriest God-send for the +seedy. + +_March 17th._--We had an extraordinary breakfast of +kedjereed tinned salmon Square-Peg brought with him. + +Cockie's temperature is increasing and ought to be +diminished. + +I played patience a little, which I can't stick for long. +There are not many books circulating. + +_March 18th._--Another beautiful day! I stale-mated a +game of chess with Square-Peg, and then had a walk round +the trenches almost up to the Fort. There is an old disused +trench skirting the river on the eastern side, where we sat in a +hidden nook and let the cool breeze from the river play on our +feverish dank foreheads. + +Grass is beginning to grow in patches here and there on +the _maidan_; and here and there a truant mule did himself +well behind the _bund_. Presently the Turks or Arabs spotted +us, and we reluctantly had to leave the blissful spot. + +Rumour says that the Turks have some new 7·5-inch guns +coming. If so, the damage done will be ten times what it has +been. And if they only had high-explosive shell the smashing +up of the fort wall and the town would be a very short +affair. + +A bombardier of the 76th Battery, an excellent lad, has +just died of wounds from the aeroplane's bomb. I remember +upholding him in a matter of duty once. + +Every day some one goes, either from wounds or sickness. +And so far as we know the end is not yet. + +_March 19th._--Rheumatics bad again. They remind me I +lived in feet of water in my earthy dug-out during the floods, +even my bed sopping wet. However, in the heat of the day +the aching is less intense. More serious are the increasing +cases of enteritis everywhere in Kut. I believe this is essentially +a siege malady. The symptoms are violent pains in the +intestines and a wish to vomit. It is, I hear, due to bad and +insufficient nourishment. I know many who have already +succumbed, but so far in my case these pains have been rather +stomach than abdominal. + +A bombardment started while I was in the gardens, and I +hastened back to Cockie's observation post. It lasted the +best part of an hour. + +The floods have necessitated removing the 5-inch guns on +the river-front, which are now in a dead line for our observation +post, so any accurate one will be not far away. Anyway +they can scarcely be closer than they have been. One shell +we felt certain was making dead for us, but it went by with a +fearful swish and burst ten yards off, killing one man and +wounding another after penetrating two feet of brick wall. +The fumes and filthy gases well-nigh choke one. + +Another shell got the _Sumana_ through the funnel and +bridge, killing one of her crew. Tudway's cabin was completely +wrecked. Tudway is a deserving, hard-working +subaltern, the only R.N. representative in Kut. He always +takes it as a personal insult if his gunboat is hit. She is the +apple of his eye. H.M.S. _Sumana_, an improvised gunboat, is +of the greatest importance, as she keeps us in touch with +Woolpress, our tiny stronghold on the other bank, which +prevents the Turks from coming right down to the river-bank +and thus rendering our water-front totally unendurable. She +takes across a barge with provisions and reliefs, and makes +three or four trips a week. This the Turks know full well, and +do their best to send her under during the day. However, +she is fairly well protected with _mahelas_ and rafts, though by +no means completely. It is a difficult problem to know how +to protect her, and engages all Tudway's thoughts. In fact, +how she remains afloat at all is a puzzle to every one. + +The last trip of the Morane plane was sufficiently disastrous, +one bomb dropping into the hospital ward, killing a +dozen men and wounding many others. These large bombs +are dreadful things, the splinters of the outer case being very +thin and sharp as razors. Square-Peg's servant was among +those hit. In the 1907 Convention at the Hague we tried to +get all the Powers to agree to refrain from this abominable +trick, but it was not to be. Anyway war is now full of +abominable tricks. + +_March 20th._--Cold and windy, an ideal day for a leather +chair with book-rest in one's study before an open fire, or for +Grieg's music, for there is a whip and a whistle in the wind, +and Peer Gynt is passing over us. + +Another small strafe started, and H.M.S. _Sumana_ stopped +quite a few. She received five direct hits from 9-pounders, +and one from the 18-pounder field-gun the enemy captured +from us at Ahwaz. + +To be shelled by one's own gun and ammunition adds +humour to injury. And we have learned to respect the fearful +rip of this weapon. She hits ten times harder than any other +gun they have got of the same size. But as Cockie says, "If +British workmanship will be so thorough----" + +The Morane flew over us last night in the moonlight and +dropped several bombs, one of which cut through an ammunition +wagon, setting off several shells. We give every credit +to this intrepid flyer. He came quite close. + +For dinner we had a very excellent roast joint of horse and +some rice. I find that first-class horse is better than second-class +mule, and only second to second-rate young donkey. It +beats camel and eclipses buffalo altogether. The horses +decrease most sadly. Poor Don Juan! No insurance +company on earth would look at him. + +We smoked lime-leaves and talked rose-leaves, which +means Omar Khayyam and Hafiz. But it lacked much--for +we had no drinks more Khayyamnian than water. + +_March 21st._--To-day it is a world of brightness. One has +in one's self a feeling of joy and rejuvenescence, and outside +there are the strong lines of a matter-of-fact morning, bright +with the spangled beauties of ten thousand sheets of sunlight. +They are the banners of approaching summer, and beneath +the palm trees one hears the sweet voice of that ardent goddess +and the elfish cadence of her myrmidons. + +Gorringe, promoted to lieut.-general, has succeeded General +Aylmer in the command of the relieving force, and has wired +that he is making his final plans. + +The river has fallen three feet, and so to-day the +whole garrison is keen with expectancy and buoyant with +hope. + +A few details are to hand with regard to the recent unsuccessful +dash by General Aylmer up the right bank. From +all accounts it was an excellent scheme, and came very near +being a brilliant success. The Turks were completely hoodwinked, +expecting the attack on the left bank, but Aylmer's +flying column, by a commendable night march, got up to the +main line of the enemy, and struck Dujaila Redoubt. The +British troops got into this, but the story goes that General +Aylmer then chose to wait for his guns and prepared before +pushing through. This took two or three hours, and the +Turks, who had scanty troops on that side, immediately rushed +over every available man from the other bank, and Aylmer, +in attacking again, found the position too strong, and had to +cut his way back. If he had shoved on at dawn he must +have carried it easily. + +Another version is that he had to go back for water, which +is almost incredible, the show not having miscarried at all in +length of time, and the river lay before him. One thing is +certain: if he had got through, the Essin position would have +had to be abandoned by the Turks, and, incidentally to the +relief of Kut, our debouch would have brought about a +heavy capture of the enemy. The difficulty now is that the +floods are daily rendering more and more of this table country +impassable. The soil is such that a shower of rain makes it +a quagmire, and stagnant water turns it into the stickiest +paste. Guns cannot be moved a yard, and it is almost equally +impossible for man or horse to move. This means that the +enemy's line downstream is shortened considerably, as they +have to depend mainly on the dry land for transport. + +To-day there is artillery fire below. Our guns exchanged +a few rounds with his, and then Square-Peg and I strolled to +the middle line and managed to procure some saccharine. +We are spending every available sovereign to buy anything +that can be got to see us over the last days of the +siege. + +It is needless to remark that the only foodstuffs now for +secret sale are those that have been stolen or illicitly concealed. +But even these have long since been purchased, and it is only +by secret-service methods that an Arab is fossicked out who +will sell a tin of milk for fifteen rupees, a pound of rice for +five rupees, or atta for ten rupees. Officers and men, we are +all on the same footing, and the extra that one can buy is, +after all, such a very small supplement. There are many +besides myself who have to starve completely if eggs or milk +are not obtainable. Of the latter I have had one on issue +per day when they are available. This just keeps one going, +and after a few days of it one can manage with potato meal +and a small portion of horse. + +Tudway has joined our mess altogether on account of the +_Sumana_ being untenable. One shell has completely smashed +his cabin, luckily during his absence. Her 12-pounders are +ashore and he has a little nook which enables him to see a fair +zone on the right bank which he periodically shoots over like +a luxurious lord his pheasant coverts. + +_March 22nd._--During the night the enemy's plane visited +us and the sharp staccato notes of our anti-air maxims rapped +out a brisk warning to the sleeping garrison. The others took +shelter downstairs, but my bed was so very comfortable that +I waited for the music of the first bomb before jumping out. +It didn't come. At 5.30 a.m. we were awakened by a sudden +and intense bombardment. This building is not far from the +mosque and quite close to the anti-air maxims, so-called +because they never hit anything but air. + +The bombardment seemed concentrated a good deal on +this part of the town. Cockie went to observe. Then the +plane came back and bombed us, circling across the town, +after which the bombardment again opened. Square-Peg +developed a spasmodic sprint of extraordinary alacrity every +time anything happened or the plane gong rang out, and +dressed downstairs. This proved such a nerve-racking ordeal +that I proposed to have my tea in my room and then go below. +The shells were thumping on the houses just behind us, and I +took the precaution to shift over the thick wall side of the +room which left just space enough for my servant Amir Bux +to miss the doorway. Shell after shell struck the adjoining +buildings, shaking our house considerably. Then suddenly +there was an awful roar and splitting crash. The room was +filled with smoke and dust and plaster, and a terrific thud +shook the wall just behind my head. Two segments of shell +had flown through the doorway and embedded themselves in +the opposite wall. That excellent fellow Amir Bux suddenly +asked, "Master thik hai?" And on my assuring him I was +all right he pointed to the embedded segment and smiled, +muttering "Kismet!" On inspection I found that a Windy +Lizzie had crashed through the slender wall of the upper +enclosure around the roof on which my room opened (there +was no door), and about half the fore-end of the shell had +struck the thick wall of my room a few inches behind my +head and had gone halfway through the plaster. Another +foot and it would have got my scalp precisely. + +The show kept on intermittently until 8.30 a.m. The +horse lines and hospital have again caught it rather badly. +One shell passed under a patient's bed in the General Hospital +and exploded on the far wall without hurting anybody. +There is not any backward zone worth mentioning in some of +these shells. High explosive would have been a different +story. + +_9 p.m._--A few more shells fell this evening. We hear that +after all the plane did bomb last night and altogether made a +most daring raid. We must give Fritz full marks for excellent +bombing. He attended chiefly to Woolpress village over the +river. More serious was the damage done by the same plane +to the 4·7-inch guns in the horse boats--a very small target. +One barge was almost sunk, being suspended by her cables +only, and the other gun was jerked out of its socket by the +force of the explosion. It appears the bomb touched the +edge of the horse boat and fell into the river, exploding under +the water. The result was a deluge that heaved the gun out +of its pedestal. Reports from Woolpress say he flew within +thirty yards of the barges, which for a night performance was +highly commendable. Fritz is a German. He had hard luck +in not getting one gun at least. We contemplate painting in +large letters on the roof of the Serai, our condolences over his +bad luck. Tudway is busy towing the barge to the _Sumana_ +shelter where it is to be repaired. + +Cockie is a first-rate chess player, at least so he has +repeatedly informed us. He knows the whole history of Ruy +Lopez even to his private affairs, and can at any stage of any +game tell you the exact measurement of the sphere for evil of +any piece on the board. He does not finger his piece and +wave it in mid-air before moving as do smaller fry at the game. +Neither does he hesitate for four minutes ever. Attacks, +counter-attacks, demonstrations, feints, holding and flanking--he +is an artist at them all. At every exchange he gets an +advantage in pieces--_or position_. "Position," he assures us, +"is the all in all." He can even nominate the moves without +looking at the board. In short, if he did not invariably get +beaten, he would be a perfect player, and even Lasker would +have to look out. Square-Peg once brilliantly remarked that +this tendency to get beaten was the tragedy of it all, but with +infinitely more tact, at least to my mind, I added that Cockie +was merely a great player and not infallible; in other words, +that there were limitations in us all. This Cockie said he +denied. And I agreed. + +That may seem illogical. But it was necessary. If to +beat Cockie is a misdemeanour, then to allude to the fact is +certainly a crime--in his eyes. Besides, he isn't invariably +beaten, as I have said. That was a mis-statement. For +when he has made a bad slip or, let us say, paid too big a price +for "position," such as losing his queen for a bishop or maybe +a pawn, he frequently goes very red in the face and knocks +all the pieces from the board on to the floor, which shows he +has the foreseeing eye, a faculty absolutely necessary to a +first-rate chess player. Maeterlinck, we are told, has the seeing +eye. How much greater, then, is Cockie, who has the foreseeing +eye? If, thinks Cockie, it is not always the province +of man to anticipate disaster, he can at least forestall it. + +"I had the game on my head," Cockie usually bursts out +as he sweeps the board. "And it wasn't lost either, don't +forget--but the interest in it had all gone." + +He did the same the first time he played me when he +showed me a new opening--about three moves. He got a +piece or two ahead, when after an hour or so I evened things +up. Then he made his invariable slip, and before one could +strike a match Cockie had the board clean as a skating rink, +remarking hotly, "When I play against myself I'm always +beaten." + +"Thank your God, Cockie," I retorted, "then you admit +some one can beat you." Which remark somehow or other +he didn't appreciate. + +However, since then I'm more awake, and when, which is +not often, I bag his queen, or when, which is very often, he +makes a slip, my arms are around the board before you could +smile. It's the only way to keep the men on. If we were in +America I should practise "getting the drop on him with a +Colt's revolver" at each crisis. + +Poor Square-Peg came to me in trouble on this point +the other day. + +"We have to be thankful, S.-P.," said I, "that Cockie has +not yet commented on our morality." + +"But it's coming. He's saving it up. I'm sure of it. +Why, this morning I had a certain mate in two moves, but my +dread of what he would say in another explosion was such +that I thought it necessary to extend the check to six times +before finally checkmating him. It was a hard job and +might have cost me the game. But then, since that last show, +my nerves are none too good." + +"Well, you got off lightly! I heard him merely knock +his chair over and say that your playing was only better than +mine. Did he not?" + +"Yes! he's a blank, ten to one." + +Whereat we both laughed as only subalterns can. At +this point Cockie, who wanted my field-glasses, looked in at +the mess. Now, if one thing annoys him more than another +it is to see two people laughing and not to be in the joke. He +always presumes he is in it. This time he was correct. +Turning to me venomously Cockie said, "I suppose you'd +like a game?" + +"Rather not, thanks awfully, I might get beaten." + +Cockie snorted in disgust, and I had to give him a last +cigarette I had just made for myself. + +"The truth is, Cockie, that Square-Peg and I are hopelessly +deficient in this chess business, and we have to fluke to +win as they say in 'pills.' That churns you up and you can't +see the pieces, and consequently move the wrong one. Don't +swear. I've a proposition. 'Nellie' is coming to lunch and +will give you a game. He's very hot stuff." + +So it was settled. Square-Peg and I made our plans and +fixed it all right with Nellie, who tries to be a very dignified +and silent person of the cutting variety, and dislikes Cockie. + +After our lunch of stewed horse and horse-beans and rice +the game began. After a few moves Cockie had a slight +advantage, and I took this opportunity to whisper to him that +Nellie had a weak heart and it was dangerous to shout at him. +Cockie nodded approvingly and the game went on. Half an +hour later Cockie lost a bishop which he could only retrieve +by uncovering check. + +His face went red and he took a breath. "Don't forget," +I sang out, and I and S.-P. each seized a glass of water and an +almost empty rum bottle for any emergency. + +Cockie glared at me in a cannibalistic fashion, and eyeing +Nellie carefully the while, addressed some superlatives to us, +saying that the interruption had spoilt his move. Nellie sat +with steady countenance while I replied that the interruption +came after the move. But Cockie played brilliantly and +recovered a piece, whereupon he got quite genial and addressed +conciliatory remarks to me. + +Twice Cockie forced exchanges, and as in both instances +he got "position," which means that he was a pawn to the +bad each time, we quietly stood up with the water in a first-aid +attitude. But Cockie was playing as he never played +before, and was nodding his head in a queer way. I thought +he was so blind with annoyance that he was counting the +pieces, but Square-Peg assured me that his engine had got +hot and was running free. Cockie went on serenely for about +another half-hour when, after a pause of several minutes, he +suddenly discovered himself to be mated, for Nellie had said +only the word "check" and now added "mate" in the most +matter-of-fact voice. + +"Damned fluke," screamed Cockie, forgetting himself, +and springing up he banged the chessboard down fiercely on +the table with an awful smash. + +Poor Nellie gasped and said "Oh-o-o-o," and apparently +stopped breathing and reeled in his chair. Not having brandy +we gave him the last of Cockie's rum, which he managed to +negotiate, and then, as usually happens, felt better. We three +preserved a frigid silence towards Cockie, who said he was +damned if he knew what was the use of people on service +with weak hearts, and then strode off, Nellie in the meantime +pulling hard at the bottle for an extra drip or so. How we +laughed. For Cockie was really scared. It's not the sort of +story to make you popular if it gets about--wilfully startling +a fellow to death with a weak heart merely for beating you in +a game of chess. + +Later on Square-Peg and I joined Cockie on the observation +post and a battle royal ensued. + +"I tell you," said Cockie to me, "it's fearfully difficult +to give the whole of one's attention to the game when one is +playing an absolute novice. So things are missed. But if +you will back me for five rupees against Square-Peg to win +ten games out of ten I'll do it, you see. That will supply the +interest." + +I complied at once, offering one game in, which he proudly +refused. With a vicious jab to Cockie to please remember it +was "my money and not his" that was concerned, and to +have no nonsense, he grew demonstrative, and I fled to pay a +visit to Tudway on the _Sumana_. + +"I tell you I can't lose," he had said. When I returned +to the mess, there I found Square-Peg, who announced that he +had left Cockie in a fury, he having lost the first three games. +I insisted on Square-Peg's taking the five dibs. It appears +that during the first game Fritz passed him and said "Good +afternoon," to which interruption Cockie stormily attributed +his subsequent beating.... + +_Later._--This very morning the other half of the shell that +crashed outside my doorway (there isn't a door) went through +the roof of Cockie's bedroom and simply smashed most things in +it. A foot of _débris_ from the roof lay on the floor. It was lucky +for Cockie that he was on duty. And luckier for me that I +did not accept Cockie's many invitations to share his room. +Only yesterday he asked me again to do so. But Cockie +generally has two or more rounds with Curra Mirali and +pursues him round the yard, leaving the door open--every +morning about 6 a.m. when I am doing my best to have one +other dream. + +To-night after dinner Fritz, Cockie, Square-Peg, and I +discussed the proposition that the hole a shell makes is the +safest place, as no two shells ever fall in exactly the same spot. +One recalled that very good Tommy story from France when, +on being asked why he hadn't taken cover in a Jack Johnson +crater as he had been ordered, replied, "Unsafe, sir. I'd +rather try another spot and chance it." + +"But you know that the same gun never shoots into +exactly the same spot twice?" + +"Yes, sir. But another gun might." + +Fritz and I upheld the theory of probabilities as being +against a second shell getting into Cockie's room. For that +meant a very precise elevation just clearing the back houses +and wall, and meant also the range to a foot or it would +get the yard. + +Cockie and Square-Peg, on the contrary, held that because +one shell has got there and so proved that a shell _can_ get there, +another might get there also. I remember painfully suggesting +that Cockie ought not to sleep in the room if he thought that +another shell might come in, especially as he had no doubt +offended the gods over the Nellie incident. This is altogether +an extraordinary affair and I am recording it in detail. +Well, Cockie went to bed, taking the precaution from my +incident of the morning to sleep with his head to the door +instead of his feet. We were half undressed when the +bombardment reopened. It became so hot that we all took +shelter in the mess, the safest place. Indeed the back wall +was stopping dozens of them. Later it slackened and we +went to bed, whereon it gradually increased. After I had +tossed restlessly for half an hour it exceeded the limit, and the +plaster and dust were being flung through the doorway of my +bedroom. On my way down I inspected the whole of the wall +and found the roof all around pulverized. Five minutes +later Square-Peg and I were smoking half undressed in the +mess when the stunning noise of a splitting crash seemed to +burst the world in halves. _Débris_ came into the mess. We +thought the shell had entered the tiny yard, but Cockie's voice +in unearthly yells quickly disillusioned us. + +I shot into the room, which was stifling with fumes and dense +yellow gas and smoke. The lamp went out. I told Square-Peg +to fetch a doctor and tried to strike a light, but nothing +would burn in the thick fumes. I felt for the ruined bed and +managed to get him out of the room into the mess. There +was a nasty deep gash over the tendon of Achilles, but no +bones were broken, although the ligaments were gone and it +was bleeding freely, so I applied a first field dressing, as I had +so often done in France, and assured him it was not at all +serious and that now he was sure to get downstream. Nevertheless +poor Cockie's many nerves had been badly shaken. +Fritz came and said: + +"Let me see. That's good--no bones. Bleeding stopped. +Move your foot. Nothing much really. Where else?" + +After a fresh spasm Cockie complained that his back seemed +cut in two, and this proved a nasty bruise, although the skin +wasn't gone. It was a black bruise, and he must have +got a pretty hefty knock from a piece of the bed. How +he escaped goodness knows. The room was two feet deep +in rubbish--topees, uniforms, cameras, bed, everything was +wrecked. + +We got him to the hospital, and on the way he invented +extraordinary futures for each of the stretcher bearers. + +Arrived at the hospital I am afraid the whole place was +awakened, and some poor fellows whose dying was only a +matter of hours or days turned from their fitful sleep on the +ground floor to ask who was hit. + +He wanted me to sit up with him, but General Smith +insisted that I went back to bed, assuring me I was far too +ill, and he kindly gave me an excellent cigarette. + +Cockie is intrepid under fire even to the point of recklessness, +but is also of the kind that feels pain tremendously. +It is, I suppose, a matter of temperament and nerves. + +This has released me from the river-front and I succeed to +the command of the ammunition column, and am now running +our mess. + +Tudway, Square-Peg, and I are now alone here. We have +a little potato meal and rice, and I have procured a tin of +jam. I could not have two more generous companions with +whom to share our last food. + +_March 23rd._--The servants won't sleep in that part of +the building where the shells came, so we have vacated a +room for them, and Square-Peg and I have moved below into +the basement. + +I saw Cockie this morning and heard him from afar. + +Near him is an officer lying very still and white and quiet +with his whole leg shattered, silent with the paralysis of extreme +pain. + +I assisted Cockie with letters and other things, and got away +as quickly as I could, as I felt this other sufferer wanted silence. + +_March 24th._--Some shells fell in the town during the night, +and once again the horses got it badly. + +The 4·7-inch gun which was bombed by the plane is now +under-water, as the river has risen five feet, the highest level +during the siege. + +It is a clear, beautiful day and appreciably warmer. Already +the flies are dreadful and swarm everywhere in billions. The +Kut fly is a pronounced cannibal. + +I walked through the palm woods to the 4-inch guns, +where I found Parsnip alone in his glory. There he has been +the whole siege with a very comfortable tent under the +trees, and his only job is to repeat orders from the telephone +to his two antediluvian guns. As a field gunner I am not +enamoured of his monotonous and stationary job. Parsnip +is a subaltern also and has two characteristics. In playing +chess he seizes the pieces by the head, and after describing +an artistic parabola, sets them down. He is a Radical, as you +would expect of any fellow so handling a pawn, let alone a +queen. His second claim to notoriety is said to be as author of +a future publication entitled, "Important People I intend to +meet." As a hobby he kills mosquitos with a horse flick. + +For over an hour beneath those biblical palms Parsnip, +or Pas Nip, and I stood by his guns and smoked and looked +out over the darkening plain where shadow chased shadow +under the capricious moon, and where, like will o' the wisps +of an extravagant dream, tiny flashes tempted us still to hope +on. For what? Well, there were the flashes. They were +the flashes of our guns. And I longed for tobacco and wine. +Parsnip, on the contrary, was a married man! + +_March 25th._--This morning I had a thorough inspection +of the horse and wagon lines and inspected shelters previous +to my visit to headquarters to report on ammunition. Orders +are out for all ranks to prepare to receive heavy bombardment. +I am having the ammunition shelter even further reinforced +against shell or bomb. The present scheme is to have two +thick roofs each topped by kerosene tins packed close and filled +with soil. One of these shelters will explode the shell or bomb, +and the other receive the burst. The horse-lines have been +changed and pits dug for all drivers and detachments and +traversed for possible enfilade bursts. The men are working +on a shelter for our basement room with tins of earth piled up. +Tins are fearfully scarce, as hundreds have been requisitioned +for the defence of H.M.S. _Sumana_ and other things. We have, +we believe, sheltered the probable zones with what tins we +have. Thus the doorway and window are unprotected because +the upper back room would stop all except howitzer fire, and +the enemy's howitzer is south of Kut. Similarly to prevent +a lucky shell bursting through the wall of the first-floor room +and roof of our present one, we have had three rows of tins--all +we could get--arranged in front of the wall upstairs. I +have calculated that any burst entering higher than this +would get the opposite upstairs wall and pass out into the +street. + +Tudway and Square-Peg have accused me of being cold-blooded +over the affair. But I intended to be nothing if +not practical, and the next morning discovered that any shell +of average intentions, in fact one falling ten feet shorter than +the very one that had plugged into my bedroom wall up above, +would have no difficulty in going through the mess roof and +so through the mess cupboard--a large receptacle into the +wall--into our so-called impregnable bedroom which was to +be the emergency shelter for all hands. My bed was just +beyond the cupboard the other side of the three-foot wall. +So this evening when Tudway went to the cupboard for the +jam and meat and bread he found a solid wall of tins filled +with earth. This he considered a master-stroke. The +provisions, as he explained, would have been directly in the +line of fire! + +Moreover, I have had removed a score or two of loose +bricks which were wedged in the best Damocletian style between +the joists and the ceiling. For last night I dreamed one +fell on my head. Why my head is always in the line of trouble +I can't say. + +Talking of dreams, that is the second nasty one in a few +days. The previous time I dreamed I was being hung. +That was probably due to a button that I had sewn on to the +neck of my pyjama jacket by the uncertain light of dubbin oil! + +_10 p.m._--There is heavy and continuous firing downstream. +I respectfully suggest a variation of Watts's "Hope"--that +popular picture. A junior sub asleep in a barricaded corner +of a room in Kut beside a four-ounce slice of bread, listening +in his dreams to distant guns. + +I must now make one of the most important entries of +the whole siege. General Smith gave me a _Punch_. I mean +that having finished with a copy of _Punch_, sent to him by +aeroplane, he has passed it on to me. + +Shakespeare, Thackeray, and Punch. In the flesh, what +friends those three would have been! + +"If," writes an unborn Teufeldrockh, "I were not a +German, I would like to be Punch." + +"If," replies Punch, with a dignified bow, "you were not +a German, you could aspire." + +For what duellist but that great English gentleman Punch +has the seeing eye, the delicate wrist, the merciful smile? + +_March 26th._--I am in Indian khaki again, for summer has +come to Kut. It is even getting unpleasantly warm. + +The massaging has decreased the rheumatics if anything, +although I am very much weaker and can't walk 400 yards +without getting blown. It is worth while to avoid the chaff +bread, and I stick to an occasional egg and rice-husk and soup. + +How fit I was when I started on this front! Square-Peg +was seedy yesterday and in pain. I gave him some essence +of ginger tabloids, and later on opium, which relieved him +somewhat. + +It is rumoured that the 6-inch guns from home have at +last reached Gorringe. The enemy is now completely outclassed +in artillery. + +Tudway took me with him on board the _Sumana_ to see +the effects of the recent bombardment. By a miracle one +shell missed the main steam-pipes and carried away part of +the bridge and cabin and funnel. Tudway is a keen officer, +and has all the delightful insouciance of his service. We went +over the whole boat and the barges. He was all on the alert, +in his quiet way, to gather any suggestions for further protecting +his alumnus. We sat in his dismantled cabin and talked +of the sea, or rather he did, and I mentally annotated him +with my own dreams. The sea, the sea, so vast, so great, so +deep, so far away! As the hart panteth after the water-brooks +so pant we Englishmen after thee, O Sea, even after +thee, wild and lonely as thou art, and after thy waters briny +as tears. Mighty, untamed, eternal! We, thy children, love +thee. Alone, thou art free! + +Turkish snipers followed us up, and we had to run the +gauntlet on the way to the shore over the waters of the flood. +I bought three small fish yesterday here, but some one's native +servant was killed last evening by a stray shell while fishing, +so for the future it's all off. On one occasion, Tudway and I +tried to net some, but both the Turks and the fish were +against us. + +This siege is a perfect device for leaving a man to his own +plaguings. A book is now almost as great a luxury as bread. +I am even driven to re-robing and criticizing some of our +early endeared legacies. Let us begin with the poet's notion +of service--admittedly of a bygone day. + + _The Soldier's Dream._ + + By the other Campbell. + + _Our bugles sang truce for the night-cloud had lowered--_ + + Delightful arrangement that, one must admit. A + truce is, after all, more fun than a night attack. And + perhaps the cloud was a big one and it looked like rain! + + _And the Sentinel stars set their watch in the sky--_ + + Much better! But that does away with the rain theory. + + _And thousands had sunk on the ground overpowered--_ + + Bad-fitting word. Sounds like avoirdupois. But it + must have referred to gas fumes, otherwise the line + certainly reflects on the condition of the men. This + climate could be called "overpowering." + + _The weary to sleep and the wounded to die--_ + + That scouts the gas theory! As a matter of fact it's + the last thing the weary have a chance to do, and the + wounded certainly take weeks to die. Look at Cockie! + + _While reposing one night on my pallet of straw--_ + + Fancy Tommy "reposing"! Campbell, may I inform + you that Thomas neither poses nor reposes, which + suggests the soft, rounded limbs of a Grecian maiden on + a bed of rose-leaves. Tommy likes his mouth open, and + often prefers to lie on his stomach with his legs wide + apart. Reposing! My hat! What an awful swank + the man was with his knocking off work because of the + night-cloud, and what with his reposing on a pallet of + straw. Why he didn't go in for a convertible four-legged + wheelbarrow bedstead puzzles me. Tommy lies on the + "good 'ole dirt" if it's hot, and otherwise screws himself + up into his blanket, head and all. I hear Graoul asking + his pal, "O, Halgie, koindly porse erlong may pallet + hof straarw hat wance." + + "Roight yer hare! 'Ere, Toenails, pallit-er strore is + forwerd--hand the quilt halso." + + _At the dead of night a sweet vision I saw, + And thrice ere the morning I dreamed it again--_ + + Kindly eliminate "dreamed" and substitute "saw," + then re-read it. Don't laugh! Why shouldn't he + "see" it the second and even the third time also? + Tommy sees lots of things--at times. + + _I dreamed from the battlefield's dreadful array + Far, far, I had roamed on a desolate track. + It was springtime and summer arose on the way-- + To the home of my fathers that welcomed me back--_ + + Tommy wouldn't dream of dreaming such a thing. + As for the "home of my fathers," the shape of the idea + would give him a fit. "Bit o' skirt more like it." + + _Stay, stay with us, thou art weary and worn; + And fain was the war beaten soldier to stay-- + But sorrow returned with the dawning of morn + And the voice in my dreaming ear melted away--_ + + "D'ye 'ear this, Spud?" says Tommy Toenails. + "The voice in 'is dreeamin' hear melted." + + "Bit o' wax, more like," says Spud. + + "I say a flea an' charnce it," adds Tooting Tom. + + "Hand," says Spud, "wen 'e hawoke 'e got anuther + stomikful o' sorrer. Marrid man, too. Gawd 'elp 'im." + + We pass on. Let us take that dear little hymn lots + of us learned at our mother's knee-- + + "_There is a green hill far away + Without a city wall._" + + How I used to wonder what a green hill could possibly + want _with_ a city wall. Ah! the dear doubts of childhood! + I shall be told that "without" meant "beyond." + Another doubt was about "Llewellyn and his + Dog." How the siege has helped us to join hands with + childhood once more. Surely I haven't thought of + the lines for many years. They run-- + + "_The gallant hound the wolf had slain, + To save Llewellyn's heir._" + + I remember we had to write a composition on the + poem, and having decided that it was the wolf that had + killed the hound--just as one says, "The scanty bone + the beggar picked"--I had to square matters so as to + explain how the hound died a second time at the hands + of Llewellyn. It's all misty now, but I at least remember + propounding the theory that the Welsh chieftain, in his + terror, must have mistaken the wolf for the hound, and + consequently did _him_ in for murdering the lost child. + It was this incident, I believe, that induced my parents + to select for me a career at the Bar. + + That incident recalls another one later on. At school + we had a delightful master who hated using chalk. He + informed us that we were to write an essay on-- + + "_Beneath the rule of men entirely great + The pen is mightier than the sword._" + + One promising fellow misheard the last word as + "saw." He was rather an authority on saws, and treated + us to a delightful treatise on saws in general, band-saws, + hand-saws, rip-saws, fret-saws, and circular saws. As + far as I remember, the drift of his argument was that + a pen could merely write, whereas a saw could cut a + piece of wood. + + Once more, "Eheu! _Fugaces postumi----_" + + I wonder where that lad is now. I should think he + must be a large saw-miller somewhere--possibly asleep + on a "pallet of straw" in France, and seeing "visions" + of his beloved saws. Why not! God bless him. I've + forgotten his name and even what he was like. + +Well, well, these frivolities must come to an end for +it's ten o'clock. I had intended to set out more details of +our starvation methods, but we talk enough of it and I'm +sick of the subject. Besides, what is happiness but a big +digression? + +_March 27th._--The day's bulletin is that the Churches in +England are praying for us. How we hope they pray hard. +There is, we understand, to be a last forward movement of all +arms to the relief of Kut. The position down below seems to +have developed into something like that in France, as the +Turkish forces are dug deep and well flanked with impassable +swamps. It is difficult to force such a position against the +clock, but we easily outnumber the enemy, so it is said, and +then our heavy guns may do a great deal. + +The water of the floods is now all over the _maidan_ around +our old first line, in fact in front of our present first line is a +great lake some feet deep, and possibly eight feet above the +dry base of our trench. The large _bund_ or wall we have made +is excellent. The enemy has had to withdraw still further back, +and in places he is 1500 yards off. In this way the floods +have saved us. There is little chance of an attack through the +water. It may be doubted whether our men could have stood +the strain in their present condition if the enemy had maintained +his original proximity of from 50 to 150 yards. I +remember a listening post at C Redoubt something like ten +yards from the first line of the enemy. + +Over the river all around Woolpress and beyond, and also +reaching southward, are shining sheets of water with ever-diminishing +green patches between. During the last flood of +a few days back the water percolated into Woolpress, which, +of course, is on the bank of the river, and wrought great +havoc in the trenches and among the men there. + +It must be an awfully lonely and desolated existence over +there at Woolpress, a siege within a siege. The post is a +mere sequence of mud houses, all adjoined, five yards or so +from the water and forming a segment of a circle on the river +about 250 yards frontage, its first line being the arc extending +150 yards inland at its farthest. They have first and +second line trenches, and barbed wire, and since the heavy +floods, a _bund_. So that it is now practically an island. The +Turkish lines reach all round it in larger arcs also resting on +the river-bank. They have not even the chance of buying +stores as we have, and never come over, nor is it permitted +for any to cross. The communication is by motor-boat or +almost always by the _Sumana_. Tudway has the nerve of +Beelzebub, and delights most of all in his moonlight trips. It +would, of course, be certain destruction for him to cross in +the daytime. At the beginning of the siege there was telephonic +communication, but the wire was rotten and broke +continually. We have helio now, and some sort of understanding +for emergency signalling by lights. Our river-front +guns are all registered on the enemy's lines around the place, +and on one or two occasions we have gone to gun-fire, thus +preventing any Turkish reserves getting up. From this side +of the river a section of the 82nd R.F.A.'s guns can enfilade +the enemy's northern lines around Woolpress. + +We get news of the place by the drafts that now and then +reinforce the post on relief. The story goes that the other +day a party of Turks peered over their trenches and cried +aloud to our Mussulman soldiers not to fight against their +brother followers of Mahomet, but to go over to them who +had plenty of food. This sort of thing had gone on quite a +time when the officer on picket duty got about a dozen sepoys +to fire a volley at the Turks just by way of exchanging compliments. +The Turks replied, and general fire ensued. That +highly intuitional body over here, Headquarters, believing that +Woolpress was being attacked by all the spare Turks in the +Ottoman Empire, gave our artillery enthusiastic orders, and +Woolpress began to think they took some part in the siege +after all, in fact that they belonged to us. And although it +was a storm in a teapot, no doubt for those in the teapot it +was highly interesting. It is even said that senior officers +struggled out from beneath spider-webbed blankets where +they had hoped to complete their hibernation until the siege +was over, to see the reason for this turn of events. Woolpress +are a gallant little band, no doubt, and there have been times +when no insurance company on earth would have looked twice +at any one of them, although a philanthropic society might +have stretched a point for those certified able to swim; for a +red Turkish crescent ringed them in and grew ever closer to +them, and once the river took sides and offered to drown them. +But that was months ago. + +Woolpress, too, has its advantages. They have been +practically never shelled and rarely bombed. On the contrary, +when we are getting bombarded or any particular show is on, +they all take front seats on their river-bank in absolute security +and observe our emotions. I well remember that gala day +of March 1st, when enemy guns of both sides took part in that +very well conducted "command matinée" performance for the +entertainment of the gods. The whole crowd of Woolpress +was seated early, orchestral stalls for field officers, subalterns +in specially erected boxes, and the rank and file everywhere +else. I was, of course, very much on the stage, being stuck up +there shooting my guns, while the Turks cut patterns round +me with all the artistry of Turkish artillery. The heavy +gunners on the observation post farther along, that well-battered +remnant that is the despair of the Sultan's artillery +observers, also attracted considerable attention from an +audience particularly sporting. I felt that the Woolpressers +were making and taking huge bets as to what time my wee +sandbag arrangement with contents would go by the board. +Opera glasses were there by the dozen. But Jove, Trenchion, +and Shraptune, the sporting gods that had decreed the performance, +naturally objected to such small fry sharing the +entertainment, and sent Fritz along with bombs. This +considerably thinned the box plan, from which many +adjourned for afternoon tea, while those more deeply in debt +remained taking still larger bets on their own immediate +existence. + +This is my birthday. We have raised a small quantity of +rum with which we three shall notch the year to-night. Why +doesn't one feel older? Life lies immediately behind us like +the wake of a ship, but _we_ don't change--only the distance +behind us changes (and a few of us are a stone lighter!). + +9.30 _p.m._--I returned from my round with a copy of _The +Field_ from General Smith. There was an excellent article on +Pan-Germanism, and another that brought to Kut the brown +wintry heather, the smell of the peat streams, the pheasants, +and the free rolling moors of Yorkshire. And that led me to +contrast the present flooded aspect of this dreary stretch of +God's ancient mud with the frilled hedges and those gay wild +banners of English springtime. + +Speaking for myself on this my thirtieth birthday, I never +felt so restful and free from the gnawings of ambition. For +better fellows have fallen, and promising careers have closed, +and disastrous ones terminated before amends could be made; +while I have lots of credit in hand, for I have had many lucky +narrow shaves. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE LAST DAYS OF KUT--SICKNESS--DEATH--SURRENDER + + +_March 28th._--It is a quiet day. On the right bank +there is some movement of the enemy downstream. +Convoys of camels and mules trekked from Shamrun +camp over the Shat-el-hai to the Turkish depôts below. + +We are all eagerly awaiting news of our preparation for +the big show, and there is much debating as to what would be +the best plan of attack. + +_3 p.m._--There is considerable Turkish activity all around, +and reinforcements are probably being pushed down below, +for the enemy knows quite well that we are on our last legs +and that a big attempt will be made to relieve us. + +The river is gradually falling, and one 4·7 has been towed +back into position, but the other is still under-water. + +A bombardment is proceeding downstream, probably the +shelling of Sunaiyat, the formidable position of the enemy on +the left bank, a series of trenches on a tiny front of 400 yards +between a marsh and a river. In this position the enemy is +so deep down and has such excellent cover that the place has +so far baffled every attempt to take it. Not the least difficulty +is that the intervening ground, which every storming party +must cross, is wet as a bog. This has, of course, been worked +by the Turks. On the right bank Gorringe seems to have +pushed on almost level of Sunaiyat, and, with a little more +success, enfilade of the Sunaiyat position should be possible. + +According to rumour, the plan of attack roughly may be +as follows:-- + +One division will probably have the task of holding Sunaiyat +forces while the other two divisions push up through Beit +Aessa, whence our 6-inch guns should enfilade the Sunaiyat +position. The line of advance would probably make for +Dujaila Redoubt which would be taken on by our big guns +and the bridge at O destroyed to prevent escape of the enemy +to other bank. One division would then have a large part +of the Turkish force hemmed in on the Essin ridge right bank, +and the other division crossing into Kut by a bridge to be +erected by us would swing around past the Fort to prevent +the remaining enemy forces on the left bank from getting +away. It will be either a dismal failure or brilliant success, +and much at this belated hour must depend upon the floods. + +_March 29th._--A beautiful day and quite hot. We have +been unmolested except for some shells on the Fort. I have +finished "Septimus," by W. Locke. Septimus is a delightful +chap, and would make much fun for us if he were here. + +Then we played chess, and I visited Pas Nip on my way +around the trenches. He returned and lunched with us. I +have managed to get a tin of gooseberry jam at ten rupees, one +tin of milk twelve rupees, 1½ lbs. of atta for fifteen rupees. + +I held another inspection of the native drivers among +whom scurvy has increased. They still refuse to eat horseflesh. + +Don Juan has turned from a dark black to a burned brown. +That, possibly, is his way of turning grey! I gather him +some grass every possible day. + +_March 30th._--It has been a day of the most perfect tranquillity, +and as I couldn't sleep for this confounded backache +I was up for the dawn. I climbed up to the observation post +and looked around on a lovely earth. I mean it. The very +wretchedness and misery of the floods, and the broken palm +grove, and the disfigured earth, were all woven into the most +bewitching harmony by sheets of silver and bars of golden +sunlight. It was hard to realize it was a scene of war, that +those receding terraces were trenches filled with armed Turks. +I am beginning to think that, after all, the Garden of Eden +could have been very beautiful--at any rate in the dawn, +for then it is a country of long shadows and persuasive lights. +This morning the drooping palm fronds patterned the water +and the wide plain. There was gold and green in every patch +of grass. As for the rest of the earth, it was all a wonderful +and faithful mirror, for in the lucent waters of the ever-growing +flood one saw the moving images of clouds and wild fowl. +Down below there was not a breath, but high above a gentle +breeze from the west caught some fleecy islets of the sky and +washed them out into the great blue sea. To-night the +geography of the sky has changed. There are no islets, there +is no movement. But across the whole western quarter of +the sky the clouds have formed an ethereal beach of white-ribbed +sands that reach around the world, and form the shores +of a wide dark ocean that is lit by flashing stars. + +To-night I should like to be Peter Pan in an obedient +cutter and sail there far and wide. Jolly runs I could have, +and how very easy to find my way about safely with all those +splendid lights and beacons. And being Peter Pan I should +know them all. + +An ominous buzz recalls me to things nearer at hand. +The room has been invaded by mosquitoes. Already the flies +are an abominable nuisance in the daytime, and cockroaches +are plentiful. + +Last night the _Sumana_ was strafed again, and Tudway has +been toiling all the evening at her defences. + +This morning I paid the men and did some office work, and +brought the war diary up to date. After that I found time +to try a longer walk around our first line, but felt too seedy to +go into the Fort. I heard that the sickness is rapidly increasing, +and the condition of the troops is so bad that the chief dread +of the whole routine is the marching to and from the trenches. +This being so, regiments are now allowed to remain out there +permanently. In one Indian regiment man after man has +simply sunk down in his tracks and died through want of food. +And an extraordinary number of soldiers wretchedly ill won't +report sick, partly through a horror of entering the crowded +and unhappy hospitals, and also from a sense of duty. Among +the men there is, of course, a good deal of ragging and +general barracking about our not being relieved, but their +spirit and patience and trust in their general is truly magnificent. +No soldier, I truly believe, could wish for a more splendid +loyalty from his rank and file than these men, the European +troops, at any rate, feel and show in a hundred ways for their +"Alphonse." They get little news but of disappointments, +still they go about their duties with a step unsteady and painfully +slow, and at every fresh misfortune they joke and smile. + +We miss very much all communication with the outside +world. The generals get a few letters and papers by aeroplane, +but no one else. The other day, however, our mess bombardier +received one from an enterprising brother who directed the +letter to General Townshend, and enclosed the letter to his +brother inside. He tells me his brother is a seaman in a Royal +Indian Mail boat, and is a very up-to-date sort of chap. I +should just think so! + +_March 31st._--The weather has broken and once more the +steady downpour has made Kut into a mild sort of Venice. +We have no gondolas it is true, but if our _bund_ goes we can +make shift with rafts. + +The _Sumana_ got badly shelled last evening. One shell +went through the awning and crashed through the main stop-valve +over the boiler, missing the funnel and boiler by an inch +or two. That would have been irreparable. As it is things +are quite serious with her. Great volumes of steam escaped, +no doubt to the huge delight of the Turkish gunners. Great +consternation prevailed at headquarters, and Tudway was +immediately reminded---much to his disgust--of the "example +set by Beresford on the Nile when he repaired his boiler under +fire." Tudway is not the sort of fellow who needs any example. + +I went on board this morning and saw the damage done. +The old boat has simply been shot through and through. We +drew up a scheme for using shields of gun wagons spread out +over the awning to lend additional protection. As we sprinted +over the planks back to the shore, the Turks at Snipers' Nest +were evidently waiting for us, and a hail of bullets flew by. +We found cover by some millstones, and after a few minutes' +rest took to our heels for the remaining stretch. We are hoping +to get a valve up from below by aeroplane. + +Native rations, except for meal, have ceased altogether. +This may induce them to eat horse. There is nothing against +it now as they have the full permission of the Chief Mullahs +in India. The horses are on 4 lbs. of bran and 12 lbs. of grass +cut by fatigue parties off the _maidan_. It keeps them going, +and that is all. The young animals are merely drawing on +their constitution. + +I am deeply sorry to hear that poor Woods has gone. He +was the subaltern I have mentioned before as having got the +Military Cross for bravery at the Fort on December 24th, when +he lost his arm. He was a jovial fellow, and a very good sort. +We have had many a gossip together at the hospital. He died +from jaundice. It is very, very unfortunate, as his arm was +quite well, and he was back on light duty. The truth is our +condition is so low that anything carries us off. We are all +very glad he died happily. + +_April 1st._--A terrific thunderstorm swamped everything +last night. The place was alive with electricity, and flashings +kept me awake for hours. + +Most of our heavy bombardment trenches are full of water, +and I have had fatigue parties on all day baling them out and +shifting the horses. + +A rumour has it that the Russians are in the Pushtikus, +the distant range just to the eastward. I consider this a +pathetic rumour, and I'm more interested in what Shackleton +is doing at the South Pole. + +To-night we had a meagre portion of fish which one of my +drivers caught in the river. We pay him well and he buys +atta for himself and his pals. + +Square-Peg sleeps most of the day, and represents the three +of us in collecting a daily account of Cockie's doings. There +is no one, I am given to understand, sorrier that Cockie was +hit than General "G. B.," who happens to be next door +to him. The hospital, I was yesterday informed by an inmate +slow to anger and of great mercy, consists of two factions, +those that do not love Cockie and those who can't hear him. +I hope he doesn't mind my writing this. I have sent him fish +and fowl, and for my pains he sent me back inquiries as to why +I hadn't done so before. Bah! Cockie can be so rude if you +don't always do sufficient homage--and then I'm so forgetful +in these matters. Not a man in the garrison has risen to-day +to an April fool's joke--not one! + +_April 2nd._--We tried some green weed or other the Sepoys +gathered on the _maidan_. Boiled and eaten with a little salad +oil that Tudway fished out from heaven knows where, it seemed +quite palatable. After all, as he says, all we want is something +of a gluey nature to keep our souls stuck on to us. + +A delightful little mess is ours. There is none cheerier in +Kut. Picture a long bare wooden table, the other end piled +up with war diaries, books, papers, pipes, and empty bottles, +revolvers and field-glasses, we three at this end. Tudway is +much senior to me, but insists that I preside. So I have the +camp armchair, and he the other, which has very short legs so +that he often seems to be talking under the table. It has +also paralysis in the right arm, so that it is necessary to be +very careful in leaning that way. Now and then, usually once +a night, Tudway forgets, or perhaps he likes doing it, for he +simply bowls over sideways, and by dint of repeated practice +can now do so while clutching at the bread or joint en route. +Sometimes he does it in the middle of a sentence, which he +nevertheless completes leisurely on the floor as becomes an +imperturbable sailor. + +Square-Peg opposite has a high wooden chair, and is getting +up a pose for the Woolsack, which I understand he will one +day adorn. + +My position is strategically a difficult one, for the other two +acting in conjunction can at a pinch remove the victuals beyond +my reach towards the other end of the table, and my rum--when +we do raise a peg--is in constant danger until consumed. +Square-Peg, whose pseudonym has nothing whatever to do with +a drink, is extraordinarily forgetful in this way at times, and +has been known in the course of an excellent story to drink +all my rum and half of Tudway's. But I've an excellent +memory, and the next rum night--possibly weeks after--Square-Peg +goes short. + +I am carver and taster, both useful functions in a siege. +Tudway likes it thin, but with Square-Peg it is necessary to +cut it thick. After the third helping Square-Peg has to carve +for himself. We inaugurated that last week. If by accident +the horse is extra tough, and Square-Peg gets splashed, he gets +four helpings, but Tudway does not, for he can take cover +under the table. + +As regards the vegetables, "Sparrow-grass" and potato +meal _or_ beetroot and rice, I divide, and we all cut cards for +first pick. There is always plenty of horse, but vegetables are +a great delicacy. Tudway and I conspire to do Square-Peg +out of his greens so as to keep him up to the scratch in procuring +or in "pinching" vegetables from the garden of which he is +C.O. It works admirably, and I am only sorry his small +pockets necessitate his making several trips. On wet days +we have "encore" in the vegetables, for then he wears a top +coat with big pockets. He refuses to do so on fine days as +he says it looks suspicious. If we have an issue of a spoonful +of sugar I barter it for milk, and the date juice, when we get it, +is measured out with a spoon. + +For pudding we have kabobs, fried flour and fat, two each, +and we cut for choice. An excellent idea which we have lately +followed is to get the fat off a horse--there is very little now, +poor things--and render it into dripping, which is quite excellent. +I have sometimes waited for hours to get this from +the butchery. While we had sardines our bombardier produced +a savoury with toast, but that is long ago. Instead we have +coffee, which is mostly ground-up roots, plus liquorice powder, +if you're not careful in buying. The date juice goes into the +coffee, but Square-Peg complains that he can't "feel it that +way," so he drinks his like a liqueur. I prefer bad tea, as the +coffee is generally atrocious, but Tudway likes it for the sake +of "the smell." I provide the tobacco out of the funds, and +sometimes have been diligent enough to make cigarettes, which +are better than those the Arabs make, by screwing up the paper +like a lollipop, pouring the tobacco in and twisting the top end +up. The latter cigarettes require great art in smoking. One +has to lie back in one's chair and point the cigarette to the roof +so as to prevent the baccy emptying out of the cigarette into +one's coffee. + +This is the hour sacred to us. We exchange rumours or +invent them. We pool all our gossip into a common heap +which becomes the altar of another day's hope. We avoid all +matters of misfortune or suffering. We have mutually and +tacitly barred the subject of Home. But when the smoke +cloud above the remains of our sorry banquet grows dense +from the pipes of three excellent smokers, we lapse into +silence, and see in the moving mists sweet fantasies far away. +If we were Germans we would, I have no doubt, sing "Home, +Sweet Home" in parts, and shake hands, and shed tears in +unison. But we are merely Englishmen, and if anyone were +to sing five notes of that song he would get slung out for making +a brutal assault on our hearts. So instead we merely smoke on +and on, and the jackals' chorus grows less and less as memories +drift about among the wisps and wraiths of this strange fog-land. +We are glad we are here. We have no tears to give, +but although we know it not, in the heart of us each is a +prayer. + +_April 3rd._--It is four months to-day since the Sixth +Division on its last legs entered Kut-el-Amara, expecting relief +to be here in three weeks, a month, possibly six weeks. + +Inscrutable are the ways of Allah! + +This afternoon a fierce thunderstorm broke over Kut, and +hailstones larger than pigeons' eggs rattled upon us with the +sharp music of musketry. One should be quite sufficient to +knock a fellow out if it got him bare-headed. Afterwards it +turned to rain, which we fear may delay the next battle for +Kut. We hear that the enemy is making every effort to hold up +the relieving force down below, or delay us, for the short time +beyond which the garrison cannot now hold out. + +I am feeling very seedy again to-day, what with this +enteritis and rheumatics and jaundice. So is Tudway, to +whom I have given various opium pills and camphoradine. +I am, however, lucky so far to have escaped the severe form +of enteritis which many others have had. It is a deadly and +horrible thing enough, accompanied by violent pains in the +abdomen, and vomiting. To be sure I have had the former +for so many weeks that I am used to it, and we often say we +can scarcely remember the time when we hadn't these infernal +pains. "A brandy flip, my dear fellow, is the one and only +for it," our medical friend says, and smiles. Ho! for a brandy +flip. In the Arctic circle the two seasons are light and dark, +and in India dry and wet, and in Kut when one has stomach +ache and when one hasn't. + +It is said that a certain cavalry regiment has at last +unanimously rescinded the rule that it is bad form for any +officer of the regiment not to be fit. Most of us have been put +down for sick leave at once when the relief occurs. The India +list is the most cheerful phrase one hears. Tudway has asked +me to go downstream with him on the _Sumana_, and proposes +a grand progression down to Basra and to pass H.M.S. +_Clio_, his parent boat, when we get there. I am quite intoxicated +with the notion. And truly the sight of the _Sumana_ +ripped and torn through and through by shell and bullet, +with her shotted funnel and her smashed cabins and her +twisted bridge, and her white ensign that soiled and tattered +bunting, the finest flag in all the world, still fluttering in the +stern--would be a sight for the gods. But then I've had +nothing whatever to do with the _Sumana_, so I must prefer to +be ashore. I see it all exactly, her grey dirty form with the +black patches where shells have shifted her paint, and near +the path of that Windy Lizzie that crashed through the bridge, +the redoubtable countenance of our friend Tudway, the youthful +commander and preserver of this eloquent trophy. The +_Clio_, of course, salutes her diminutive sister, and ah, those +terrible and honest cheers! An awful moment for Tudway I +admit.... But at twelve o'clock that night he will have +indigenous metamorphosis! + +"Tudway!" I exclaim, "you no longer have the inches +of a god. Can't you stand up?" + +"Donsh wansh stansh up. If you'd hads many cockstailsh +I've had couldn't either." + +Perhaps! + +_April 4th._--A heavy bombardment downstream continued +for hours this morning. The rain has ceased and the soaken +earth is steaming under a bright hot sun. + +Reports from the hospital are to the effect that Cockie's +temperament "has increased, is increasing, and ought to be +diminished." His delusions include a notion that he still +commands the column. To dispel the latter delusion it is +necessary for one to cancel quite a number of his orders. + +Dorking has evolved quite a number of literary ideas since +my leaving the battery. He has read the letters of "Dorothy +to Temple" which I recommended to him, and quite enjoyed +them. In fact he says he would not have minded marrying +Dorothy himself. Now I wonder what Dorothy would have +had to say about Dorking--I wonder. + +I hear on very reliable authority that the plane, our own +plane, dropped yesterday a packet which was supposed to be +a stop-valve for the _Sumana_. The valve, however, went off +on the _maidan_, and in fact proved to be a three-pound bomb. +To-day another plane dropped another supposed valve which +turned out to be a gear-box for an L boat. + +Very facetious of them, I'm sure, but Tudway calls it an +indifferent joke. + +A mild artillery duel wound up the day's events. + +_April 5th._--To-day we have had a strenuous Shikar after +food. We raised a half-pound of dirty dates which we boiled +into jam; also two rupees worth of chupattis and hard, +white, mealy flat-jacks--they are eight in number, a two-pound +tin of barley which will make an exciting porridge. + +We visited the officers' hospital which is full again to overflowing +with dysentery, jaundice, and malaria cases. The +doctors have put me on diet of one egg and cup of milk daily, +which commodities are only procurable on special certificates, +and rarely. The mess bombardier draws these. + +"I 'ear, sir, that this 'ere milk is sometimes 'uman and +sometimes donkey's. I 'ope as you won't drink it, sir." + +"To save one's life, bombardier, one may have to eat +anything," I told him. Then I heard him in sad conference +with the mess cook. + +"Gawd! It's 'ot 'uman milk, Bill. An' 'e ain't 'ad no +milk for ages. It'll knock 'im hover like 'ot punch." + +"Wen you live in Kut," said Bill, "you 'ave to do az +Gawd's hancient people do." + +_10 p.m._--Cheerful news at last! Early this morning +Gorringe bombarded and smashed through the Turkish lines +above Hannay, and five lines of trenches have been taken. +He is consolidating his position before advancing on Essin. +It does not seem clear on which bank this success was. + +At 8 p.m. this evening the heavy firing recommenced. +Square-Peg and I restrained our enthusiasm by a long game of +chess. The news has cheered up every one immeasurably. +It is the most hopeful night for months. + +_April 6th._--Downstream a terrific bombardment went on +intermittently for hours. We are on six ounces of bread +to-day and are almost on to our emergency rations, which can +be made to spin out for three days. + +The _Sumana_ is going over to Woolpress to bring over +reliefs. I had arranged with Tudway to have a starlight +excursion there and see something of these strangers, but +headquarters disapproved. + +Green cress has been issued from the gardens, and every +effort is made to save every crumb. The sick and those in +hospital are worst off, as hospital comforts like cornflour and +Mellins' Food have long since gone. + +It is a beautiful day, but the river came up during the +night and beat all previous records of the siege by two inches. +How very close the relieving force has driven things. Altogether +the situation, as Punch said of the man dangling from +the drag rope of a balloon, is most interesting. + +I have made inventories of ammunition and wagons, lines +and horse-lines of the 6th D.A.C., as I am officially returned +to my battery pending the relief of Kut. I hope to enter on +the next page that the siege has been lifted. + +_April 7th._--There is a lull in the operations downstream. +How we hate lulls. A lull is a divine leg-pull. The word +"lull" has an odious sound! + +Gunner Graoul has returned to me from the battery +apropos of my re-transfer to my original battery, and Amir +Bux has returned to duty. There are a good many things to +fix up in the ammunition column, so I am remaining in my +comfortable billet here unless wanted for urgent duty at the +battery--pending relief. I am so weak that my legs collapsed +on the ladder, and I find a long staff better than a walking-stick. + +We killed one of our two emergency fowls, which we +boiled, and I found the broth delicious. Graoul called it +"'en brorth." + +The river has risen seriously and is now a good three feet +deep all over the plain in front of the _bunds_. General Gorringe +has had hard work to bund the river down below and has +evidently met with flood difficulties already. + +There is an ominous whisper about a "wireless" which is +not being made known. + +Other and wilder rumours, obviously untrue, are in quick +circulation. The men, poor fellows, are keenly on edge for +news. There are many merely remaining alive to hear that +Kut is saved. They all know the end is now in sight and the +coma of the past months is over. We are like restless bees in +swarming time. + +_April 8th._--A quiet day! Some few shells wandered into +the town and a steady stream of sniping indicated that the +enemy had probably withdrawn many men for reinforcements +downstream. Woolpress is a complete island. In fact a +part of it had to be abandoned yesterday, and last night the +_Sumana_ brought a large part of its garrison back. As a last +resort one regiment will remain there to hold the Woolpress +buildings only. + +From my old observation post to-day, which I climbed +with great difficulty, I looked on a very changed scene. The +whole country is a series of huge lakes with tiny green patches +between. The enemy has had to abandon his lines around +Woolpress. In front of our first line tiny waves on this tiny +ocean lap against our preserving _bunds_. In fact, Kut is an +island! + +_3 p.m._--Gorringe has wired to say "all's well." "Advance +continues!" + +Once more with Micawber it is permitted to us to hope. + +_April 9th._--Shells, expletives, and suspense fell into Kut +in unusual quantities. We are on the edge of a volcano. +Who could keep a diary while sitting on the edge of a volcano? +The gods, those humorous birds, have just flown over Kut on +a tour of inspection. We can almost--as John Bright did not +say--hear the _flapping_ of their wings. + +_April 10th._--Poor Don Juan has taken his last hedge! +I have hitherto managed to extend his reprieve, but to-day +the order came. I gathered him a last feed of grass myself. +He salaamed most vigorously as I had taught him. The +chargers have been kept to the last. His companions stood by +him trembling as the quick shot despatched one after another. +Not so he! now and then he stamped, but otherwise +stood perfectly still. I asked the N.C.O. to be careful that +his first bullet was effective and to tell me when it was over. +I kissed Don on the cheek "good-bye." He turned to watch +me go. Shortly after they brought me his black tail, as I +asked for a souvenir. Strange as it may seem we ate his +heart and kidneys for dinner, as they are now reserved for +owners. I am sure he would have preferred that I, rather +than another, should do so. + +He carried me faithfully, and died like a sahib. In the +garrison I had no better friend. Being so he shall have this +entry to himself. + +_April 11th._--Two paramount budgets of especial interest +and importance reached us first thing this morning. One was +that Cockie was annoyed with us for eating our own fowl, the +other being from Sir Percy Lake to the effect that Gorringe +cannot possibly be present here for the 15th, but will have +great pleasure in doing so by the 21st instant. With the help +of God and the strength derived from having eaten the hen, we +hope to survive the first budget. To this end Square-Peg and +Tudway and I immediately slaughtered the second hen and +sent a polite message of this information to Cockie with a +promise to reserve for him the head and feet. Tudway has +been in shrieks of laughter all day, and mounted guard over +the hen himself. To be sure I intended to reserve for him +half of my portion, but the others voted this treachery, as +they think Cockie has done very well lately with hospital +rations of fish and eggs. Cockie still consumes slabs of horse, +the size of a slab being about that of the ordinary Nelson's +7_d._ edition. + +The news from Sir Percy Lake is serious enough. Our +men are now dying by the score and their condition is reduced +to the last degree, many being scarce able to walk. It is not +merely rations that they require, but sick comforts. + +General Townshend has issued these communiqués to the +troops-- + + * * * * * + +Kut-el-Amara, +April 10th, 1916. + +"The result of the attack of the Relief Force on the +Turks entrenched in the Sannaiyat position is that the Relief +Force has not as yet won its way through, but is entrenched +close up to the Turks in places some 200 to 300 yards distant. +General Gorringe wired me last night that he was consolidating +his position, as close to the enemy's trenches as he can get, +with the intention of attacking again. He had had some +difficulty with the flood which he had remedied. I have no +other details. However, you will see that I must not run +any risk over the date calculated to which our rations would +last, namely April 15th, as you will all understand well that +digging means delay, though General Gorringe does not say +so. I am compelled, therefore, to make an appeal to you all +to make a determined effort to eke out our scanty means, so +that I can hold out for certain till our comrades arrive, and I +know I shall not appeal to you in vain. + +"I have, then, to reduce the rations to five ounces of meal +for all ranks, British and Indian. In this way I can hold out +till April 21st if it becomes necessary. I do not think it will +become necessary, but it is my duty to take all precautions +in my power. I am very sorry I can no longer favour the +Indian soldiers in the matter of meal, but there is no possibility +of doing so now. It must be remembered that there is plenty +of horseflesh which they have been authorized by their religious +leaders to eat. + +"In my communiqué to you on January 26th I told you +that our duty stood out plain and simple: it was to stand here +and hold up the Turkish advance on the Tigris, working heart +and soul together; and I expressed the hope that we would make +this defence to be remembered in history as a glorious one, +and I asked you in this connection to remember the defence +of Plevna, which was longer than that even of Ladysmith. + +"Well, you have nobly carried out your mission, you have +nobly answered the trust and appeal I put to you. The whole +British Empire, let me tell you, is ringing now with our defence +of Kut. You will all be proud to say one day, 'I was one of +the garrison of Kut,' and as for Plevna and Ladysmith, we +have beaten them also. Whatever happens now, we have +done our duty. In my report of the defence of this place, +which has now been telegraphed to headquarters, I said that +it was not possible in dispatches to mention every one, but I +could safely say that every individual in this force had done +his duty to his King and Country. I was absolutely calm +and confident, as I told you on January 26th, of the ultimate +result, and I am confident now, I ask you all, comrades of all +ranks, British and Indian, to help me now in this food question." + +(Sd.) CHARLES TOWNSHEND, +Major-General, +Commanding the Garrison at Kut. + + * * * * * + +This _communiqué_ is a breezy one! But we all know our +General has a difficult task in communicating these repeated +disappointments. The native troops are beginning to recall +that the G.O.C. months ago passed his word for early relief. +To a British Tommy this was what he calls "'opeful buck," +but to the Sepoy it is a promise. + + * * * * * + +Kut-el-Amara, +April 11th, 1916. + +"General Sir Percy Lake, the Army Commander, +wired me yesterday evening to say: 'There can be no doubt +that Gorringe can in time force his way through to Kut. In +consequence of yesterday's failure, however, it is certainly +doubtful if he can reach you by April 15th.' This is in answer +to a telegram from me yesterday morning to say that, as it +appeared to me doubtful that General Gorringe would be +here by the 15th, I had reluctantly still further reduced the +rations so as to hold on till April 21st. I hope the Indian +officers will help me now in my great need in using commonsense +talk with the Indian soldiers to eat horseflesh, as the +Arabs of the town are doing." + +(Sd.) CHARLES TOWNSHEND, +Major-General, +Commanding the Garrison at Kut. + + * * * * * + +_April 12th._--This entry I am making with my eyes almost +shut. I have had a miraculously narrow shave, and got a +nasty shock and contusion since the last entry. At about +3 p.m. shells began to k-r-r-ump into the town, and the fire +steadily thickened. I had just finished the war diary, and +was sitting up on my bed restlessly awake with stomach pains, +and Square-Peg was fast asleep by the other wall, when a high-velocity +shell crashed into the room and burst. I was completely +dazed by the concussion, which drove me against the +wall. In fact, I was half stunned, as I was directly in line for +the back-lash of the burst. I wasn't certain I wasn't hit, and +my back felt queer. The room was so dark with dust and the +dense yellow fumes that stank horribly that I couldn't see an +inch. We were half smothered in _débris_. The walls and roof +in part collapsed, letting fall dozens of bricks which had +propped up some huge beams on the ceiling. + +Square-Peg, who was groping about, assured me he wasn't +hit, and hurrahed when he heard I was alive. However, on +trying to rise, I found myself partly paralysed in my back, +my spine in severe pain, and I could hardly see at all. He +helped me out of the yellow gases, for I couldn't walk alone. +I lay down in the mess, and after drinking some water felt +better. But I am horribly shaken and suffer acute pain in +whatever position I lie. In fact, last night I couldn't sleep, +for every movement awoke me. + +It proved to be a segment shell that had burst inside the +room, and dozens of pieces were buried deep all round the +walls and on the floor. + +There is no luck like good luck. Tudway says it was an +intended punishment for the affair of the fowl, which, nevertheless, +we ate completely. + +[Illustration: RECENT PHOTO OF AUTHOR'S LAST BILLET IN KUT +(ABOVE LITTLE ARAB BOY). THE SHELL DEMOLISHED +THE UPPER STORY.] + +We are sleeping in the mess until the wreckage is cleared +up. Major Aylen, commanding the officers' hospital, visited +me, and, although there is no incision, says there is a contusion +over the spine from a blow. Either a brick must have hit me, +or when I was flung violently back I struck the broken bed. +I am writing this in bed. + +The shelling continued last evening until late, and began +again early this morning. I have been severely shaken, and +it was as much as I could manage, even with assistance, to +get on the verandah to my old room to see how it was the +shell got in. For a time I could find no sign of its entry, but +in getting my servant to remove the tins of earth I saw the +shell-hole. There was no doubt the two tins had been removed, +and the culprit had replaced them after the shell came. We +were terribly angry, and had the whole crowd of men-servants +and bearers and orderlies up about it at once. The orders +had been strict. I had myself made a practice of going around +the place every morning. Yesterday morning they were all +right. They all said they knew nothing of it, but this afternoon +I discovered that a syce from the lines had gone up to the room +for my saddlery about an hour before the affair and moved +the tins. He was in the next room when the shell entered, +and hastily replacing the tins, he bolted in fright. I threatened +him with a court-martial for removing defences, etc., at which +he got in an awful funk, so I let him go. He shifted them, he +said, to look for a tin of saddle soap, which I don't believe, as +the wooden frieze was missing. He probably had come after +the firewood. + +In the night we had another thunderstorm. This will +assist the floods, against which Gorringe is building at a +fever rate. + +According to general opinion, the suspense now occasioned +by this last news from Sir Percy Lake is the most severe trial +of the siege. We are all rather glad than otherwise that the +state of our rations must precipitate the crisis one way or the +other soon. The casualties on our behalf are appalling. An +extraordinary sequence of fortunate factors, such as the +discovery of the mill, has enabled us to hold out months longer +than ever we could have dreamed possible--and we are in as +great a state of uncertainty as ever. It is true that we all +try to avoid the selfish point of view of requiring Kut to be +relieved at all costs. The military situation is the only one +to be considered, and to that end every other consideration +must be sacrificed. If it is necessary that Kut should be +sacrificed to the military end, none of His Majesty's forces +could be more ready for sacrifice than the Sixth Division. +But when one thinks of the past months and the neglect to +face the obvious military situation after Ctesiphon, one feels +that the sufferings of the troops in Kut and the heavy loss of +life downstream could easily have been avoided. There yet +remains for us the hope that unnecessary as these sacrifices +may have been, they will at least not have been made in vain. + +To a soldier war may be sheer fatalism, but to a general +it should be snatching victory from the knees of the gods. + +_Later._--General Hoghton, commanding the 17th Brigade, +entered hospital yesterday suffering from acute enteritis +and dysentery. Early this morning, to the universal sorrow +of the garrison, he died. It is said that the wild green +grass stuff was partly the cause, and also abstinence from horseflesh, +which a digestion ravaged by the siege could not stand. +He was a most genial and kind general, and always cheerful. +I saw quite a lot of him in the "fort" days. I was sorry to +be unable to attend his funeral. A great number were +present. There was no funeral party, but from the verandah +I heard the piercing bugle notes of the soldier's requiem. The +Last Post came thrilling and sharp from the silence of the +palm grove, and was no doubt heard in the Turkish lines. A +brave soldier in a soldier's grave, amidst a goodly number! + +_8 p.m._--It has been a cool, breezy day, and the floods have +subsided one inch. We hope the heavy rains that fell in the +night won't bring them up again. + +Tudway brought a rumour that good news had been +received, but could not be published just yet. Has Sunnaiyat +fallen? That is the question in every one's mouth. I have +given my rations to the others and stuck to barley for two +days. They aren't much to give, certainly--merely two small +slices of bread. My shell-shock and bruise have affected my +digestion, and all my nerves are in constant trembling, and +my legs and arms jump and twitch. + +It is a damp evening, and although I have been up only +three or four hours to-day I shall get back to bed presently. +At any rate it is much better than being in hospital, and one +can do minor duties. Tudway is an awful brick at his job, +and he is very seedy indeed. + +A month or two ago three or four of men who were also +at the siege of Ladysmith had a dinner. They say that the +conditions there were infinitely less severe than they are here. +There was only one hostile siege-gun that reached into the +town; the hillsides and higher slopes were not under fire; +they had some provisions, no floods, and their enemies did +not include Arabs. + +_April 13th._--More rain! We hear that Gorringe is awaiting +the arrival of another British division, the _seventh_ in number, +according to rumour, that has come into this infernal problem. +Even the Twenty-first April isn't so certain now, and that must +be the last day. There is practically nothing to eat. However, +we are prepared for anything. Even an order for the +whole garrison to undergo a fasting cure for six weeks wouldn't +startle us. + +The death of General Hoghton seems to have impressed +every one with the ruthless passage of the God of the Siege. +They are aware, a little more plainly than before, how undeviating +is the course of that Relentless Spirit. Somehow one +expects generals should be spared. Two others have recovered +from sharp attacks of sickness, and one has been wounded. + +It has been said that the soldier becomes callous. It would +be more true to say that he merely becomes indifferent. But +an exceptional phase of death removes the blinds from many +disused windows of his mind, and he sees all too well. Such +an event is the loss of this kind-hearted general, and it has +given to many a higher altitude in point of view. There is +the point of view of the trench and dug-out, of the hospital, of +the observation post, on a roof top. There is that of an +aeroplane. There is the standpoint of the overhead stars that +see us as a flashing sphere. Tommy does not borrow the +vantage point of a god from way beyond the farthest star, +the most distant sun, to behold the universe, that gaily lighted +ship of destiny travelling forward through the Seas of Time. +But he has at any rate reached very far. This morning I was +visited by some of my old section at the battery, and talked a +time to the men, and I gave them some Arab tobacco. I find +they have thought a good deal about things in general, and +one was induced, to the amusement of the others, to give us +what he considered a "bird's hye view" of our immediate +future, which certainly didn't seem too bright. He saw Kut, +a tiny spot under famine and fire, completely surrounded by +hordes of the enemy, beyond them the menacing waters and +fatal floods, beyond the floods the God-forsaken country of +murderous Arabs,--and beyond that great and stretching continents +of desert reaching thousands of miles away and ending +in those strangely silent and unknown shores or losing themselves +in the heart of Asia. + +But fortune has smiled on us quite a deal, too. We found +the grain stores at Woolpress, and the Flying Corps rigged up +the mill-crusher discovered lying there. Then a large store +of oil for the river steamers was utilized for fuel and lighting +for all duty, and the Sappers and Flying Corps artificers made +our bombs out of various charges for the howitzers and 4·7's. +The aeroplanes brought us the detonators. Then the subsidence +of the floods brought up the grass with which we bribed +the animals to exist a little longer, while we ate their grain--and +them. + +The ammunition has lasted wonderfully well. We have +over half of the original lot still in hand. + +In truth, when one thinks how the Fighting Sixth fought +its way across Mesopotamia, battling with fire and floods, +thirst and heat, right up to the gate of Baghdad, and then was +let down by want of supports, one has to extract thankfulness +from the thought that Chance left it to the same division, alone +and unreinforced, to stem the result of the turned tide. This +it has done from December 1st at Um-al-Tabul until now, +April 13th, a temporal avenue through sickness and death. + +One is informed that if Kut had not been held, the position +of the Turks would have been consolidated, and the tactical +and strategical usefulness of its position with the enemy. +These are the most cheerful thoughts possible in the garrison +when one feels extra weary and sick. + +It is not too much to say that almost no one has any +misgiving as to the future. In this tiny horse-shoe panorama +on the Tigris, where the destiny of Kut has pursued its dramatic +evolution for the last four and a half months, the garrison +awaits the ultimate development of the drama with a feeling +merely of wide curiosity. Will the last scene be Tragedy, or +will the people be allowed to leave the theatre feeling "comfortable," +that it all came right in the end? + +Alas! whatever the play is, it cannot be Comedy. And +when one remembers the large-hearted general who has gone, +and whom some few medical comforts in time might have +saved, one is made aware of the stern conditions of victory! + +The enemy provoked an artillery duel this afternoon, and +quite a number of shells fell in the town. Rain has stopped +Gorringe's attack. Every possible disposition has been made +for the entry of our relieving force or co-operation with their +arriving on the other bank. We can only wait. + +We brought about a delightful coup this afternoon in the +purchase of 2½ lbs. of bad rice for five rupees. Tudway and +Square-Peg go hungry now. I don't feel the last decrease +in bread so much as they, as I am too seedy to eat it, and +sometimes I can scarcely see. However, I am better to-day. +Some one has placed a bradawl in the dessert dish! It forms +the second and last course. It is "not to be eaten" in large +letters, and "may be used for making another hole in your +belt." The fish have left Kut. I wonder that even the +birds don't fly away.... + +Outside in the street, beneath my window, a decrepit Arab +beggar, in a deep passionate voice, asks for alms for the love of +Allah and Mahomet. It is often the first sound I hear in +the morning. Later in the day the Arab children make their +appearance in groups, begging and wailing piteously. Once +the babes in their mothers' arms used to cry the whole day +long, but the unfortunates are probably long since gone. +The Arab population has been dying by the hundreds, and they +look dreadfully shrunken and gaunt. A few escaped, but +were shot by the Turks. They have had everything possible +done for them. + +It is the hour of the _muezzin_, the most peaceful of the day, +for at that ancient call of prayer even the wailing and begging +ceases. From the mosque near by, whose open doorway faces +Mecca, I hear the high thrilling notes quivering and trembling +with all the passion of the East, the high-pitched semi-tone +cadences sailing afar out and cutting ever greater ripples on +the bosom of the still night air like growing circles from a +stone dropped into a placid pool. It is truly wonderful this +immemorial custom of calling the Followers of Mahomet. The +volume of sound echoing from the minaret is thrown by the +_muezzin_ further and further. With extraordinary power his +voice rises and falls, describing circles, arcs, and strangely +winding parabolas out of the still silences of evening. It is +but an appeal. He calls the world to prayer. It is more +potent than the appeal of bells. In the _muezzin_ the Mussulman +hears the voice of Allah. + +Now the _muezzin_ is finished, and everything is so very still. +I wonder if they are praying for the relief--as hard as their +fellow religionists in the rest of Turkey are praying for the +fall--of Kut. The odds, I fear, are against us. + +I must sleep! I cannot remain awake five minutes longer. +God in His wisdom made sleep the great possession. For the +first essential to man is a gift of humour, and the second is +the capacity for sleep. Sleep and forgetfulness! How many +warriors on this dreadful planet at this fearful hour would +willingly drink of Lethe and wake up on their respective +battlefields when the war is over? + +Eheu! I see the dark forms asleep on the snows of +Russia, in the trenches of France, on the mountains of Italy, +on the decks swept by the night winds of the North Sea. Who +of them would not wish it? + + "Nox ruit, et fuscis tellurem amplectitur alis." + "Night descends and folds the earth in her dusky wings!" + +_April 14th._--Heavy firing began downstream just before +the dawn. It continued till about 8 a.m. + +The floods are spreading. A little rain fell during the +night. Around Kut everything is extraordinarily quiet. I +was very seedy during the night with violent pains and nausea, +possibly the result of attempting to eat a little liver for dinner. +I don't remember feeling worse. I took some opium pills at +once, and Graoul came in early this morning with some hot +water, which I drank. Have had two eggs sent from the +hospital, and am ordered to eat nothing beside the yolk and +a half cup of milk. About midday I felt quite bright again, +and wrote some letters with one eye more or less closed. One's +stomach these days has become an awful snob and simply +won't look at anything. How fit I was until these wretched +floods! + +A report says that we must be fed by aeroplanes, but it +seems that it will take three days in which to carry one day's +provisions. + +I imagine _Punch_ will have something to say on this. We +shall be represented as fielding for loaves and cakes and fishes +and whisky bottles, Mellins' Food, and some of us charging +towards the Tigris under fire from the opposite bank and +endeavouring to recover our balance on the edge as we watch +the priceless articles falling into the water. + +The coming of the Turkish armada down the Shat-el-hai +is evidently postponed. They are possibly frightened of John +Bull on the water, even if it is only the river. + +The Catholic padre and Square-Peg are playing chess. The +Pope in other lands is probably entering in his diary that he +has had a tiring day and that Kut must fall. Not because +God has forgotten it, but because the garrison has no +provisions. + +Equally well advised is our mess bombardier, who has +invented certain rhymes which he repeats over his cooking as +no soothsayer ever did. + + "Hashes to hashes! Bust ter bust! + If Gorringe cawn't 'elp us the Lord Gawd must!" + +_April 15th._--This was the day beyond which we were +assured it was impossible to go. We are evidently out for +records. + +The floods are steady. They can scarcely fall. Will the +Turk attack to-day? Will Gorringe? + + There is a tide in the affairs of Kut + That taken at the flood will let through Gorringe-- + Omitted, all the voyage of the survivors is bound on donkeys + or on camels. + On such a full sea we are now afloat + And we must chance the Tigris at the curves or down go Kut + debentures! + +Shelling now is a regular thing on and off the whole day. +The Arabs are preparing to flee. + +Last night the thunder bellowed her despair, or rather ours, +according to Kipling, and Square-Peg talked horribly in his +sleep, and was putting up a masterly defence in his best +English against some Arab hordes--women were in it--who +had him at bay somewhere in the gardens. Having lulled +them into inattention he shot clean off the bed and out of +the door, when he pulled up and said something sheepishly. +Of course I pretended to be asleep; and after examining my +face carefully he lay down again. Square-Peg is quite touchy +about his nightmares. I heard him say "Damn" softly once +or twice under his breath, and then fall asleep again. This +time he was in an attack, and behaved shockingly, tossing +about the bed in a most ghastly manner. Suddenly it dawned +on me that he was taking cover. He knew the road to the +door too well not to manage an advance or retire at the double. +I think it must have been the former, because he hesitated a +second this time before he moved, but I gave such a terrific +roar that he immediately collapsed on the bed and swore +horribly. + +"Don't do it again," I said. "If you do, I'll put a bucket +in your way. I swear it." + +"What the devil do you mean?" + +"Mean! Why, don't go after cigarettes with such +enthusiasm again, that's all. Have one of these." + +Then he called me names, at which I laughed the more. + +"They are nothing to what your wife will call you, Square-Peg, +if you carry on in that fashion when you are married!" + +That set him thinking. The only thing to be said for him +is that during a nightmare he doesn't snore. + +_April 16th._--It is a beautiful summer day full of spiciness. +It was impossible to lie in bed, so I got up, imagining I was +leaving aches and pains in my sleeping-bag. A distinct scent +of green grass and the balmy air filled me with thoughts of +England! It was good to be out and to find myself walking +again. + +After breakfast I crawled out with Tudway on board the +_Sumana_, and saw the excellent repair our sappers had effected +in the main stop-valve. I make myself walk. We discussed +her defences and I worked out the number of gun shields that +would be necessary if they were utilized to cover all her deck. +The plan was partly adopted. Then we lazied an hour or +two in her smashed cabin, getting a hot sniping on our return. +Afterwards, I played chess with Square-Peg and Father Tim. + +Pars Nip came to tiffin. God has endowed him with two +things--a perpetual appetite and a short memory, for he comes +to tiffin very often without his bread. + +Moreover, on any subject under the sun Pars Nip will +dogmatize with all the splendid audacity of youth, with all +youth's magnificent indifference to authority. With the +smallest amount of encouragement he has politically the +makings of a magnificent catastrophe; otherwise he is normal. + +We speculated on the treatment we should receive if +captured. The Turk is said to be off the civilized map, but +every one seems to think we should be done first rate, and some +believe that he would be so bucked at capturing a whole army +and five real live generals that we should be offered the Sultan's +Palace of Sweet Waters on the Bosphorus and a special +seraglio. + +An evening communiqué said that Gorringe had captured +the enemy's pickets, at Sunnaiyat, presumably, and was ready +for a further advance, the results of which are expected by +the morning. + +For the first time aeroplanes to-day made several early +trips, carrying some 150 lbs. of atta each trip. One lot fell +into the Turkish lines. Kut apparently is not the easy mark +it seems, for at different times quite a few parcels, detonators, +money, and medicines have got the other bank or the enemy's +lines here. In fact, one wonders why the Turks, instead of +shooting at our fliers, don't encourage them. They do some +very fair ranging with shrapnel at our planes. The whole +garrison is indulging in such calculations as this: If a man +and a half eats a slice and a half in a day and a half, how many +trips of the planes are necessary before the Turks get more +of the rations than we? By going hard all day they cannot +supply us with one day's provisions, even on these fractional +rations. + +But we _are_ grateful. When we saw the first sack come +tumbling down we felt much as Elijah may have done when +the ravens ministered to his wants. Of course no aeroplane +has landed in Kut during the siege. That would mean very +probable disaster, so close are we to the enemy's lines. + +To-night at dinner (?) we were without salt again. This +is the third or fourth day of an affliction a hundred times +worse than having no sugar. I can recommend all doubters +to try dispensing with this necessary commodity for a few +days in the preparation and eating of food, and to note the +result. + +Square-Peg and Tudway eat no bread at all for tiffin; +just meat. The utmost effort gives them a spoonful of rice +every other day for dinner or boiled cress. But we go through +the form of dinner, and that helps a lot. Some messes of +different mind have almost dispensed with the regular meal, +and merely negotiate their rations at any old time. It is just +possible they miss a lot. For some of us think that the +decencies and conventionalities of life go a long way. In +diluted quantities they themselves supply motive power to +life's wearily knocking engine. They use energy gathered from +past events and help us to carry on through gaping periods of +our life when nothing seems worth while; and when we are +indifferent or impatient with destiny, they are the pacemakers +of existence. "A rich man," says the future philosopher, +"may afford to dispense with dressing for dinner, but +a poor man certainly cannot." + +Now there are, of course, quite a few things said beneath +our nightly cloud of tobacco smoke that do not appear in this +diary. It would be sacrilege in some cases, and in others, why, +one never knows who may come across one's diary. Confession +is the salt of life, but suppression the sugar. And does +not Maeterlinck tell us that the reservoirs of thought are higher +than those of speech, and the reservoirs of silence higher still? +But so far I have not heard that this has been quoted in a +court of law. And to show that we are not totally devoid +of artistic intentions I must record a sample of our mental +gymnastics this evening. We were tilting at a few enthusiastic +sentences of Robert Chambers' books. + +"We are informed," I began, "that this interesting youth +was sitting disconsolately awaiting his beloved, his well-shaped +head in his hands. Any remarks?" + +"Prig," said Tudway. "What business has a fellow to +have a well-shaped head? Besides, where else could he put +it except in his hands?" + +"Don't be catty," said Square-Peg, "he wasn't in the +navy. Why shouldn't he have a well-shaped head?" + +"Probably he hadn't," I suggested mischievously. "We +merely have the novelist's word for that, you know." At +which they both called me an ass. + +"If he did have such a head, I don't see why he shouldn't +put it in his hands as well as anywhere else?" ventured +the senior service. + +"Possibly as he was in love he was hanging on to his head, +having already lost his heart." This from the future K.C. + +"But if his heart was in his mouth, how----" I was +shouted down. + +Then we all thought hard. + +"What is the point, Curly?" This to me. + +"Yes! What's the matter with the sentence after all?" +added S.-P. + +"Well, I can't quite say. You see she came along the +corridor at midnight, we are told, and saw him, his well-shaped, +etc. One doesn't like the excellent shape of his head being +shoved in there. The fact, after all, was that his head was +in his hands, and she surprised him, sorrowing in solitude." + +"But if his head was well-shaped, why not say so?" said +the truthful Tudway. + +"Yes," nodded S.-P., "that may have been essential. If +his head hadn't been well-shaped she mightn't have gushed +all over him." + +"Hang it," I broke in desperately, "I don't care if it was +well-shaped or not. The word doesn't fit. Any other word or +none. You see it suggests--er--something outside the matter +in hand, she may as well have said his mathematical----" + +They considered me beaten, and laughed horribly. + +"The next is, 'her superb young figure straightened confronting +the sea.' Any remarks?" + +"She was playing to the gallery, of course," said S.-P., +"or else she stood on a thistle." + +"Don't talk rot! I'm with Curly there. 'Superb' +swanks it too much. There's nothing superb in the world +except a destroyer at thirty knots." + +"Or the action of a blood filly going through her first +pacings," I prompted. This raised a yell. + +"The next is, 'her skirts swung high above the delicate +contour of ankle and limb.' Any remarks?" + +"That's naughty," said Square-Peg. "Besides, it doesn't +say which limb." + +"There's no doubt about the limb," I said, "unless her +arm was meant, in which case her skirts----" But an awful +roar interrupted me. + +"Cut out 'limb' and substitute 'leg,'" suggested +Tudway. + +"Worse and worse. If 'limb' suggests anatomy, 'leg' +suggests----" + +"The Empire," they both screamed, and after the immoderate +laughter had ceased I declared I wouldn't go on. + +We refilled our pipes, but Tudway grew horribly silent. +After a long time we chaffed him about the _Sumana_, and +offered him a kabob for his thoughts. + +"Ah!" he said, "it was that limb. It recalled----" +Then he stopped and actually reddened; and nothing would +induce him to go on. + +That set us all thinking. + +We both retired to bed, and with one eye I finished the +story. It is quite a good one, and tells you many other things +about the call of the rain. That reminded me of an evening +years ago in far-away New Zealand, when in the heart of the +great silences I looked through my tent door and saw the rain +on the wild river and great forests and distant mountains.... + +Well, I read with my half-shut eyes by the flickering dubbin +tin that gave a small and ever-dwindling light, and although +my eyes burned and jumped I read through to the end. And +in the end Robert Chambers married them after all--those +two young and ardent spirits, and together, no doubt, they +looked at the night waves, and the snow on the wintry trees +and at the distant stars, and heard the whisper of sweetness +ineffable, the inarticulate music of the call of the rain. + +And facing that last page was a bold advertisement and the +picture of "Our extra guest folding bedstead--folds quite +flat when not in use!" + +That also was a human note, and how real! It invites +us to view the deserted stage, the drabs of colour with grey +torn canvas, the ghostly framework of the scenes, the tinsel +robes and stifled flowers. + +"Folds quite flat when not in use"--which will be quite +often, as we have not many friends.... + + and a tiny little boy + With hey ho, the wind and the rain! + A foolish thing was but a toy + For the rain it raineth every day.... + +It's awfully late. Only millions of starlings are abroad. +I wonder if Tudway is dreaming of the limb! + +_April 18th._--A terrific bombardment continued downstream +from last night until early this morning. We have since heard +that the Third Lahore Division, under General Keary, after a +magnificent struggle, has taken the lines of Beit Aissa, and that +Turkish hordes are counter-attacking in successive waves. +Our casualties are very heavy. The large pontoons which the +Turks dragged overland for a ferry downstream are now in +position. Tudway was recently to have led a river attack +at night in H.M.S. _Sumana_ and to have pierced or blown up +the bridge. The scheme, however, was cancelled. + +Arabs continue to wait around the butchery for horse +bladders on which to float downstream. They are shot at +by the Turks, who want them to stay on here and eat our food, +or else they are killed by hostile Arabs. Every night they go +down, and a little later one hears their cries from the darkness. +There are rumours that the Arab Sheik and his son, who are +here with us and are badly wanted by the Turks, are to escape +secretly to-night. These people know the Turk and the +treatment they are likely to get for having associated with us. + +For three or four days our heavy sea-planes have brought +us food, dropping each day from one half to a ton of flour and +sugar in the town and as often as not into the Tigris or Turkish +lines. We are grateful to our brother officers downstream for +this, and realize the difficulty of getting a correct "drop" +always. I for one don't consider this at all a possible _soulagement_, +as even with their best effort our tiny four-ounce ration +cannot be nearly kept up. In fact, one ounce would be nearer +the mark. Money is also dropped, and many coins dented in +the fall go as souvenirs at double value. + +_April 24th._--I have been compelled to abandon keeping +my diary owing to excruciating pain in my spine from the shell +contusion. What is wrong I can't make out, but sometimes +the tiniest movement sends a sharp thrill of keenest pain +through one's whole being. I think I must have struck the +wall forcibly and affected the vertebræ. After lying in one +position for any little time this particular spot in my spine +aches with a most ravaging pulsation of neuralgia, and I find it +difficult to sit upright for many minutes. On these occasions +if I lie still my arms and legs shoot out at intervals with a sort +of reflex action, and sometimes repeat the performance several +times. + +But for being much easier to-day I thank God. I have +even walked a little with a stick, and the twitching is much +less violent and less often. My eyes, however, are still dim, and +I find it difficult to see very distinctly. To complete the +list of my infirmities of the flesh the enteritis, which has continued +in a mild form for three weeks, has got worse, and I +find emmatine the only thing that has done any good. Here, +again, I have much to be thankful for, in that I have not had +the severe form as so many others have, or else with other +troubles I should be on unskateable ice. My legs are shockingly +thin, less than my arms were, and I can fold my skin +round my legs. In fact, I might think of applying my remarks +on the poor fellow at the hospital to myself. The daily egg +and ounce of milk stopped days ago. We have paid Rupees 30 +for a tin of milk which I have with some rice my very good +friend Major Aylen sends me from the officers' hospital. He +now wishes me to enter hospital, but I prefer being an out-patient. +The atmosphere there is both siegy and sick. + +The bombardment of the 22nd downstream appears to +have been a tremendous attempt by Gorringe to get through +at Sannaiyat. It failed. Our comrades gave their lives +freely for us and they fought in the mud feet deep trying to +get at their enemy. As they fell wounded they were drowned. + +What an appalling price we are costing! A calm seems to be +stealing over the garrison. It is the reaction from suspense +extended infinitely far, and we know that we have done all +possible to carry our resistance to the last possible day. These +words are not so self-righteous as they look when one considers +the gallant effort to walk and to carry out the simplest +routine by men dying and doomed. There are men, with +cholera staring from their faces, moving along at a crawl +with the help of a long stick; men resting against the wall +of the trench every ten yards. One wills hard to do the +simplest thing. From our men the siege has demanded even +more than from us. We have now drifted very near the weir +and within a few days must know our fate. A few say it +appears already. There is, between us and that, however, +only the habit, now strong within us, of refusing to believe +that Kut can fall. And yet if Gorringe has not yet got +Sunnaiyat, how can he cross these successions of defences in +a few days? + +_April 25th._--I am making a great effort to write further +in this diary. Last night there happened one of those gallant +episodes that confirm our pride of race. + +A relief ship, _Julna_ by name, had been fitted out downstream +and loaded with every available comfort for us, and +provisions for several weeks. She was heavily protected +and commanded by Lieut. Cowley, R.N.R., the famous local +celebrity who knows every yard of the Tigris. He with two +other officers and some men of the Royal Navy volunteered +to outdo the Mountjoy episode. The Turkish gunners were +engaged by our artillery down below, and under cover of darkness +the _Julna_ left. The Turks, no doubt, knew, or soon found +out, what the show was. She came along gallantly, drawing +a heavy fire, and surmounted all difficulties until reaching +Megasis ferry, where, fouling a heavy cable, she swung on to +a sandbank. Here the Turkish guns confronted her at a few +yards' range. Her officers were killed, Lieut. Cowley captured, +and she was taken within sight of our men waiting to unload +her by the Fort, and of the sad little group of the garrison who +beheld her from the roof-tops of Kut. She lies there now. It +appears that this tragic but obvious end of so glorious an enterprise +is a last hope. We have scarcely rations for to-morrow. + +It now remains for us to submit ourselves as best we can +to the workings of the Inexorable Law. + +_April 27th._--Last night we destroyed surplus ammunition. +To-day General Townshend, Colonel Parr (G.S.O.I.), and +Captain Morland have gone upstream to interview the Turkish +Commander-in-Chief. There is a hum of inquiries. One says +it is parole and marching out with the honours of war. +Another talks of the Turks requiring our guns as the price of +the garrison. To-day it is a changed Kut. It is armistice. +No sound of fire breaks the hush of expectations. The river-front, +grass-grown from long disuse, and the landing-stage +likewise, for it has been certain death to go on that fire-swept +zone, to-day swarm with people walking and talking. The +Turks on the opposite bank do the same. It is strange. I +walked a little with a stick. Hope has made one almost +strong. This afternoon I went over the river to Woolpress +village, where the tiny garrison has been the whole siege, and +many of them have not once visited Kut. The defences are +excellent. They have also had to fight floods. A little +hockey ground and mess overlooking the river safe from +bullets suggested Woolpress as a peaceful spot, notwithstanding +its liability to instant isolation from Kut. + +_April 28th._--General Townshend has issued this _communiqué_, +and its joyous effect on the whole garrison is indescribable. +With the tragic side that the relieving forces cannot +get through in time we are acquainted as with the fact that +we have actually eaten our iron emergency rations, but General +Townshend has given out a strong probability that we are to +be released and sent back to India on parole, not to fight against +Turkey again. + +This _communiqué_ is as follows:-- + + * * * * * + +Kut-el-Amara, +April 28th, 1916. + +"It became clear, after General Gorringe's second repulse +on April 22nd at Sannaiyat, of which I was informed by the +Army Commander by wire, that the Relief Force could not +win its way through in anything like time to relieve us, our +limit of resistance as regards food being April 29th. It is +hard to believe that the large forces comprising the Relief +Force now could not fight their way to Kut, but there is the +fact staring us in the face. I was then ordered to open +negotiations for the surrender of Kut, in the words of the Army +Commander's telegram, 'the onus not lying on yourself. +You are in the position of having conducted a gallant and +successful defence and you will be in a position to get better +terms than any emissary of ours ... the Admiral, who had +been in consultation with the Army Commander, considers +that you with your prestige are likely to get the best terms.... +We can, of course, supply food as you may arrange.' + +"Those considerations alone, namely, that I can help my +comrades of all ranks to the end, have decided me to overcome +my bodily illness and the anguish of mind which I am suffering +now, and I have interviewed the Turkish General-in-Chief +yesterday, who is full of admiration at 'an heroic defence of +five months,' as he put it. Negotiations are still in progress, +but I hope to be able to announce your departure for India on +parole not to serve against the Turks, since the Turkish Commander-in-Chief +says he thinks it will be allowed, and has +wired to Constantinople to ask for this, and the _Julna_, which +is lying with food for us at Megasis now, may be permitted to +come to us. + +"Whatever has happened, my comrades, you can only be +proud of yourselves. We have done our duty to King and +Empire, the whole world knows we have done our duty. + +"I ask you to stand by me with your ready and splendid +discipline, shown throughout, in the next few days for the +expedition of all service I demand of you. We may possibly +go into camp, I hope between the Fort and town along the shore +whence we can easily embark. + +"The following message has been received from the Army +Commander: 'The C.-in-C. has desired me to convey to you +and your brave and devoted troops his appreciation of the +manner in which you together have undergone the suffering +and hardships of the siege, which he knows has been due to the +high spirit of devotion to duty in which you have met the call +of your Sovereign and Empire. The C.-in-C.'s sentiments are +shared by myself, General Gorringe, and all the troops of the +Tigris column. We can only express extreme disappointment +and regret that our effort to relieve you should not have been +crowned with success.' + +_Copy of a telegram from Captain Nunn, C.M.G., R.N._ + +"'We, the officers and men of the Royal Navy who have +been associated with the Tigris Corps, and many of us so often +worked with you and your gallant troops, desire to express +our heartfelt regret at our inability to join hands with you and +your comrades in Kut.'" + +(Sd.) C. V. F. TOWNSHEND, +Major-General, +Commanding 6th Division and Forces at Kut. + + * * * * * + +A great arrangement. We are a sick army, a skeleton army +rocking with cholera and disease. Instead of the lot of +captivity in this terrible land, with the Turks who have never +had any _bandobast_ for anything, and merely barbaric food +themselves, the garrison may see India again and have a +welcome there. Whatever our end, there is no denying the +great fighting qualities of the Sixth Poona Division. More than +its glorious career, its stupendous efforts in vain to overtake +the tragic destiny decreed by the gods for the mistake of +others, must make it famous in arms. + +The fact that the communiqué does not state for absolute +certainty the condition of parole does not detract so much from +the spirit of the garrison, such faith have they in the G.O.C., +and General Townshend's prestige with the Turks is held +sufficient to get this condition. Besides, they say a general +must always leave a big margin, and when he states probability +he means certainty. I cannot imagine a greater +change than this that has come over all to-day. + +Dying men laugh and talk of Bombay and news of home. +The sepoy sees again his village and feels the shade of the +banyan. "Not to bear arms against Turkey." That still +leaves Germany and all the rest. Others say they knew all +along it had to come like this, that in high heaven the gods +that had forsaken the Sixth Division at the zenith of its conquest +and decreed for it tasks too Herculean, would now crown +its career with an honourable return. Except on the two +occasions when we expected to debouch, I doubt if the heart +of Kut ever beat higher. + +_Later._--Two junior officers visited the Turkish headquarters' +camp. General Townshend did not go. + +They brought back news that Enver Pasha had refused +parole and demands unconditional surrender. Destruction +of our ammunition, spare rifles, and kit, proceeds apace. I +have just destroyed my two saddles, field-glasses, revolver, +and much else. Detonations are heard all along the trenches. +Kut falls to-morrow. This news on top of these few short +hours of hope seems incredible, and the silence with which the +garrison received it is too magnificent for reference. + +_Later, 4.30 p.m._--At lunch Tudway informed me in his +quiet way that he contemplated running the gauntlet downstream +in the _Sumana_ to-night in the hope of saving his ship +from the Turks. He has communicated with his S.N.O. at +Basrah. He invited me to come with him. I felt very complimented +and after some consideration I agreed. Tudway knew +his ship, the river, and the likely stoppages. He had counted +the risk of cables. The current would help us and the Turkish +guns were all still, no doubt, pointing downstream against +other possible _Julnas_. In two hours we should be down. +We left things at this and Tudway went to make inquiries. + +He has just returned in a resigned frame of mind. The +project was absolutely private and not known to headquarters, +who, however, sent anticipatory orders to Tudway that the +_Sumana_ was under no circumstance to be damaged but kept +intact in Kut. + +The surrender was unconditional, and we were destroying +everything. The _Sumana_, however, was a most valuable +asset for inducing Turks to give us transport. One learnt +subsequently, however, that the G.O.C. had retained it for +his own use on a Turkish promise to allow him to go downstream +to see Sir Percy Lake the Army Commander. + +Whether this was actually so I cannot say. We have +considered the chance of getting downstream by night on a +ship's lifebelt, the current doing several knots and quite +enough to carry one down. There was, of course, the considerable +chance of capture by the devilish Arabs or being +seen by the Turks. The chief question, however, was whether +we could stay in the water six or seven hours. In our present +health we decided it out of question, even if we had covered +ourself with oil. + +_9 p.m._--Our little mess had its last talk. We sat and +smoked, divided the remnants of tobacco and tin of atta, and +awaited news. I am told to come into hospital, but a later +report says there is no room. + +_April 29th._--General Townshend has issued a last communiqué +holding out hope that he will go home and arrange +the exchange on parole. It is, however, a very slender hope. + + * * * * * + +Kut-el-Amara, +April 29th, 1916. + +"_Communiqué._ 1. The G.O.C. has sent the following letter +to the Turkish Commander-in-Chief: + +'YOUR EXCELLENCY, + +Hunger forces me to lay down our arms, and I am +ready to surrender to you my brave soldiers who have done +their duty, as you have affirmed when you said, "Your +gallant troops will be our most sincere and precious guests." +Be generous, then, they have done their duty, you have seen +them in the Battle of Ctesiphon, you have seen them during +the retirement, and you have seen them during the Siege of +Kut for the last five months, in which time I have played the +strategical rôle of blocking your counter-offensive and allowed +time for our reinforcements to arrive in Iraq. You have +seen how they have done their duty, and I am certain that +the military history of this war will affirm this in a decisive +manner. I send two of my officers, Captain Morland and +Major Gilchrist, to arrange details. + +I am ready to put Kut into your hands at once and go +into your camp as soon as you can arrange details, but I pray +you to expedite the arrival of food. + +I propose that your Chief Medical Officer should visit my +hospitals with my P.M.O. He will be able to see for himself +the state of many of my troops--there are some without +arms and legs, some with scurvy. I do not suppose you wish +to take these into captivity, and in fact the better course +would be to let the wounded and sick go to India. + +The Chief of the Imperial General Staff, London, wires me +that the exchange of prisoners of war is permitted. An equal +number of Turks in Egypt and India would be liberated in +exchange for the same number of my combatants. + +Accept my highest regards. + +(Sd.) GENERAL TOWNSHEND, +Major-General, +Commanding the 6th Division and the Force at Kut.' + +'2. I would add to the above that there is strong ground +for hoping that the Turks will eventually agree to all being +exchanged. I have received notification from the Turkish +Commander-in-Chief to say I can start for Constantinople. +Having arrived there, I shall petition to be allowed to go to +London on parole, and see the Secretary of State for War and +get you exchanged at once. In this way I hope to be of great +assistance to you all. I thank you from the bottom of my +heart for your devotion and your discipline and bravery, and +may we all meet in better times. + +(Sd.) CHARLES TOWNSHEND, +Major-General, +Commanding the 6th Division and the Force at Kut.'" + + * * * * * + +No orders have been issued about the entry of the Turks. +Some sort of formality in handing over is talked of. We +have demolished everything. I have just met the brigade +armourer, a most valuable N.C.O., who has the history of +every gun in the brigade. He looked many years older, and +said he had just helped to blow up the last gun. One breech-block +of the howitzers which we demolished by lyddite in the +bore travelled over Kut far on to the _maidan_. + + * * * * * + +_May 7th._--I am lying in a very shaky condition in the +overcrowded officers' hospital in Kut. This is due to temperature +of a 104° from malaria, also dysentery, and mild enteritis, +apart from my bruise. Many ages seem to have passed +since my last entry. We had understood that the Turks +would make a formal entrance into Kut. Instead, some time +after lunch, I heard wild yelling in the streets. Arabs armed +with dozens of crescent flags danced and cheered some Turkish +horsemen that rode along a street known as Regent Street. +Then, suddenly, wild yells and scuffling came from the wall +upstairs on our tiny roof, and over this wall separating the +adjoining houses I saw crowds of wild bearded men in the +most unkempt condition conceivable, armed with rifles and +bayonets. With loud shouts and cries they passed over our +kit, yelling out "Kirich" (sword). One seized mine and tried +to open my kit. They were very excited. At the same +moment our front door was knocked in, and Square-Peg's +effects were similarly wanted. Looting of the mess and of +our mess servants followed. They seized the bombardier's +coat which was hanging on a nail. He objected, and got +hammered with rifle butts until I intervened. It looked like +a general scuffle. I went outside and found a diminutive +officer who spoke German, was extraordinarily polite, and +evidently much elated. He came in and restored some small +degree of order by requesting his men, in fact he pleaded with +them rather than ordered them. I took my sword from the +Turkish soldier and handed it to this officer. At this he was +most moved. Square-Peg went into the hospital near by for +orders. There, also, it seemed events had taken unexpected +turns, and looting had begun. We were ordered in at once. + +While he was away I had kept the officer with me, and we +went about the street stopping similar scenes. When we +returned a few moments later we heard our bombardier had +been unmercifully beaten by Turks for trying to retain his +boots. The Turkish officers did not mind much when this +was reported. We got some sepoys to carry our kit, or rather +the remains of it, and as I left the tiny courtyard the last +thing I saw was poor Don Juan's black tail hanging on a +nail on the post in the sun to dry. I wanted it for a souvenir +of a trusty friend, but there was not a second to be lost. In +the street the Arabs were all hostile to us. Turks full of loot +raced up and down. We met officers whose rings had been +taken and pockets emptied. + +The padre's wrist-watch and personal effects were taken. +In hospital, Square-Peg and I lay on our valises on the ground +of the tiny yard, as the hospital was overflowing and officers +kept still arriving. Sir Charles Melliss came shortly after. +He had a bed beside mine near the doorway, and I thought +looked very ill. His little white dog was beside him and all +around him were sick and dying officers. Nothing I can say +could measure my gratitude and admiration for Major Aylen, +the C.O. officers' hospital. While living on the hardest and +most severe of diet himself he has gone from minute to minute +with only one thought--for his charge. He is everywhere, +and in adversity his industry, patience, and hopefulness are +all we have left. If I am to be fortunate enough to survive +this ordeal I shall have him to thank. + +Tudway turned up as arranged for the evening meal. +We pooled our flour and had _Chuppatis_, one-fourth of which +we gave to Holmes my orderly. We lay on blankets on the +ground and smoked the lime-leaves, and Tudway said good-bye. +After leaving us in the morning he had returned to +the _Sumana_ to find a party of Turks had been sent over to +seize her, taking everything on board, including the whole of +his kit. His men had been put off. Remonstrations were +useless. At the last moment the G.O.C. was not permitted +to go downstream, and so we lost the _Sumana_ intact to the +Turks. Naturally her able and devoted commander felt +sore about this. He announced his intention to go upstream +with some other brigade, and I said good-bye to a very pleasant +companion. + +The hospital had already been looted several times by +Turks. The night was hot. One heard the moans of the +enteritis patients and the tramp of troops all night long. + +In the early dawn some Turkish troops entered past the +sentry, whom they ignored. I had slept in my boots and +hidden all my loose kit, but they commenced to seize what +they wanted from others. One took General Melliss' boots +from under his bed and another his shoes, and made off, notwithstanding +the general's loud protests. Sir Charles jumped +out of the bed and followed them. A scuffle ensued in the +street. The general reappeared, and put on his cap and +jacket showing his rank and decorations, and then returned to +the fray. The soldier, however, seized him by the throat, +and the general, in a highly indignant frame of mind, and +looking very dishevelled, returned and got leave to go to +General Townshend, which he did in his socks. While he was +gone more Turks swarmed in and robbed patients who were +too ill to move, taking shoes, razors, mirrors, knives, and +anything they fancied. + +Our C.O., Major Aylen, in a tremendous rage seized the +sentry and pointed to his red-cross badge and the flag of the +hospital. Although his not knowing a word of the language +made things worse, there could be no mistaking his meaning +as he pointed to the looters and our red-cross flag. A group +of Turks, some junior officers, stood looking on, merely interested +spectators. Half an hour later a Turkish officer +appeared from headquarters in a frenzy. He had evidently +been severely reprimanded. He kicked the sentry and +struck him repeatedly in the face. After this for some hours +looting was less frequent, but later recommenced. + +Square-Peg's interpreter was next found on the roof of the +hospital. He was kicked down head foremost, and dragged +off to be hung. This was the unfortunate man who had +brought us vegetables and supplies from the Arabs. Officially +interpreter to Square-Peg who was fire-brigade officer, he +had asked us about escaping, and hoped to disguise himself +as a Eurasian from the Volunteer Battery. A Baghdadi by +nationality he said he had lived in Calcutta. He had been +with our force, and was no doubt betrayed by the pro-Turk +Arabs in the town. Sassoon, our other interpreter and a +well-known figure in Kut, has also, I hear, been hung with +his legs broken, for he had been so thrashed and tortured that +he jumped off the roof to kill himself. The friendly Sheik +and family have met a similar fate. One now sees the Turk +at close quarters. + +To crown all, the disastrous news has come that, despite +most elaborate assurances to the effect that the garrison +would be conveyed upstream in barges, the men have been +ordered to march to Baghdad with kit through this fearful +heat. They have no rations except the coarse black Turkish +biscuit. Officers have not been allowed to accompany them +and their guards are mostly Kurdish rank and file, the most +barbarous savages in this country. In some cases there are +no Turkish officers, but merely Turkish sergeants or privates +in charge of our prisoners. We are all many stages past indignation. +The Turkish promises at the surrender were too +much relied upon. General Townshend, we hear, has already +left for Constantinople by a special steamer and car, and is +permitted to travel _en prince_. I can believe already the +prophecy of the reverend father that surrender would mean +a trail of dead. Most of our troops left Kut on the 29th or +next day for Shamrun, ten miles up-river. We had eaten +our last rations on the 28th, and supplies were expected +immediately from our captors. However, they sent us +nothing for four days, and only black biscuit then. Everything +must be bought from the Arab bazar--after the Turks +have taken what they want. Some stores and letters have +gone upstream from down below, but so far nothing has +arrived for the lonely hospital here filled with wounded and +sick and dying. Nothing, except for a few gifts Major Aylen +brought us from the hospital ship and a few cigars from +the padre. + +_May 9th._--The Turkish authorities seem determined not +to send any British officer back if it can be helped. More +than one who was rejected by the Turkish medical officer as +not sufficiently ill to warrant exchange has succumbed. A +poor fellow in the next ward who has been groaning for days +died yesterday. One is not likely to recover on Turkish +biscuits at this stage. I was ordered by Colonel Brown-Mason, +our P.M.O., to translate for the Turkish doctor who +knew German and a little French. This I did for several +officers, but we were all rejected, although about six of us +had been told we were certain to go. Four were selected in +all, by no means the worse of the cases, while men with legs +in splints, smashed thighs, and shot backs, one of whom could +not sit or stand up, were rejected. Kut was deserted and +lone. General Aylmer, we heard, had retired to Amarah. +We expect to leave every day for Baghdad. How the men +have fared we don't know, but from time to time terrible +stories reach us. + +[Illustration: GENERAL TOWNSHEND A PRISONER, WITH KHALIL PACHA, +OUR CAPTOR (RIGHT), AT BAGHDAD AFTER KUT FELL] + + * * * * * + +_June 1st._--I am writing from Baghdad in what is supposed +to be the hospital, but is actually an empty house commanded +by a Turkish dug-out cavalry captain, quite a well-meaning +old fellow, but not much use to any one sick, and very strict. +After many false alarms we were moved from Kut in a hospital +boat, which proved to be the ill-fated _Julna_. I was carried +on a stretcher which the Turks tried to loot as I passed. On +my way I saw looting on every side. Our Indian troops lay +like rows of skeletons. Their food and boots were taken from +them by their own guards. A few cases of looting have +been admonished, but no general measures taken. On more +than one occasion the officer whose aid was requested merely +asked the Turkish Askar to return the loot. Our kit was +searched, and I lost my tiny camera and some excellent +photos taken of Aziziyeh on the evacuation, showing our +army retreating and the Turkish army advancing. Other +photos were of the field artillery in action at Ummal Tabul, +and some excellent ones of interesting corners in Kut, dug-outs, +battery positions, shelters, and our inner life below--rare +photos that, unfortunately, can never be replaced. + +We were packed on the deck of the _Julna_, which had been +captured practically intact, one engine working perfectly and +one screw. Every yard had a bullet hole. We called this +the Death Ship, as on it were all the remnants of the sick. +Men were dying as they came aboard. Brigadier-General +G. B. Smith was senior officer, but Colonel Brown-Mason, +P.M.O., was in charge. We carried a few sentries. As we +moved upstream past the palm grove, scene after scene in +a tussle of five months became again vivid. Then the Turkish +crescent, floating from the Serai in place of our Union Jack, +was shut out from our eyes by the bend of the river, and we +realized a little more that Kut and the siege were back history, +and we prisoners in a relentless captivity.... + + + + +PART II +THE TREK. KASTAMUNI + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE THIRD CAPTIVITY--BAGHDAD--THE DESERT MARCH OF +THE SICK COLUMN--WE REACH RAS-EL-AIN + + +The voyage was a sad and long one. There was +mildewed and rotten bread that no one could touch. +It was worse than the biscuits. Other things like +eggs and milk we had to buy at huge prices. At Baghailah +Arabs came within a yard of our boat, and danced in ecstasy, +gibing at us, and drawing their fingers across their throats +indicating what they thought we deserved or were in for. +That did not trouble us much. But we tingled with anger +and shame at seeing on the other bank a sad little column +of British troops who had marched up from Kut being driven +by a wild crowd of Kurdish horsemen who brandished sticks +and what looked like whips. The eyes of our men stared +from white faces drawn long with the suffering of a too tardy +death, and they held out their hands towards our boat. As +they dragged one foot after another some fell, and those with +the rearguard came in for blows from cudgels and sticks. I +saw one Kurd strike a British soldier who was limping along. +He reeled under the blows. We shouted out, and if ever men +felt like murdering their guards we did. But that procedure +was useless. We prevailed on the Turk in charge of our boat +to stop and take some of the men. It seemed that half their +number were a few miles ahead and the rest strewed the road +to Kut. Some have been thrashed to death, some killed, and +some robbed of their kit and left to be tortured by the Arabs. +I have been told by a sergeant that he saw one of the _Sumana_ +crew killed instantly by a blow on the head from a stirrup +iron swung by a Kurdish horseman for stopping by a road a +few seconds. Men were dying of cholera and dysentery and +often fell out from sheer weakness. But the remorseless +Kurd, worse than the Turk, knows no excuse. + +Every now and then we stopped to bury our dead. The +awful disease, enteritis, a form of cholera, attacked the whole +garrison with greater vigour after Kut fell, and the change of +food no doubt helped this. It showed also that before surrender +the garrison had drawn on its last ounce of strength. +A man turned green and foamed at the mouth. His eyes +became sightless and the most terrible moans conceivable +came from his inner being, a wild, terrible retching sort of +vomiting moan. They died, one and all, with terrible suddenness. +One night several Indians were missing. Others +reported that these have fallen overboard or jumped overboard +to end their wretchedness. But more than one was probably +trying to escape. Some officers played bridge and one or two +chess. + +In a cot close by the wasted form of a well-known major +still balanced between life and death. He was a big man, but +nevertheless now weighs less than a child of ten. + +Then Lieutenant Tozer succumbed to enteritis after a +terrible ordeal of some days. The groans of this poor fellow +as he lay unconscious hour after hour stirred one to the heart. +Periodical violent vomiting succeeded, and one morning the +changed and drawn face was still and the tired eyes of a +ghastly green were closed. We held a tiny service below Ctesiphon, +Arabs waiting around and casting longing eyes on the +blanket that enclosed him. But we buried him deep, and a +sheik promised to see his grave was respected. General Smith, +Major Thomson, and I attended his funeral. He was a very +popular and good fellow. We realized as we stood around his +grave that the remorseless hand of death overshadowed us too. +I think we were ready to fight the symptoms when they should +appear and ready to die quietly if it had to be. We were +still cheerful but a little quieter. + +The voyage up to Baghdad lasted almost two weeks, owing +to our running short of petrol. A tin of this turned up here +and there and the ship simply went on until this was done. + +Messages and countless orders were sent. We waited +day after day moored to the bank some miles from Baghdad. +The death rate was increasing. This ship seems stricken. +Then we were told we had to walk to Baghdad. Very few +of us could have got there. Fortunately our resistance prevailed, +although had we been the rank and file I am convinced +this order would have been carried out. Finally the engineer +in charge of the boat set off on a donkey for Baghdad, his legs +doing a dangling jig from side to side. We were now within +ten miles or so of Baghdad and the green date palms of the +city were before us. Some days afterwards the Mejidieh +came and took us in tow, but we made very slow headway +against the current and had to tie up once more at night. +Waterways worked by a horse running up and down on an +incline and hauling over a wheel a rope attached to a large +skin receptacle of water was the new irrigation scheme in this +district. We passed more palm groves within high walls, and +tried to think of Haroun-al-Rashid. Then minarets and the +domes of mosques appeared, and we swung into view of a fine +river-front of buildings less dilapidated than we had seen for +many months. In going round the corner against the rapid +current we had to make about eight attempts, each time +resulting in our getting swung round, and to avoid the sandbanks +we had to return. Assisted by men on shore with ropes +we managed this at length and drew near the bank. It was +about eight o'clock at night. We passed within a few feet +of crowds of fezzed figures on the verandah cafés that stood +on piles in the river on the right bank. We heard their +carousals, and I remember the red line of their flaming pipes +as they cried together yelling and cheering in exultation. +Then we drew alongside the left bank near what we called the +Water Tower. We were very hungry and ill, and alongside +our dead on board many others were dying. The only +visitors we had were disreputable Arabs and Turks who, as the +night grew darker, swarmed on board and looted or thieved. +I define loot as open theft under threat of violence, by a captor +from a captive. + +In the morning we were subjected to more looting, and if +one left one's kit a second it disappeared. Having to carry +some of our kit as best we could, the rest was imperilled. I +lost my haversack with all my knives and plates and razor +and toilet kit and scanty supply of medicine like chlorodyne +and quinine, of which the Turks had none. We were left +in the sun in rows still without food and under the eyes of a +curious crowd. We bought a few things from women hawkers. + +This same major who lies here dying in this house in +Baghdad was, so soon as we disembarked, left lying uncovered +from the sun on a stretcher apparently unconscious and +covered by thousands of flies, in fact, black with them. Now +and then a wasted arm rose a few inches as if to brush them +off but fell back inadequate to the task. One wondered if +he were dead. Our protests as we realized he had been left +there hours before we arrived were more than vehement. +One of our orderlies was finally allowed to remove him under +cover from the fierce sun and to give him water. One saw +British soldiers in a similar state dying of enteritis with a green +ooze issuing from their lips, their mouths fixed open, in and out +of which flies walked like bees entering and issuing from a +hive. We were thankful to leave the ill-fated _Julna_, and +personally I felt very grateful to Col. Brown-Mason, the +P.M.O., our eternal friend Major Aylen (O.C. officers' hospital) +and General G. B. Smith who, in the periods of long waiting, +was most cheerful and encouraging. + +We were split up into parties of sick in various hospitals +so called. Two officers accompanied me and the sentry. We +were told it was one minute's walk. Lieutenant Richardson, +who had a shot back and could not stand for many seconds, +had to walk. Lieutenant Forbes and I took his arms to assist +him, and like three drunken men lurched forward through the +bazaar. Poor Richardson collapsed several times on the way +and finally fainted. It was at least a mile off, and our sentry +lost his way. He was quite a decent fellow and did not object +to some Armenian women who ran out with lemonade. We +got a stretcher and at last arrived. + +I am in a long room filled with bug and flea infested beds. +Twice a day at hours impossible to conjecture a Turk brings +in youghut, a curdled milk, in a bucket which we found most +uninviting but have since learnt to take, and some rice and +pilaf. We have been here some days, and through talking +German to the son of the old cavalry commandant, I have +actually been allowed to get dressed and go to the adjacent +shops to buy castor oil with some of my remaining coins. + +[Illustration: OUR PRISON, BAGHDAD, AS IMPROVED AFTER +BRITISH OCCUPATION] + +The American Consul has visited us. He is a kind man, and +regrets that he has not any money left, as he gave all he +could get to the first column, but he helped us with our luggage +and sent along a few comforts such as tobacco and quinine. I +heard that all the money at the fall of Kut was distributed +among the garrison, and about three or four gold liras were to +have reached me. They did not, however. I have only +eighty piastres left, the balance of changing fifty rupees. +At night it is very hot and we sleep on the roofs, as does all +Baghdad. Major Cotton has grown worse. On arrival here +he was taken to some contagious disease hospital by mistake, +and met no one who knew who he was or who could speak +for him, days after he came here. His sufferings and mental +anguish had been terrible away from us all. Major Aylen +gave him a tablespoonful of champagne brought up secretly +from the camp by another party. After this the poor fellow +became more coherent and quite restful. Late that night +he begged me to take him on to the balcony. Notwithstanding +the pain of my back I managed to get him on the verandah. +He could not have weighed more than five stone. He said he +was very grateful to feel the gentle movement of a breeze. +Next morning he was dead. Details of other similar cases I +won't write about. + +_May 26th._--_Cavalry Barracks, Baghdad._ I have been here +some days, having decided that one could not hope to recover +in an empty house, and so after a week or more there resolved +on a supreme effort. We were sent to these Turkish barracks +near the north gate on the _maidan_. It was no great distance +but took much effort to get there. We left in the late afternoon, +but owing to mistakes of the sentries, who took us to +several wrong places, and to the fact that the Turkish sergeants +at the barracks did not approve of our papers, we still wandered +about after dark. He sent us back. This was repeated several +times. We wandered round the place in the dark huddled +up like sheep on the foul and stenching _maidan_ by our +postas who awaited the Commandant. + +Towards 10 p.m., in the dark we got up from the mud +pool, which reeked of the dead horses therein and the rubbish +of the city. Sick, hungry and cold we plodded up the steps +to empty rooms, our means of existence being only what +remained to us, that is to say, what the various parties had not +looted. This meant two or three tins of milk, a little bad tea, +and possibly raisins. + +The chief columns of officers have already left for Mosul. +Daily I practise walking on the wall, a space that offers +opportunity for a good promenade. I want to see how much +I can do. Altogether I feel a little better but the dysentery +has left me very weak, and after a half-mile have to sit down. +I have contrived to send my British orderly to the town +where, with the money I have raised by selling some of my +kit, he has bought on occasion small pieces of meat or fish, +a few vegetables, and even a small fowl which we shared among +six sick people. We stewed the fowl to rags and drank the +soup. + +I have been allowed by special leave to visit General +Smith in hospital. He had asked me during the last days of +Kut to do A.D.C. again to him in captivity. This was an +excellent chance for which I was most grateful, as it seemed +doubtful whether I would last the trek. But I have no money +and can't get any, and am averse to travelling on my general's +supply, as money now is one's chance of life. I told him frankly +that I am doubtful about being fit enough to carry on very +efficiently for him, but as he is to travel in a carriage over the +desert for all those hundreds of miles I could do a certain +amount, and I hoped to be of use in knowing something of French +and German. However, in my woebegone condition I was +promptly turned down. I recognize now that I am in for the +ordeal of the survival of the fittest with a heavy handicap. +We hear sometimes terrible accounts of the hardships undergone +over these hundreds of miles of foodless and often waterless +land, to struggle over which is an achievement even for a +strong man. But for one thing, we should be too dismayed +to start--that is the hope and will strong within us to survive. +One recognizes this show has become a competition between a +man and a merciless fate. I believe I shall get through. + +Major Middlemas and Lieutenant Greenwood shared my +room and we slept on our blankets on the floor. + +_Later._--We have been allowed three times into the town +and wandered through a bazaar full of bootshops and cafés. +Gunner Holmes sticks faithfully to me. He is lucky to have +escaped the lot of the others. Shortly after our arrival we +saw what even the oldest soldiers amongst us regarded as the +most awful spectacle of their lives--the sight of a column of +British soldiers under Turk and Arab guards entering Baghdad +after the march from Kut. They were literally walking +corpses, some doubled with the pains of cholera, some limping +from blows received _en route_. They were pressed on by their +guards. Some had lost their boots and shoes or had parted +with them for food. Some fell, but under the coercion of +loud shouts or a Turkish heel got up and lurched forward +again. + +We heard from hospital of the awful sufferings of the men +here who were quite unnecessarily confined in a bare baked-up +field near the station. Indians and British were all mixed +up, a deliberate effort of the Turk to encourage strife between +the Mussulman prisoners and the others. For some days, +mad with thirst, they struggled around a tiny foul pool into +which the sick crawled and collapsed. It became stirred up +with mud but the men, poor fellows, drank it. + +They have no cover from the sun except a few wretched +sticks propped on poles. + +Baghdad is a very old city. But from its grimy and ill-kept +streets and from its dust-smothered houses, the glamour +of its ancient romance seems very far off. One minaret of +Byzantine design we passed on our way to the town. There +is nothing else to tell one of its glorious past, in fact it is said +that all Baghdad was on the other bank. It is merely a drab, +dull succession of buildings formed of the sun-baked mud of the +desert. On the river, however, especially at sunset when the +dirt and dust are obscured and only the pipes of the Baghdadis +and Arabs blaze in the dusk, it is decidedly picturesque. + +All the sick, even if only partly able to walk, start on the +desert trek for Mosul in a few days. We have heard so much +of waterless marches and barren lands crossed only by the +nastiest Arabs, that one has the resistless desire to try one's +chance. To move is to live; to stay here is to die. + +_Later._--I have made a small tour of some antique shops in +the bazaar with a delightful youth named Lacy of the Hants. +He has just left school and is as slender and green as the young +willow, and yet he has contrived to keep his manners intact, +to await quietly his turn and to prefer dignified acquiescence +to selfishness. We found quite an amount of silver work and +even china, some of which we heard had found its way here +during the war from an old caravan route from China. + +I have corrupted my first sentry by giving him a drink, +swallowed a horrible cognac, the immediate effects of which +were promising, and learned two Turkish words. One is +"yok," which means "there is not," and the other is "yesak," +which means forbidden! + +_Mosul, June 14th._--Nearly three weeks ago at Baghdad +the convalescent and sick who were able to move at all were +given several false starts, and then without notice marched in +the fierce heat to the railway station nearly two miles off. We +then lay down in the road until evening when the train was found +to be unable to start. We bought some bread and at intervals +managed leave from our guards to get water. In the early morning +we left by train for Samarra, the rail head eighty miles off, a +tiny village on the scorching plain. Dust storms enveloped +us as we marched to quarters which were on the ground inside +a serai. A few branches interwoven overhead afforded most +inadequate shelter. Here we met some other officers who had +been left behind from previous columns. Feverish preparations +filled the interval while we awaited donkeys which were +to transport us. One heard that previous columns had bought +the few available stores, and that the Arabs had learned +to put up prices. The novelty for the Turk of white prisoners +was wearing off, and altogether we seemed in for a rough time. +We were allowed to go down to the river near by to bathe under +escort. On one occasion our padre quoted "By the waters of +Babylon we sat down and wept when we thought of thee, +O Zion." We realized we were the Third Captivity. In +fact he might have selected another psalm. + +About a quarter of the donkeys turned up. Our senior +officer objected; but ultimately we had to start with what we +could get, a half donkey for one's kit and one-third for oneself. +We had to walk in turns, and from the size and condition +of the donkeys a collapse was soon inevitable. Major Middlemas +and I piled our kit on a large donkey, whom we called the +Cynic, from the cut of his head and from his eye and his +perpetual sneer, no doubt brought about by a disgust of the +Turk's hopeless _bandobast_. He went at his own pace. + +The sun was setting on the desert as our column of about +forty British officers, a number of native officers, and some +sick men whom we took as orderlies, wound slowly over the +scorching sand. Dust from the forward column blinded us, +and one was frequently almost ridden down by others pressing +on. A riding animal I shared with Lieutenant Lee-Bennett, +who feeling ill collapsed after doing a mile or two, and so he +rode most of the time. He had been very ill, whereas I was +recovering, and although racked with pain I managed to keep +going by holding on to a strap. At intervals in the hot night +we halted. I shall never forget the impressiveness of this +scene. Our long shadows reached far over the plain. For +the most part we were silent men, and determination to get +as far as possible was in every one's heart, but it was an absolute +gamble. Here and there friends walked beside a donkey and +held a sick man up. I felt an inner conviction I would manage +all right, and this kept me up in many a doubtful moment +later. Here and there an Indian Mussulman soldier fell out +for a few seconds, and with his forehead in the desert dust +paid his devotion to Allah. More than one of our guards did +so likewise. A glorious sky of red sailing clouds stretched +above us, and there came over me the battle picture of Détaille's +"Dream," a procession of soldier spirits marching across the +sky with banners streaming, while down on the plain below, +among stacks of piled rifles, men lay sleeping among the dead. +Some Arab set up his chant and the rhythm then fitted +in exactly with that of Beethoven's funeral march. I was +sorry for having had to start without some of my friends. +Lieutenant Lacy of the Hants was too ill. He has drawn +very much on his youth. I have been much struck with his +quiet manly self-possession. + +It was a feverish night, and as it wore on we found our +strength giving out. To fall out was to be neglected and lost. +One pressed on as in a sort of nightmare. Now and then +a donkey fell or refused to budge and our orderlies had to be +carried also. This meant casting kit. At last we reached the +camping place, but there was no water. After an hour or two +of broken sleep we were aroused by shouts of "Haidee" (hurry), +"Yallah" (get on). Now our donkeys had been requisitioned +from Arabs at Samarra, and Turkish payment is generally +nothing. These Arabs followed us in the night. In the +morning most of the donkeys were missing. We had had to +sleep where we were ordered and could not guard them +ourselves. This meant a fruitless search, and after much labour +the Cynic only was recovered from another convoy. Our +riding animal was gone so I had to walk. It was an awful +march once the sun had got up. In the distance a few sandstone +hills appeared. Our tongues were swollen and our +throats on fire as we at last staggered on to the river. The +donkeys bolted into the water, and some fell in with their +packs on them. After a rest of two hours we went on again +over stony defiles. I had to fall out several times and then +had some luck in buying from an Arab a ride on his tiny donkey, +whom I called Peter Pan, a small thing not two feet high but +awfully game. We pulled each other up the hills, and hours +afterwards tumbled into Te Krit, a hostile Arab village which +treated our men abominably. + +We slept in a Serai stable place and rested two days, +purchasing what food we could. On the river front was a +camp of our soldiers dying from enteritis and dysentery. +Medicine that had been left in charge of a native assistant +surgeon had been sold to the Turks and the money kept by +him. Many and loud were the complaints of our men against +him. This man I understand is to be dealt with. He was an +absolute traitor, in fact, murderer. The Turks had no +medicine, and what this man sold had been carefully preserved +and given to the camp by a previous column. The ration for +the men (who had no money) was indigestible bread, and they +were only allowed to crawl to the muddy river which made +dysentery worse. The Arabs were particularly bad, and it +wasn't safe to go outside the door without a guard. While +defending my bundle of scanty clothes on the donkey from a +big Arab, his friends made off with my spare haversack of +utensils, and I lost this haversack also with my water-bottle. + +From here the trek became a daily affair. Men fell out and +died or were left in some village. Donkeys collapsed and kit +had to be abandoned. From out of the darkness one heard +moaning cries of "Marghaya, Sahib" "Marghaya" (dying) +from our Indian friends who could go no farther. One looked +into the night and saw the Arab fires, and knew the fate of +him who fell out. + +Turkish troops passing our column in the night seized our +water-bottles and rugs or anything they could get without +making too much disturbance, and although I have no doubt +this was against orders, still no one seems concerned to see +Turkish orders carried out. We made bivouac tents of our +rugs by the river at which we fetched up each night. The +country became a sand-grassy waste. Here and there were +a few goats or sheep herded by the river. The rest was desert. +At Khan Khernina, a stopping place on the Tigris, we prepared +for the long waterless march of which we had heard so much. +We bought waterskins, cast spare kit, and with our dates, +chupattis, and the bones of our last meal for stew, for we could +afford meat only once a week as our small pay from Baghdad +was almost finished, we pressed on. It was a terrible march for +sick men. Hour after hour we kept going, our thirst increasing +and our water evaporating from the skins. I had no donkey +but borrowed one here and there from my brother officers. +We all tried to help our orderlies also. + +Later, I coaxed on a small beast that had collapsed and had +been left to die. Gunner Holmes and I had to chastise him +along and he required pushing. After a time we got him to go +a little better and tried making him walk behind our water-bottles +strung on the donkey ahead that carried now three +officers' kits. Every one asked why we bothered. That night, +however, when other donkeys were giving out and the halting +place drew near, our donkey revived and made off at a great +rate expecting to end up with his usual draught of water. It +was this beast that helped us to negotiate the worst patch. + +The night of the first great waterless march we rested on +the _maidan_, a hilly bare spot near some salt springs, and had +a most entertaining time of it. Dust storms revolved around +us and donkeys stamped over our heads as they stampeded. +Kit, men, and beasts became indistinguishable. Nightmare +followed nightmare in quick succession, and shortly after, while +it was still dark, we were hurried on. The thing was to get in +the lead of the column and, having the use of a donkey for the +first hour, I left with the leading file alongside Fauad Bey, +our half-Turk, half-Arab Commander. This meant getting +ready early. He was a rough sort but his chief sins were +ignorance and faulty judgment and inability to make any sort +of _bandobast_. With proper orders much of our sorrows could +have been obviated. The waterless march continued through +dust and heat. Donkey after donkey collapsed. Our last +drop of water was evaporating, so we drank it. At last, +after some hours, we looked down over a depression and the +cry "mai," "mai" (water), came from our guards ahead--they, +too, wanted water. + +The Tigris lay far below. The cry was taken up in Hindustani +"pani," "pani." It travelled down the column giving +hope to the faltering. The village was still three miles off. +Then a thunderstorm with heavy rain broke over us. The +beautiful water soaked on to our skin. We loved it. + +An hour or so afterwards we reached Shergat, that in old +times was Asshur--the Assyrian capital of the 13th century, +B.C. The excavations enabled us to see something of the +life of that ancient town. There seemed much Roman work +there, too. In the first hour we drank and drank and drank +again, and then got into the river, sick men and all, to let +the glorious element caress us once again. Then we settled +down for sleep among donkeys, drivers, and Turks, the bearers +flourishing pots all round us. The better rooms on the balcony +and first floor were for senior officers. I was feeling very +weakened and could not sleep for pain in my spine, but hoped +to get through as the waterless march was over. + +Malaria returned the second night, and with a temperature +of 105° I heard we were off. I felt appallingly unsteady and my +head throbbed to every movement of the donkey, as it does +in such cases. I was lucky to have any donkey at all, because +some of the native orderlies having lost their own donkeys clean +shaved most of the others, thus erasing the letters that had +been cut out of the hair of the animal. Wild and high raged +many a conflict over donkeys. I found mine had been re-branded +and was claimed by another. At the last moment I +managed to get a tiny animal from an Arab water-carrier +for my last money. + +Once again we filed out to the setting sun past Bedouin +camps. We crossed some heavy water-courses, and more than +one humorous event occurred thereat. To see a colonel +seated on a diminutive donkey that stuck midstream, refusing +to budge either forward or backward while the water gradually +climbed up the angry colonel's breeches, was quite entertaining. +In such cases a fat Turk or Arab would seize the +animal's nose while the others pushed the beast or the colonel +from behind. I remember that on one such occasion a very +"bobbery" major rode a donkey that had conceived an +affection for mine, and always followed my little beast. So when +we stuck midstream the major's beast stopped also, and, less +lucky than I, his animal happened to have stopped on some +quicksand so that when finally my beast was got to move +the major's could not. The whole four of us were equally +put out. I suggested later that we should exchange donkeys, +but as I had only a slight lien on my animal the major disagreed. + +A detailed account of our many wanderings would spoil +the perspective of this diary. We went on through the nights +and through the days; through dust-storms and heat, by +night passing the fires of Arabs who awaited the stragglers, +sometimes camping by Bedouin tents or pebbly water-courses, +always following the trail of dead, for every mile or +so one saw mounds of our dead soldiers by the wayside. We +left Hammamali, a village of sulphur-baths, on the 14th June, +and stumbling over rocky ground for some hours we reached +far-famed Mosul, and with great delight saw again a few trees. +Then appeared the mounds of Nineveh and the mounds of +the palace of the great King Sardanapalus. But even the +shades of Sargon, Shalmaneser and Sennacherib scarcely +interested us. In the foreground we saw a great tomb which +we were told was John the Baptist's! And Alexander's great +battlefield of Arbela lay on the eastern plain. + +The impression of life in Mosul is bad. We have some +rooms in an appalling dirty barracks among gangs of Kurds +in chains. Every day or so one of these is hung. Down +below in the basement our men are dying wholesale. They +are the survivors of previous columns. We have been compulsory +guests of a Turkish officers' club. They charged us +three times as much as the town did, and generally neglected +us. General Melliss, however, told us to-day to go to the town. +We quoted his high authority freely and went to a most +excellent little Italian restaurant. The proprietor was from +Naples, and we had some conversation of his old haunts. He +did us very well and quite reasonably, actually cashing a +cheque or two for us. + +_Nisibin, June 26th._--After many false rumours of wagons +and carts for transport and the usual half-dozen false starts +we left Mosul on June 20th. Early in the morning before +starting I slipped out in the confusion of preparing the columns +and did the round of Mosul absolutely unattended. With the +little Turkish I had picked up and French here and there, I +visited the bank quarter to try to raise some money by cheque. +There was no chance of this, but I succeeded in changing the +notes I had for smaller. The notes were not accepted in the +bazaar, and one was charged for paper change. I had not +the fortune of meeting one likely person or I should not have +returned, but to attempt to escape without help in such a +place with the desert all around was too hopeless. I saw +merely bazaar and squabbling Arabs. + +On the 20th a few tiny donkeys were given us for riding +animals, about enough to allow one officer out of six a ride +one hour in three. Some donkeys were on three legs, some so +poor and sick they could scarcely move. For transport we +were shown a set of a dozen untrained, wild and unharnessed +camels, altogether the most savage and nasty brutes I have +ever seen. They were unapproachable and snapped and +gyrated and then trotted away. If a kit were fixed on they +proceeded to brush it off. One or two had a rotten saddletree +without any girths, bridles or head-straps there were none, +only a piece of rotten rag or rope being around the animals' +heads. We had, however, already laid in a stock of the best +rope we could get, and having first fitted this into the jaws of +the brutes, proceeded to fix on our kit. I was very amused +at the efforts of the Turks to help us. They tied the kit +actually on one camel's neck, and our Indian bearers went one +better by tying it on to his legs. However, finally we got +most of our kit on board, and then the fun started. First +one and then another got loose, as the servants were too +weak to hold them. Soon the road was a procession of fleeing +camels dropping bundle after bundle in their headlong flight. + +This pantomime went on for hours. It was awfully hot. +We took a long time to get them refitted. An hour later, +blinded with perspiration and dust and in the last stage of +exhaustion, we set out again, having done only about four +miles of this terrible trek of which we had heard so much and +which was now said to be worse than the other we had just +finished. We plodded on. Presently loud shouts of consternation +broke from the rear, and we saw a gigantic camel laden +up with well-roped valises, firewood, and stores topped with +rugs, and a fowl or two. He simply charged through the +procession, brushing every bit of kit off the other camels as +he passed and setting off two or three along with him. One +camel followed him with a helpless bearer seated on the top +of the stores, the head-rope gone. His shouts as he was borne +toward the wrong part of the horizon would have been funny +if it had not meant disaster for his sahib. We rested an hour +or two and then went on in two columns, one of which got lost +and did several miles too much, joining us before the dawn in +time to start again. The camel pantomime continued. I +walked or borrowed a ride from an Arab. My endurance was +to me the marvellous thing. + +I was almost two stone underweight, and very unwell +from the long bout of colitis, my digestion quite out of gear, +weak from want of nourishment and my shell-bruise, not to +mention continual pain from my eyes. Yet with all the +exertion and sleepless nights, so fascinating was movement +after long inaction that I managed to go along quite well, and +at times felt my legs swinging rhythmically along in the night +and believed it possible to be well one day again. One donkey +I managed to get for my baggage and that of my fellow +voyager, Lieutenant Stapleton, I.A.R., who was an official "of +important dimensions" in the I.C.S., and although not much _au +fait_ with knots and donkeys, made a most excellent purchasing +officer, as his Arabic was so doubtful that the Arabs, being at a +loss to know his wants, had to produce all their possessions, +and in this way we ended up more than once in having a +goat's head when he had set out to describe the more expensive +chicken. He was keen on ologies, and we called him the +Ologist. One tried to extract humour out of our incongruous +situations, but getting tired of being humorous we ended by +examining things from the resigned angle of the fatalist. + +Each day before the dawn broke we were up, and after a +breakfast of tea, black bread, a small piece of cheese and two +figs, or generally only raisins, we prepared to leave. Then the +camel pantomime started afresh, and it was no uncommon +sight to see half our convoy of camels bolting headlong in +the wrong direction before a crowd of galloping gendarmes and +Turks, their uplifted tails disappearing over a sand-ridge +against the rising sun and their kit distributed at intervals on +the plain. + +On this trek we lost the sense of time. Sometimes we +marched by day, but generally in the evening and well on into +the night. But for us time was not. I knew two seasons +only: when we walked and when we did not. I did not always +sleep. We have had to rely on provisions we brought with us +and live chiefly on raisins. Sometimes one was on foot, +sometimes one rode, and a broken-down wagon or two offered +a fraction of a seat to any one that collapsed up to the number +of six. But so many from one cause or another got sick +or footsore that the extra had to hang on to the wagon. + +Our Commandant, Fauad Bey, has been in a most obstreperous +and belligerent mood for days. He allowed our senior +officer, Colonel Cummings, to remain and fish at the latter's +request at the first camp out of Mosul on the understanding +that he would follow with his escort the same night. The +colonel turned up some days later, and whatever misunderstanding +there was, Fauad considered his kindness abused, and +made the whole column suffer with regulations and restrictions. +At Demir Kapu we finished the most strenuous march I have +ever done. It was a dry, waterless stretch of forty kilometres +over parched ground with not even salt springs _en route_. +Again and again we had nothing left but the will to go on. +My donkey collapsed, and with difficulty I got him to a swamp +of foul slime in which, besides many bones, were the half-picked +skeletons of two donkeys that had apparently been +drowned in their attempt to get water. + +So dry and thirsty were the animals that most of them +rushed into the slimy pool up to their backs and then subsided, +kit and all, into the mud. We extricated them, and having +drunk our fill also of slime, we set out for the last few miles. +This water was green and filled with germs, but one's experience +had pretty well inoculated one by this time. Our thirst +was not to be denied. One's soul was hot within one and one's +tongue dry and hard. With our limit of transport there was +no alternative, and most of us had had no money wherewith +to buy "mussocks" (waterskins). The column reached out +for miles. Even our guard were quite done. + +At length we reached Demir Kapu (iron gates), where a cool +translucent stream runs through some rocks, and we drank and +bathed, and some having slept began to fish. At our next +halting-place a dust-storm descended on our camp in the night. +I have been in dust-storms in various places, but this was of a +new order. With a roar like thunder a deluge of sand fell +upon us, travelling terrifically fast. It tore down bivouacs, +carried off tents and valises, pulled up picketing pegs, and rolled +even heavy pots hundreds of yards off, where they were buried +in the sand and many lost. We could not stand against it +any more than against an incoming tide. It lasted for some +minutes. One buried one's head and lay with all one's weight +on one's kit. I understand how people are often suffocated +in these storms, as even this was quite long enough. My +chief loss was my topee, for which I looked long in the dark +and even walked along the river to within a few yards of an +Arab village to see if it had been carried down. The next +day my improvised headgear of a towel proved inadequate, +and I went down with an awful attack of sunstroke. Our +medical officer allowed me to ride some of the way in the ambulance +cart, as my temperature, he said, was quite high. Thanks +to his kindness and attention and wet cloths I picked up enough +to walk a little. I arrived at Nisibin feeling very ill and +feverish. + +I am writing under an old Roman stone bridge. Nisibin was +once the outpost of the Roman Empire, and ruins of an +ancient university life are found on the plain and along the +wall. It is frightfully hot. There is little food in the bazaar +and prices are the highest yet met, a handful of raisins being +about half a crown. + +I set out yesterday for the hospital to recover a topee, as +I heard a British officer had died there. After many wanderings +through tiny streets and dark quarters and backyards +and many redirections, I was led through a doorway of +matting hanging from the mud-brick wall into a courtyard, +where through an opening in the wall I saw a sight that +staggered the imagination. + +A bare strip of filthy ground ran down to the river some two +hundred yards off. Along the wall, protected by only a few +scanty leaves and loose grass flung over some tatti work of +branches through which the fierce sun streamed with unabated +violence, I saw some human forms which no eye but one +acquainted with the phenomenon of the trek could possibly +recognize as British soldiery. They were wasted to wreathes +of skin hanging upon a bone frame. For the most part they +were stark naked except for a rag around their loins, their +garments having been sold to buy food, bread, milk, and +medicine. Their eyes were white with the death hue. Their +sunken cheeks were covered with the unshaven growth of +weeks. One had just died and two or three corpses just been +removed, the Turkish attendant no doubt having heard of +the approach of an officers' column. But the corpses had +lain there for days. Some of the men were too weak to move. +The result of the collection of filth and the unsanitary state in +the centre of which these men lay in a climate like this can be +imagined. Water was not regularly supplied to them, and +those unable to walk had to crawl to the river for water. +One could see their tracks through the dirt and grime. Three +or four hard black biscuits lay near the dead man. Other +forms near by I thought dead, but they moved unconsciously +again. One saw the bee-hive phenomenon of flies which +swarmed by the million going in and out of living men's open +mouths. I was discovered talking to the men by a Turk and +"haideed" off to the Turkish officer. Having assured them of +doing all in my power, and having given them the two or three +poor useless little coins I could spare, I went to the Turk, having +got the topee of Lieutenant O'Donoghoe, who had died under +conditions little better, with no doctor, no medicine, and no +food but "chorba" (vegetable soup, practically water). He +had lingered in this awfully lonely place for weeks and no +transport had been offered him. + +I talked long to the Turk, who understood some French, +and told him how this sort of thing was destroying the name +of Turkey and how for these things the day of reckoning must +come. He was more moved by the latter than the former, +knowing that in Turkey officials may be sacrificed for any +caprice of another person. An Armenian was there also, and +I much despised him for expressing horror to me of _les barbares_ +when the Turk was outside, but obviously siding with him +when together. He then showed me the place of the men +in order to point out that I was wrong in not understanding +that Turkish kindness was proportionate to their mercy. He +was angry, however, when I tried to take him towards "the" +place, and more so when he heard that I had actually been +allowed to go. The case was taken up by our padre, Rev. +H. Spooner, and Father Mullan. What men could move, +came along with us. We have raised a subscription of some +£60 for the men. Then we heaped large curses on the Commandant +and vowed vengeance. The men's lot altered for +the better, and we promised to press Turkish authority to send +transport. The great pity is that General Melliss, who had +achieved miracles _en route_ in alleviating the sufferings of our +men, did not stop at Nisibin, the real state of the worst quarters +having been withheld from him. + +Nisibin is halfway on the second trek, and the column is +getting decidedly weaker. At night, when the remorseless +sun is gone, we wander up and down our tiny front between +the sentries smoking what Arab tobacco we can get and +casting many an anxious glance towards the western horizon +over which far, far away lies Ras-el-Ain, the railway terminus. +Between this and that there are many marches throughout +long nights and days. Shall we reach it? + + * * * * * + +_Ras-el-Ain, July 4th._--I am thankful to Providence that +I am lucky enough to write this heading. At last we are +arrived in the wretched village, but as I write I hear a locomotive +puffing and puffing. We are on the railhead. No +sailor after being tossed amid shipwreck in a frantic ocean +ever felt happier to be in port than do we, to realize the long +march is done. There are other marches ahead over mountains, +but they are short, we hear. The desert is crossed. + +We left Nisibin on June 29th at 6.30 p.m. with some very +unsatisfactory donkeys, taking with us all the sick we could. +One or two of these had slipped out from hospital unawares, +and joined us as we passed on. They begged to be allowed to +come, saying they preferred dying on the desert to going back +to the terrors of Nisibin. We put them up on every available +donkey, and some in our hospital cart, and our orderlies helped +the rest along. For the most part they did well, although, +as the trek wore on, one after another collapsed, and those +that did not die at once we left in the most congenial camp +we could. The first two nights were bad. The donkeys went +stubbornly, as they invariably did, before getting into the +swing of the trek. + +The pace of the column was coming down to about two +miles and often less an hour. The local Arabs seemed wilder, +and we had to keep together, as one party of Turks had been +recently massacred outright. + +We were reinforced with vigilant gendarmes. For the +stragglers it was certain death at the Arabs' hands. The tail +of the column was an awful place. Sometimes one got here +when one's donkey collapsed or kit fell off, or when one felt +too seedy to sit on one's donkey, or too tired to walk fast +when it was one's relay to walk. Four of us shared one +donkey, Stapleton and I and our orderlies. At the rear of +the column the mounted gendarmes, Turk and Arab, galloped +about, exhorting the sick and dying to hurry, almost riding +them down and driving them on with blows of sticks and their +rifle butts. We, of course, stopped this when we could. One +night I got badly left, and the column was miles off. My +donkey and orderly had collapsed at the same time, and +Stapleton was not available on this occasion, in fact he was +probably ill himself. A small band of us we were, and more +than once I was practically knocked over by the impetuous +horsemen. + +The padre was awfully good and diligent in assisting men, +but, nevertheless, from out the night one heard the high Indian +wail, "murghaya, sahib," "dying, sahib, dying." For the most +part British soldiers stayed with their friends until they were +dead. I saw some of the finest examples history could produce +of the British soldier's self-sacrifice for and fidelity to his +friend. It was a grim reality for the sick of the column. +For those well, and many were comparatively so, it was +quite a different thing. I shall never forget one soldier who +could go no farther. He fell resignedly on to the ground, the +stump of a cigarette in his mouth, and with a tiredness born +of long suffering, buried his head in his arms to shut out the +disappearing column and smoked on. Night was around us +and Arab fires near. We were a half-mile behind the column. +I was quite exhausted. One sick soldier was hanging on to a +strap of my donkey. My orderly on another. His feet were +all blood, as his boots had been taken from him. A soldier +went to the sick man behind, but I did not see him again. +Shortly after, on the same awful night, I saw another man +crawling on all fours over the desert in the dark quite alone. +He said he hoped to reach the next halt, and get his promised +ride for half an hour, and by that time he might go on again +to the next place. We picked him up, and I gave him my +strap. Another sick orderly held him up. He was all bone, +and could scarcely lurch along. We eventually got him to the +halt, and gave him a place in a cart. + +At another place we came across a British soldier whose +suffering had been so acute that he had gone out of his mind +and lost his memory. He had been left in a cave, and had +evidently eaten nothing for days, but had crawled down to +the water. He was delirious and jabbering, and thought he +was a dog. We carried him along in the cart to the next camp. + +On another occasion our donkey bolted, and we were left +with no transport whatever, even for our blankets or water. +By the greatest good luck I hired a donkey for some of my kit +from a passing convoy, and the Arab followed me up for days, +getting all he could out of me. Our Commandant finally +thrashed him for charging too much, and gave us the donkey +henceforth for nothing. But it disappeared the same night, +and was probably stolen. I thought hard things of the +Commandant. + +The column grew weak and slower, and at the end we had +to use three carts to move the sick on in relays. + +The march to Tel Ermen was the worst. We were raided +by Turkish troops on the march, and lost our boots and lots +more. Above us the famous old town of Mardin lay perched +up on its altitude, a high-walled and ramparted city of the +Ancients looking over a waste of desert and enjoying a secluded +life. We wondered how many treks like ours it had seen. + +We left more and more of the men and orderlies behind. +The last stage was terribly trying, and we were doing forced +marches by night and day. We were done to a turn. Only +the driving power of one's will made one press on to the magic +word "Ras-el-Ain." The future is doubtful enough. But we +are at least here. To-morrow we may leave for Aleppo or +Konia, no one knows which, least of all the Turk. + +We found here most of the doctors, including Fritz and +Murphy, living in a wretched little mud-building on rotten +and stale eggs brought from Aleppo. + +The Hindoos, less favoured than the Mohammedan +prisoners, are to remain here. We saw their gaunt skeletons +at work carrying baskets of gravel in constructing the railway +for the Turks back over the desert they had crossed. This +outlook seemed to me sufficiently appalling. They had very +little food. The British soldier was to move on. We were +glad he was spared this. + +I have just visited secretly a German N.C.O. camp of +mechanical transport close by. They gave me coffee and +biscuits, and, in exchange for a khaki jacket and jodpurs, some +tins of bully, a bag of coffee, and some cheese. They were on +the point of giving me some more, but I had to go. They +told me a lot about Germany, and of the German victory at +Kattegat, of which I saw a description in a cutting just received +by one of them. We believed, nevertheless, the German had +in reality been well hammered on the sea. The Germans +couldn't understand my incredulity, and said they didn't see +why they shouldn't do on the sea what they had done on the +land. Verdun, they said, would be taken in two weeks. +They admitted the French defence was a surprise. + +Lord Kitchener's death at sea I didn't believe. + +Nevertheless, one feels one has reached partial civilization +to be able to speak of France and the fleet, even to a German. + +We were huddled together near some stagnant water in +the village for some hours without cover in the heat of the +day. Then the sun went down behind the tiny collection of +mud huts. Our future was in doubt. We smoked for the +most part in silence, and watched the shadows lengthening +towards the Eastern desert over which we had managed to +survive. I can only record the dreadful aspect of the lot of +those unfortunate prisoners destined to remain here until the +end of the war. + + * * * * * + +I feel dreadfully ill and weak. The last spurt has drained +our remaining vitality. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +BY RAIL AND TREK OVER THE TAURUS TO ANGORA--THE LAST +TREK TO KASTAMUNI + + +_En Route._ + +Suddenly, some time after sunset, we were just preparing +to settle down by the station for the night +when a train drew up. With some other subalterns +I found a small place for a bed in a truck. There was a space +of four feet by two for each of us. We stuffed our legs +anywhere and slept. The train started and we awoke. The +doors of the truck were open. We watched the desert go by, +thankful beyond expression, mystified at this extraordinary +change, the conveyance of dying men without their own effort. +The terrible bumps and the state of the trucks were nothing. +It was a train. + +Some time in the early morning we crossed the Euphrates, +near where stood the site of ancient Jarabolis. The archæologist +of the party told of the excavations here, and, somewhere +to the north, of Karkemish the Hittite capital in the twilight +of history. + +About 10 a.m. we arrived at Mouslemie, the junction of +Aleppo, some half-hour off by train from that city, whither +were sent most of the sick rank and file that had accompanied +us, including all our servants. Only one batman for four +officers was allowed us. To my dismay I had to part with +poor Graoul, otherwise Holmes, to whom I gave half my +rations the Germans had given me and my last kron. I found +afterwards more than one had "wangled" an extra servant. +Padre Spooner asked me to share with him and a subaltern +nicknamed Hummerbug, in order to keep a sick servant he +had with him. This meant we had to move our own luggage. +The prospect was appalling, as I was too sick and weak to +walk far without sitting down. + +We had no food and no money, not having been paid since +Mosul. Father Mullan, our kind Catholic padre, gave me a +piastre. With it I bought a piece of bread, and shared it with +another subaltern. Other officers were too poor to pay the +small debts they owed. + +At five we stopped near a German train bound for Ras-el-Ain. +A trooper aboard it was trying to buy gold signet rings +at a tenth of their value. He showed us several he had got +from other unfortunates. He advised our getting supplies at +once, as at the mountain stop there was nothing to be had. + +An hour later we proved it true enough. The place was +called Islahie--merely a station with two or three new houses +where a German Staff dwelt, and some skin and brushwood +shelters where sick British soldiers lay--all under the shadow +of wooded heights. An awful Turkish brute followed me as I +tried to drag our kits over the country to the camping place. +Cholera was supposed to be raging here, and we were kept +apart from the others. Excellent water was brought us in a +water-cart. I missed my orderly Graoul. The padre and a +subaltern nicknamed Hummerbug and I now messed together. +His servant I afterwards found was too sick to do much. + +We boiled the German ration, and I had some soup--besides +which we had the coffee. Some real tobacco had turned up, +and I remember sitting beside the fire smoking disconsolately +and missing Graoul. Graoul, too, would be lost without me. +Why, he had no sense of humour whatever! + +I sat smoking, I say, disconsolately until the long shadows +lengthened along the hills of the Taurus and climbed higher +and higher upon the mountain sides. The last twilight left +little coppery patterns on the crest of the dark glens. The +white-washed houses on the lower slope reminded me forcibly +of Scotland. I felt I might hear the tinkle of a bell and expect +at any moment to see a brawny Scotch shepherd with his +shaggy dogs at his heels take the cottage path from the height +above. We made a jugga and slept. The next morning +early we came across a German Flying Corps officer, who +informed us he was engaged to some one in England, and proceeded +to help us. We raked up sardines, a little milk, and +small change. Also he promised to speak to a German +colonel arriving that day, about the way we were being +hustled. + +We had a better breakfast, and being allowed to see the +now isolated patients, I went among the men's quarters and +found them in a shocking state. About thirty had died there. +They had money which had been given them by the Red Cross +people at Aleppo. In the course of the day the German +colonel turned up and walked into Fauad in true Prussian +style, the result being that carts were provided for us--four +to a cart, with kit, and, happy to the point of shouting, we +clambered into them. Two officers having to walk an inquiry +was made as to who had taken a cart for two only instead of +for four. Although they were asked they admitted nothing +until a tally of each cart being taken it was found that two +officers had bagged one cart to themselves so that they could +lie stretched out. This meant others walking. Without carts +we must have left half our number behind. + +The Turkish method of driving a cart is to gallop 200 +yards and then crawl. At 2 a.m. we stopped three-quarters +of the way up and, without unpacking our valises, slept on +the ground. Before dawn we were away again, and every one +had to walk except those crippled with sprained ankles and +so on. I found it a most dreadful climb in my condition. I +was trembling through weakness, and the well-belaboured +mules went at a very fast walk up the steep gradient, so that +I had to hustle to keep up. Deep ravines fell away from the +road, but the hills were not high enough to grow the mountain +fir. Other scrub and dwarf pines grew thickly. We walked +for two and a half hours, the perspiration dripping from our +clothes. I was in acute pain for some of the time with +ravages of old complaints. There were plenty of clear, running +streams from springs, and at each of these we soused our +hands and heads in the cool water. We walked up the steep +inclines. Near the top the wretched drivers galloped away to +prevent our getting in, but I caught a belated one after going +a mile farther, while some still toddled away astern. The +driver tried to turn me out, but his mules required most of his +attention, so I stayed up. + +The whole trip was to be about twenty-four miles. These +mountains were being pierced by tunnels, as yet only recently +begun from the western slope, a switchback ride being nothing +to it. Without brakes of any kind, but only trusting to the +collars and pole chain of the mules, the drivers, with loud +shouts, galloped their animals down; now and again a wheel +going over the edge of the ravine or the pole fetching up in +the cutting, or in the back of some fellow sitting in the rear +of the cart ahead. The carts were the usual four-wheeled, +groggy thing we had got used to. Several times our cart got +away, we tipping another cart over into a hole, and on another +occasion we raced to pass another at awful speed before +reaching a narrow corner. We did it by inches, but hit the +corner, the second cart getting its pole into the kit I sat on, +and hoisting me feet uppermost into the air. One collision +happened, injuring a mule, smashing a cart, and just missing +Colonel Cummings, who said things in English to all whom it +might concern. As it was, his servant was sent flying over +the _khud_. + +We arrived at the village of Hassan Beyli at 8.30 a.m. It +nestled in a pretty little wooded valley among orchards +clustering on the adjoining slopes. As we passed through the +main street I noticed that all the houses were closed with +shutters. We learned that their Armenian tenants had been +butchered _à la Turque_. We waited in the sun, and were moved +here and there, each time dragging our kits with us. I was +waiting beside mine in a stony field when suddenly I felt +extremely dizzy and faint with a feeling of nausea. I had to +abandon my kit, and I plodded over to some shelter, where I +lay down, and a cold perspiration broke out all over my body, +and I experienced the pains and vomitings of the enteritis +attack in Kut. At this moment the English padre appeared, +and suggested that to think one's self well is to be well. Here +I said something distressing, so he said. I am sure he meant +well. I had not felt so wretchedly sick since Kut fell, and +the doctor told me that evening that the chlorodyne I had +taken possibly prevented a collapse. We were on the verge of +cholera. In the evening after a sleep I gathered some sticks +and carried a little water, while the padre was meditating. +Then while our orderly made the stew and coffee I strolled away +to the stream and bathed. I dallied there quite a long time. + +In the half light we had "dinner." The padre returned +from his soliloquy in a most obviously exemplary and virtuous +mood. Oh, to be able to accumulate virtue on such an occasion +like a shilling gas meter, and without warning, turn it on, even +if an hour after it has all gone. I suggest taps affixed to the +person with little black letters on ivory thereon to the effect: +"HUMILITY," "BALM," "PRECEPT," "PATIENCE," +"MARTYRDOM," "ADVICE--On--Off." Hummerbug +annotated him. I encouraged both. I liked it. + +We slept that night until about 1 a.m., and in the darkness +loaded up the carts and pushed off. All had to walk in turn +to give the orderly a lift also. We drove through a pleasing +country of green foothills covered by wandering pine and +beech. In taking short cuts from road to road to catch up +to the carts as we walked, we came across many Armenian +homes smashed in and corpses half-covered with soil or flung +down a hollow, where the Turk had passed. About six o'clock +we met a great crowd of Armenian and Greek peasants, with +old men and old grey-haired women and children carrying +small bundles or articles of cooking, all herded together _en +route_ for somewhere. They were guarded by askars (soldiers). +In this way they are moved from place to place, their number +dwindling until all have gone. At a tiny coffee-place here we +had coffee and lebon and then walked the remaining miles +into Marmourie as the carts had been ordered not to wait for +us. It was a long and hurried walk. + +The country here looked quite pleasing to the eye. Fine +terraces, fringing woods that lined the slopes of moderate hills +and overlooking green valleys and splashing water-falls, +seemed to ask for a hydro and golf links. We reached +Marmourie about 8 o'clock, passing some Turkish soldiers +_en route_ over the Taurus, as also small ammunition transport. +Every bit of their ammunition for Mesopotamia has, it seems, +to go over these hills, as the other road, via Diabecca, is crossed +and occupied by the Russian troops. Near the top of the +Taurus we passed fittings for an aeroplane in huge cases that +had come all the way from Germany. These were for service +in Palestine obviously. Through some difference among the +Turkish officers we were not allowed to sit in the shade at +Marmourie while we awaited our train, but were made to sit +along a dirty wall in the fierce sun for hours like so many +convicts. We waited there in the sweltering heat, date the +8th July, from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m., drinking lebon every half-hour, +which we got from a shop near by. + +The train accommodation was small carriages, and the +trucks were reserved for luggage. Only the orderlies were +allowed in them, so we sat packed upright, and couldn't sleep +a wink. The stations along this line were larger and busier +than those east of the Taurus. Only once since getting into +the train at Ras-el-Ain had Fauad Bey, our Turkish Commandant, +helped us in the way of food. On that occasion he +issued a ration of bread to every one. Here we persuaded +him to send a wire to Adana to have lunch ready for us, Adana +being a large town near Taurus. When we arrived at Adana +at 4.30 there was great excitement on the thronged platform. +Gorgeously-attired police and other petty officials buzzed +about. It appeared that some Turkish officer was passing +through. We jumped off and ran along on the edge of the +platform, when we were told we were too wild and unkempt-looking +to be seen by the high Turkish official. "Damn the +high Turkish official," said we, "we want yesterday's lunch." +Yes! the lunch was there all ready, but they couldn't allow +us in! Moreover, we were not allowed to fill our bottles. If +we had been fit I verily believe we would have taken our +lunch. I was hauled back. But, getting through my train +on the other side and the cordon of Turks, I got inside the +enclosure unperceived, filled the bottles, brought a loaf of +bread, and caught our train as it left. No! escape was useless +that way. Soldiers thronged around every station. We went +on our doleful way until 9 p.m., when we were pulled up short +by a German coffee-shop, to which we were not permitted to +go. This was Gulek bei Tarsus of St. Paul's memory. + +After hauling our kits some distance we were pushed into +a square tent. We fell down and slept at once. It was an +awful jamb. My head was half outside the tent, and people +kept walking over it as if it were a cushion. Now I don't +mind sleeping in the horse lines a bit. But then horses are +so sensible. They know a head when they see it. People +were going in and out of the tent all night long, but I'm +glad to say I got a fair amount of sleep. One or two unfortunate +fellows had fever. Before the dawn I was up, +and went among the thick settlement of huts to the stream, +which I was threatened by the Turk sentry not to cross, +but I walked over before the Turk could say anything, +and started talking to some Germans there. Even to talk +to a German is a passport in this benighted land, so +thoroughly do they override their allies. I had a splendid +dip, while others looked enviously at me from the other +side. Recrossing I made the acquaintance of a spectacled +German doing Y.M.C.A. work among his own troops here. +He was a Biblical research student, and journeyed frequently +to Tarsus, some twelve miles off. This was called Gulek bei +Tarsus. Tarsus one could see in the distance. I thought of +St. Paul and Cleopatra, and hoped Tarsus had more trees +about it than this sandy plain, for their sakes. The German +seemed a very decent sort. We discussed Berlin. He had +been a visitor there once from Southern Germany. He asked +if we were short of money. When we started in motor-lorries +some hours later at 10 a.m. he came to my lorry and flung in +a bag of several liras from Red Cross Funds. This came to +about half a lira a piece. We thanked him sincerely, and he +wished us good luck. + +He had told me in the morning to come to his quarters, +but I had no opportunity. Cholera was raging there, and the +Germans had a pumping water-distillery, from which I got +some extra water. I learned later that many of our troops +were working at a tunnel on the slope of the Anti-Taurus +mountain here, and were dying like sheep. We saw nothing +of them, nor were we allowed to inquire. + +The _bandobast_ for this mountain was German, and we +were hustled off with commendable dispatch. At 9.45 a +dozen motor lorries drew up. At 10 we were off. They were +absolutely run by German officers and men. We swayed and +bounced about, quite reconciled to that, and thanking God it +wasn't a case of "leg it" again. These mountains are much +more barren than the others, being largely, on their eastern +slopes, white clay or lime-stone ravines and crags, with a few +shrubs here and there growing out of the stony ground. They +are also much wider. We passed some desolate Armenian +villages and tore along to the upper heights. At 11.30 we +stopped at a ruined mill by a fall to cool the hot engines, and +there had a drink and a piece of bread, also a slab of baked +meat, chiefly fat. It was a wild spot, great rocky crags falling +across the road. Another hour and we arrived at Park Taurus, +a German military halfway house, forty kilos from Gulek, +and thirty-two from Bozanti, whither we were going. + +Park Taurus is situated on a small plateau leading down +into three or four valleys surrounded by hills of crumpled +granite dotted with pines. The valleys are now dry, but in +winter must be filled with racing torrents. It is absolutely +German, and evidently erected during the last eighteen months. +The enclosures easily accommodate over a hundred motor +lorries, besides which they have huge electrically-lighted +store sheds and depôt, where they accumulate stores _en +route_. + +We were turned loose at 1.30 p.m. in a field where stood +a huge, empty tent. The Germans here were not so well +disposed towards us, and would not help us at all. Some +N.C.Os. who wanted to do a deal were hustled away. The +first arrivals bought out an Arab's tiny shop of honey and +raisins and potatoes, and there was little else to go round. +After a solid sleep, for our rest the previous night had been +very broken, we made a very bad meal. Our application +to bathe in an adjoining pool was not allowed. Then we all +sat around the side of the hill and smoked while once more +night floated down upon the world. The motors that had +been passing all day were now housed, and there was an +appreciable calm broken by falling streams and tumbling +brooks. Pale yellow stars burned passionately over the pine +tops; and once again here there was something in the far-away +spot that recalled the mountain forests of Thüringen. +There was less forest and more rock, but it served as another +span in that bridge we are all constructing back to old times--the +bridge that must span Kut and the trek.... + +At 4.15 the next morning, before it was light, we were +in the motors and away again. There followed, as usual, a +wild scramble and fearful scrumming around the lines, as we +were not awakened until five minutes before leaving. This +journey was decidedly bumpy, and we had to grip hard to +stick inside the four walls of the thing at times. The country +became wilder and rockier with only a few boulder pines +climbing up the heights. Along the face of these limestone +bluffs one observed a queer phenomenon of splashed yellow +rocks, seemingly spilled from some gigantic cauldron, dried +and hung out like blanketings in the morning sun. Then +there were caves and water-worn caverns, said to have been +once the homes of the Hittites. Many Turkish and others +worked on the road, and dishevelled troops passed us _en route_ +for the Mosul or Palestine front, via Aleppo. + +At last, two great tall upstretching tongues of rock, almost +meeting, filled the mouth of the converging valley, and rendered +any attempt to cross into that valley by any other way than +between them almost impossible, except for an Alpiner. These +were the famous Cilician Gates through which passed Alexander +in the fourth century, B.C., on his way to Syria. Darius +had lain in waiting somewhere near Islahie on the other side +of the Anti-Taurus mountains, and when Alexander had got +safely down between the seacoast and the Anti-Taurus, +Darius and his army scampered over the mountains, probably, +the very way we had come, and cut Alexander off from his +communications. But Alexander turned on the Persian +king and smashed him at Tarsus. Five hundred years before +that, Shalmanaser II., the great Assyrian king, had crossed +and recrossed this very pass on his way to and from his +victories. After Alexander, the hordes of Barbarossa, and +in fact, every ancient army on its way east had had to pass +through them. + +Some old Hittite inscription was on the outer face of the +rock, and on either side of the road a Roman altar cut out +of the flat rock by the roadside testified to the military importance +conceded to this Gate by Roman Generals, locking +the way to the Orient. In those days the pathway was a +few feet wide only, and now cannot be more than five yards. +Heavy blasting, however, widened the way along which we +came. + +A few miles further on we reached the rail-head again +at Bozanti from where they were tunnelling the Taurus. +Here we saw many British soldiers at work. They were +mostly from the Dardanelles and some of them seemed quite +fit, but the tunnelling was heavy work, and they said that the +men from Kut there could not stand it--and had died. + +For some hours we were shoved in a stable with billions +of flies. Many officers were very indignant at being put +alongside horses. Being a field artilleryman it didn't worry +me in the least after what we had gone through. We bought +a few stores and a German presented me with a bottle of beer, +as he found I spoke German! + +At 8 p.m. that night we left, packed in a train, all very +tired and weak. There were in the train some German +N.C.Os. and men all on their way back to Berlin, and in a +highly hilarious state at the prospect. Some of them were +the nasty sort, and they all told us of the English naval +disaster off the Skager Rack in which we had lost ten large +ships and so on. We knew this was an untruth and suspected +it was a fine victory for us, especially as the Boches ran back +to Kiel. + +We travelled all night fearfully cramped up in carriages. +I managed to get two or three hours of restless sleep among +moving boots and feet on the floor, with my knees by my nose +and some one's boots in my face. At 12 noon we arrived at +Cognia or Konia, the Iconium of St. Paul, a large town with +a real hotel to which only a few of us were allowed to go, +and a plentiful array of shops. After the usual dozen moves +up and down the station, each time entailing carrying our +beds and kits, we were taken to a restaurant where our notes +were refused, but ultimately taken at a large discount. How +we carry on without money is really extraordinary! One +simply does not eat, but gets weaker and weaker. Acute +diarrhoea has broken out again with many of us, for we are +still on nuts and sour bread and water. That night, the +12th July, we slept in the station yard. + +The next morning we were aroused at an unearthly hour, +and then did not leave until quite 11.15 a.m., the intervening +hours being employed by waiting in a queue to get water or +being moved first this way and then that. No Turk as yet +seems to know his own mind or any one else's apparently. +The country around Konia is very flat and more or less bare. +The Hindoo native officers remain in Konia, which should be +a good spot for them, and quite healthy. Konia appears to +be absolutely rebuilt and quite new. Two hours out of Konia +our engine broke down. We waited four hours for another +engine from Konia. I found a German doctor travelling on +our train, and from him I got some colitis and cholera powders. +He also was quite polite and anxious to help one. Then we +passed Kala Hissar, a lonely town on the plain with a fort +perched high up on a hill. Here a good many Russian, French, +and British prisoners are said to be placed, but we saw nothing +of any of them. We travelled all night over the plain, and +it was another wretched night for sleep, as we had to take +it in turns sleeping on the floor. We had by this time lost +a lot of our veneer of desert sunburn, and the pallor of sickness +stared out from our faces. Father Tim, our excellent +Catholic padre, told me this evening that I had appeared +twenty years older during the last few days. At 11, forenoon, +on the 13th, we arrived at Eski Chehir, a large town on the +junction of lines to Constantinople and Angora. Here, again, +the want of a servant made the immediate present a tragedy +of vile proportions. Thus we would get the order to move +at once, no one knowing where. Everything had to be moved +with you. So you gathered up water-bottle, haversack, +blankets and coat, and dragged your valise over lines and +other obstacles indefinitely. Then you sat on them until +you had to take them back, crossing trains and piles of luggage +and stores, a _posta_ or Turkish guard at your heels with a rifle +shouting, "Yallah" or "Haidee Git." We dropped Captain +Booth accidentally on the way from Konia. He was asleep +in a carriage which was taken off near Kala Hissar. Great +excitement prevailed as to whether he would take the branch +line to Smyrna and try to escape, but he turned up again +later. In the meantime, Fauad Bey thrashed every Turkish +official within reach. + +At Eski Chehir we were allowed into an hotel restaurant +place near the station and forbidden to go outside. We saw +one or two Greek maidens, well on towards their prime, welcoming +us with smiles, but although the first of Eve's daughters +seen for a long time, one's heart did not flutter much. We +were so whacked that we wanted a meal and a bed on which +to sleep, sleep, sleep. So we fell to discussing what we would +do at Constantinople, whither both Fauad Bey and some +Germans at Konia had assured us we were being taken. The +prospect of seeing this famous city and especially of seeing +Europe again, and of having ambassadors and consuls to take +a friendly interest in us, cheered up our tired and sad hearts. +But by this time we knew the Turk well enough to doubt +all things. In the meanwhile we were shut up. We had a +decent meal or two at terrible prices, so we ate sparingly. +Some of the senior officers had wandered too far away at Konia +so Fauad said, and it was "Yesak"--forbidden. In fact, +just before leaving Konia he would not allow them to recross +for a final meal, but I bolted around the station over a fence, +and on his seeing me I humbly pretended I wanted to ask +his permission. To my surprise, he asked me if the colonel +and all had returned, and on my reassuring him he took me +to a restaurant and demanded meat and rolls and soup and +cheese. None appearing to be ready he created such a storm +in the place that the people evidently produced their own +meal. Moreover, he paid and would not take any money +from me; but then I have never quarrelled much with him, +and he knows he is to leave us and wants a good report. +I observe he is very nervous whenever I talk to a German, +and asks me to talk in French if at all. French he understands +a little. + +At 10 p.m. the same day, as we arrived in Eski Chehir, we +were again packed frightfully close into carriages, and left +for where we did not know, but half expected to awake +beholding the minarets of Stambul. The Mohammedan native +officers had all been dropped at Eski Chehir, where from all +accounts they were to be done quite well. However, after +starting it proved that our destination was Angora. Our +hopes fell below zero. I clambered out of the carriage and, +worming my way into the luggage car, slept full length on a +blanket, or almost full length. Presently, other officers filled +the place up. I determined to sleep that night, and drinking +half a bottle of local cognac I had luckily procured for a debt, +I gave the other to the orderlies and slept. It was an uphill +climb, and we went very slowly. With the dawn we met a +startling rumour that some prisoners, having attempted an +escape, we were all being sent on to Kastamuni, a lonely town +on the edge of the hills, fringing the Black Sea, and 150 miles +distant from Angora--150 miles that had to be trekked! +This was just the last edge. One wondered whether the +journey would ever end or whether our kind protecting gods +would get tired of fathering our shattered and siege-battered +systems to the terminus. + +If our health had been so good as even at the beginning +of the trek it would all have seemed very funny no doubt. +But people's nerves were shattered and ragged and tempers +raw, and our digestions quite gone. + +The train climbed a gradient plain, treeless and lifeless, +until 10 a.m., when we arrived at Angora, a dilapidated old +town on undulating country. The station seemed the only +decent building in it. We seemed to be at the end of creation. +Everything was so quiet and sleepy. It is indeed a branch +line and one sees no Germans or Europeans. We were hustled +at once into two deep and marched half a mile to a wretched +low little eating restaurant place with some sleeping rooms +upstairs. Our luggage came in afterwards. Mine had been +looted, I found, quite considerably, two or three times since +the Aleppo change, but I don't know where. The hotel +promised us a gay time, as we saw battalions of bugs skirmishing +on the walls. We had marched up at a smart pace +and I felt like collapsing at every step. Then we were left +in the sun for hours outside the place, with the result that +I was soon pouring with the perspiration of fever. Then +ague succeeded. A Turk took my temperature as 102°, and +left me. + +Six hours afterwards I got a bed on a landing and fell +into it, my temperature being over 103°. + +There is no tea or coffee except the black smoky stuff. +The senior officers and those first to arrive, including the +padre and Hummerbug, went to another hotel somewhat +better, taking the one orderly with them, so I lost the only +servant who ever did a thing. No one else cared for the sick +or took any notice. I had a tiny bowl of rice soup. The +rest of the fatty fare I avoided. The next morning three-quarters +of us had collapsed. Colitis and fever were all +around, and the Turkish doctor inoculated those who were +well enough to be done, for cholera, of which Angora was full. +During the night a fearful itching broke out all over my body, +the most maddening itching imaginable. Spots and a red +flush followed. I thought I was in for scarlet fever or something. +It proved to be "hives," however, and others had +it at the same time in less degree. Reports from the hotel +were that most of them were in bed sick also. It seemed as +though we had forced ourselves on to the railways' end by +will power, and then, that being over, had collapsed. + +_July 20th._--We are still in Angora, and are not allowed +to go outside the door, while for the first day or so they objected +to one's going downstairs. Sending out for supplies is also +forbidden, and we are thus forced to leave ourselves to the +mercy of the hotel-keeper, who, by the way he behaves, I +should say is a Young Turk. Hives leaves one a mass of +swellings that itch like a million chilblains, and is due, I hear, +to the impoverished nature of the blood and general want +of nourishment. + +The time here is no rosy one, and although more comfortable +than in Mosul, the trek being mostly behind us, +still one's vitality is even worse. + +Two days after we arrived another party that had been +waylaid at Kala Hissar came along with several officers I +knew, and some I didn't, Colonel Peacock amongst them. He +and I and another made tea between us, and then they were +moved to dingy quarters up the road, and the surplus fellows +without rooms were sent also. Trembling with weakness and +fever I stumbled into my clothes and found I could scarcely +walk; but the Turks were demonstratively insistent, and, +carrying a few things, I assisted an orderly to carry my bed +and kit. We hauled it upstairs, and then another Turkish +officer turned up and ordered me back as being sick. Leaving +my luggage I toddled back, but that kindly-hearted cavalry +giant, Captain Kirkwood, followed me with it, for which I +was more grateful than I can say. + +We are still without money. One day some of those fit +enough were taken to a café near by, but as they had no money +"nothing happened," as they expressed it on returning. +Anyway we are running up a bill here, and unless they pay us +before leaving, the hotel walla will get nothing. I have a few +spoonfuls of fatty rice, and lebon, and marrow soup daily. +Stapleton and another officer share my room. + +There is no news, except a reported Russian shove through +Roumania. It is also rumoured that we may move in a day +or two. A Turkish doctor has been round, and has ordered +me milk, etc., with medicine. I've sent frequently for both, +but neither has come so far--four days since. + +And these bugs are the "Devil's own." I suggest the +Inns of Court Officers' Training Corps should have a bug +rampant as their crest. + +Except the Bible, one has no books. I have now finished +the Psalms and Proverbs to-day, and am going on. They say +the second phase of the Titanic struggle (or Teutonic struggle) +is beginning in France. I wish nothing better than to be fit +again and in it. + +_July 22nd._--Oh! This wretched confined bug-eaten little +café! They would not let us go to hospital, where one might +have got milk. They had no carts, they said, no medicine, +no room ..., and cholera was there, etc., etc. To-day the +doctor brought us black draughts for colitis, which we have +chanced taking, and it has already done us some good. I am +bitten red with bugs, and can feel at any moment several +on me at once. The bed is full. I must try to sleep +and forget them, as it is no use brushing them off. Temperature +100°. + +_July 23rd._--We left Angora to-day in carts. Feeling a +little steadier, and the hospital being so inhospitable, I decided +to try and keep going with the same column, trusting my luck +once again. From the money they paid us I promptly kept +a lira, and left the hotel-keeper's account partly unpaid. We +promised him the money when we could cash cheques or get +our remittances. With some of the cash I got the interpreter +to buy two tins of milk and a little sugar and tea for the +journey. We did not, however, get clear of the hotel-keeper +and Commandant of Angora so easily. There was a riotous +scene, yelling and screaming, shaking of fists in one's face, +because we hadn't paid, when the Turks themselves had not +paid us since Mosul! What an awful brute that Commandant +of Angora was! A vicious, spiteful, selfish, callous savage. +We let him know it, too, by the time we had finished with him. +For instance, a lot of us were very ill and without money, and +although there were rooms full of parcels sent us from home +when Kut fell, he wouldn't even look to see. We saw some +marked for several officers through a chink in the door, but he +wouldn't shift himself an inch to see about anything. So we +had malaria without quinine, and drank wheat-coffee when +tea was lying in our parcels inside. + +I am glad to have left that vile café. + +We went on all day very cramped, in the same carts, and +that night slept in a stable full of bugs and fleas. I bought +some lebon and slept. At 4 a.m. we were away again through +hills and bare, treeless heights all day. The horses galloped +and walked, and one's back bounced on the side of the narrow +carts, which at the bottom were about two feet six inches wide, +with sides sloping outwards. There were the usual upsets, +and boltings, racing, and collisions. Twice our cart jambed +another over the edge of a cliff, and we got rammed. There is +nothing to eat except bread. It was an extra weary day. +For fourteen hours we jolted and jerked onwards, and then a +pretty little green village hove in sight. We saw geese and +ducks and fowls, which meant eggs, and a running stream, +and brushwood for fires. But we were driven on and past +this into the night. An hour and a half later we reached a +filthy Arab enclosure, inside which we were driven. There +was scarcely room for us to lie. One could not get water or +firewood or anything. There was no Turkish officer to appeal +to. We were all under the orders of a choush or sergeant. +The colonel was very indignant, but the choush seemed afraid +we might escape unless we were shut up. The place swarmed +with mosquitoes and fleas. This choush was taking no risks. +It was only after a long delay, when I found a Greek youth +who knew a little German, that arrangements were made for +one or two of us to go to a spring and get water. We had +some tea and tried to sleep. That, however, was out of the +question. For the last dozen miles one of the occupants of +our cart was taken suddenly ill and had to lie down, so we had +to break our backs under the driver's seat while the vehicle +galloped and jolted. To any one except those in our condition +this would have been merely inconvenience. It was an +exceptionally beautiful sunset, with pink-limbed baby clouds +resting on the rolling summits of soft grassy hills. + +_July 25th._--We were up at 6 a.m. The horses were very +done, but their drivers goaded or thrashed them with thick +sticks and made them gallop, and there were no brakes to +help them. To pull up they ran into the bank, or into another +cart. We had, on the previous day, passed through hilly +country dotted with villages and fairly well cropped. Everywhere +we saw grazing the herds of Angora goats with their +gaily-dressed goatherd standing over them blowing his pipes. +The Angora goat is a most beautifully fleeced animal with +twisted horns and snow-white curly locks of fleece. The +animals are kept for their wool as well as milk, and often +supply the chief means of the people's subsistence in these +parts. Besides milk, butter, and cheese, and sometimes the +meat, the wool is woven into various garments, and the hide, +laced with string, forms their shoes. These goatherds are +very picturesquely dressed with coloured jackets and caps, +and a bright red-striped kummerbund, in which is stuck the +eternal Turkish knife. The arms and legs are criss-crossed +with coloured cord. + +The hills here and there are covered with herds, and at the +head of these moving white dots moves their picturesque +goatherd, blowing quaint sounds from his pipes. We passed +lots of these fellows marching as impressed recruits between +Turkish soldiers, and shoved on to fight in the forlorn +hope. + +We have left the peak El Divan far behind. It is 4900 feet, +so we must have climbed some 3000 feet above Angora. The +country has now changed again to the more barren higher +hills. A thunder shower surprised us on the top of one, but +it cleared the air immensely. Then our cart broke down, and +they repaired the pole with a pine tree growing near. + +My wonder at these carts increases daily. Rattling and +loosely bolted and wobbling, they appear to be on the point +of breaking down every minute. Sometimes three of the tyres +of our cart simultaneously were almost off, and the pole hung +between the body of the cart and the tree often quite detached. +If the wheel slips off they bash it on with a rock or lump of +wood, and, like Turkey itself, it just goes on. + +At 3 p.m. we reached the small town of Changrai, the only +place of any importance between Angora and Kastamuni. +We were frightfully done, but luck ordained it that we were +bivouacked by a stream and under some trees quite close to +the town. + +Changrai is a pleasant little town with ten mosques on the +steep hillside, heights all round, and many green orchards all +about. We got honey, apples, and apricots, fairly cheap. I +saw the Angora goat at close quarters. He is a classy little +fellow, small, and prettily shaped, with fine bright eyes and +carrying the most spotless silken white fleece in the world. + +_July 26th._--We left Changrai about 9 a.m. I had managed +to change to another broken cart which would support me. It +was more comfortable, and I travelled alone with the choush, +enjoying my own thoughts and amusing myself by watching +the antics of the goats or weaving romance around the feet of +every goatherd. I could stretch my limbs, and I thanked +God I was left to enjoy the peace of the mountain heights alone +with a pipe. My cart being broken we were far in the rear of +the column. At the hills I drove, and so escaped walking, +the driver, a huge fellow, walking to watch his cart, and +perhaps not unduly strain his repairs. As for me, my weight +had fallen from ten stone twelve pounds to considerably under +nine stone, so this came in convenient just now. In the afternoon +we followed a track fringed by deep precipices crossed +only by goat tracks. We camped in a gully near a village, to +which we were not permitted to go. A few loaves arrived for +us. We were very hungry in this spot, and the cold night +sharpened up one's craving for food. We made some cocoa +and soup, and after a spot of cognac like nothing quite else +on earth we slept--for a time--until we discovered we were on +ant-hills. I have since decided to back a squadron of red ants +on the war-path against two battalions of Angora bugs. It +was very cold, but the ants kept us moving. + +_July 27th._--We made an early start just after the dawn. +We went down, down, down for 2000 feet, and then gradually +up again over hills and gullies. We passed some well-worn +Hittite caves, like watch-keepers of the valley below. These +quaint people that sprinted about among primæval dews, and +about whom so little is known, must have had a queer life of +it in those high detached and lonely caves. They selected +inaccessible places, like the eyrie of the eagle. + +We rested at midday from eleven till one. Two goats were +killed, but as we had no money we did without. The note is +of no value in the country, and of little value in the town. No +change can be got for any, however big the note is. Two of +our officers we had to leave behind at Changrai sick with fever. +We subscribed some cash for them. I was glad to be able to +keep going still, although I often felt fearfully nauseous and +weak, with a thundering headache, at which time the cart +generally started some of its gymnastic tricks. Malaria was +still on me. + +The big climb now lay ahead of us. We pushed on. The +scenery became much more interesting. The forest thickened, +and instead of chestnut and beech appeared the _pinus insignis_ +and the mountain fir. We went up and up. Again I was +reminded of Thüringen in Germany, and this time it was much +more like it. The road grew steeper, the ravines larger, and +the courses of winter's mountain torrents were now dry rocky +boulder paths. The mountain fir with its drooping branches +stood erect in marshalled battalions on the mountain slopes +in the valleys, the tops swaying to the eternal music of the +mountains. We quenched our thirst at excellent falls and +springs on the way. It grew from chilly to very cold. Our +blood was in a very poor condition, and the biting wind bit +clean through one. We were now at the last climb of (Mount) +El Ghaz Dagh, 5481 feet high, the ridge of which we were to +cross being 4500. At five o'clock other horses gave out, and +ours were taken, so I cramped up in another vehicle with the +choush, from whom I understood by signs that we had in our +turn invested Kut. Our heavy guns will soon shake it to +pieces if we do invest it. + +It was slow work to the top of the peak, but once over we +descended rapidly in the face of an icy wind for two hours. +Tiny log-built hamlets lay clustered up together for warmth +on the sides of the valleys. We followed the main valley until +the stream widened at a saw-mill. There we lit fires and made +ourselves warm and cooked some soup. We slept inside dark +empty rooms in the mill, and here struck a new pest. They +were swarms of lice and fleas, and we did a _shikar_ for them +most of the night. I arose early feeling a rhythm of returning +health. The cold bracing air of the mountains had undoubtedly +done me a lot of good, and I felt stronger, although +colitis and malaria still troubled me, and everything we ate +was followed by sharp abdominal pains--a legacy of the siege. +I washed in the icy stream by the light of dawn. What a +magnificent morning it was! The last mists of night floated +away, and left the terraces of bronze-green firs shimmering +in the morning sun and climbing up to the blue of heaven on +the white sheets of El Ghaz Dagh. This would make an +excellent trout stream. My last tin of milk and sugar which +had kept me going so far was finished. My own cart had +appeared in the night, and I left in it at 7 a.m. After a few +miles of fern-edged brooks that tumbled along quite New +Zealandy, we reached the plain again, and followed a road +among scantily cropped stretches until three o'clock, when +my driver pointed away to the right and said the one word. +"_Kastamuni!_" Turning around I beheld far away in a treeless +basin a reddish-brown patch which proved to be the clay tiles +of houses. In the distance it appeared as a brown-carpeted +dip sunk down beneath the almost treeless grassy plain. This, +then, was my first glimpse of our immediate bourne. + +We were divided into two columns outside the town--evidently +intended for different houses. I now learnt that in +previous columns the officers of British regiments, including +the R.F.A., my own regiment, had gone to Yozgard, due east +from Angora. This was rather bad luck in a way, as among +them were most of the officers I knew best. + +We strolled down into a town larger than Changrai, with +plentiful minarets arising above the brown roofs. The houses +line the sides of the basin, which is merely the broadening out +of a fertile little valley watered by a small stream that in the +town is crossed by an interesting looking old stone bridge. +In the background and overlooking the town is a picturesquely +situated fort, now in ruins. + +We were rattled through the town, the people all gazing +at us very interestedly. The shops, we observed, actually had +in them such things as local tobacco (dreadful stuff, but better +than nothing), sugar, and rice, and even sardines. We walked +behind the carts that climbed and climbed to the further side +of the town, which was the Greek Christian quarter, and on +passing a long row of dirty houses saw some of the other officers +on the look-out, including Square-Peg. There were two groups +of houses, Upper and Lower. We were to occupy a new house, +the highest of all, attached to the Upper House. We swarmed +into a front door down along an alley flanked by a wall, and +found ourselves in what appeared a decent house for Turkey. +On going upstairs I found a landing, off which led four doors. +I opened one of them, and found myself inside a small room +fourteen feet by ten feet, containing two beds, and, on going +to the windows, saw a glorious view of the whole of Kastamuni +and of the valley reaching out to the blue ranges in +the distance, beyond which lay, somewhere near by, the Black +Sea. A fresh breeze, seemingly straight from the hidden sea, +drifted towards me as I stood by the open window. That +decided me. I slung my things down and fell on the bed +nearest the window, thanking God that the trek was done. I +am now writing at the corner facing the same hills. It seems +that here we must rest until we have done with these chains. +Our brother officers had put the Turks up to preparing a meal +for us. Heavens! how we ate! There was white bread, +boiled eggs, honey, butter, fresh milk. We ate and drank +and drank and drank. There was a hot competition now for +bedrooms, and as mine had to be shared, I was fortunate +enough to get a quiet stable companion to share with me. + +We were not allowed out of the house until 7.30, when +we were taken to a large two-storied Upper House--Mektub +they called it, as it had previously been a school, and there +a large room had been turned into a restaurant, and was run +by a Turkish caterer. He gave us soup, and what we called +toad-in-the-cucumber, or tomato as it happened, rice _pilau_, +and a fried meat dish all heavily reeking with fat. A coffee +shop was opened, which ran extra supplies of butter and +honey, and also cognac, _mastik_ (the Turkish drink tasting of +aniseed), and local thin German beer at 5_s._ a bottle. We got +back after a lengthy wait, which we beguiled by comparing +our experiences with those of other officers, and then hastened +to bed. A few celebrated our arrival by a carousal, but I +slept. Oh! the ecstasy of that night with the breeze playing +over one's face--sleep that would not be broken at any unearthly +hour by a "_Yallah_" for donkeys or by dust-storms or +by a stampede. + +At intervals in the night I awoke startled. Once I imagined +I had fallen asleep on my donkey again, that we were pressing +on in darkness over the desert, and, again, that an order had +been given to move. But each time I found myself in bed +beneath the cool night wind laden with scents of the mountains +and the sea, and heard above the deep silence the sound of +splashing water from some spring below. And I thought how +very life-like was the trek that had led we knew not whither, +and how, as in life also, we had craved for a sight beforehand +into the future for a glimpse at our destiny. But one sees +now the greater wisdom of God's plan that denied us a vision +into the future which might have lessened our motive power +and removed the need for trust or hope, but which demanded +of us instead the virtue of patience to await the evolution of +God's ways. And now more than that priceless perfect gift +of being able to say honestly, "Thy will be done," would I +desire to achieve the patience to overcome the difficult stretches +of any road, patience to wait and await. We are told that +whatever sorrow one has, it must exist in one's mind _only_ at +the present. In this sense only the Present can be sorrow, +and it is often a joy. But carrying us on from Present to +Present, from Sorrowful Present to Happy Present, be it near +or far, there is the Stream of Time, which the Divine Giver +has placed by us all. To await, then, is merely to make a +friend of this Stream of Time, the Happy Carrier, and pray +for the patience to endure until.... + +_July 29th._--No words could describe my unbounded joy at +receiving to-day news from the outside world. There was a +postcard from friends in Camberley, saying that our defence +has at last been understood, and asking what one wanted. It +was such a cheery word. There was also a tiny letter three +and three-quarter lines in length, which came many thousands +of miles congratulating us on the siege, and announcing that +parcels had already left for me. We hear they cannot arrive +for months. There is yet, however, no word from my dear +mother, or from home. I am now practically without socks, +shirt, vests, or anything else, my boots in ribbons, and with +one blanket. + +We are to get seven liras a month, and our board and +lodging costs nine liras at the least, as we have to pay an +unjustified rent. What with tobacco and medicine, not to +mention English food with which we must reinforce this +Oriental provender, it will be at least fourteen liras and +possibly eighteen a month. + +_July 30th._--The intervening hours we have slept. One +eats and then goes back to bed. We are all still extraordinarily +done. To-day we visited the Turkish bath. One enters a +large dilapidated vestibule with tiny sitting-up beds about +four feet long arranged around the room. One undresses and +wraps oneself up in a towel and shuffles in clogs into other +rooms where hot water pours from a jet. Here one douses +oneself, and then sweats heavily. A bucketful of cold water +completes the bath, and then arrayed in clean towels we +retreat to the bed, and over a cigarette and black coffee (awful +stuff) watch the spiders in the great dome of the roof, or by +counting the dozen layers of clothes with which the Turks +hide their iniquities. We lie at full length, letting our legs +stick out, feet beyond the beds, or cock them up on the +nearest wall. + +All the people here seem well disposed towards us. They +know we represent cash to them. At least they think so. + +After the bath we were allowed to visit the bazaar for a +few moments under the charge of a _posta_. There was an +awful climb back to our house, to which we shall no doubt +get accustomed in time. + +We have written four postcards home, chiefly about what +to send us. I am anxious to hear from my parents and sisters. +Their letters must have been returned, and I suppose they +have had anxious times, not hearing from me for so long or +knowing whether I was still alive. The cheerful four-lined +letter I received from Camberley must have been written after +newspaper announcement of the fall of Kut. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +LIFE IN KASTAMUNI--THE FIRST SUMMER, 1916 + + +_July 31st._--Yesterday was two months since leaving +Baghdad, a journey I shall always associate with +sorrow and fortitude. It was already a trail of dead +and dying from other columns, and we freshened it up with +contributions of our own. But time flies. It is already +three months since we left Kut. During that time I cannot +recall one Turkish promise that they have kept. This is a +performance, but for us to have so far survived it and also +their indifference, is an achievement. + +After a time we hope news will leak through, but at +present there is none. We are to be allowed a German-inspired +daily written in French and published in Stamboul, +called the _Hillal_. According to it fighting still proceeds +in France in the same old zone, while in Mesopotamia the +front is near Amara--which one doubts. It is almost two +years since the war started. Great movements in the national +life of most European nations seem to be merging into international. +With peace, I believe fresh and wonderful Gulf +Streams will circulate in the new political world that must +arise. + +_August 1st._--I have met Haig of the 24th, whom I knew +at Hyderabad, and whom I saw last in the retirement. We +have so far almost no liberty, not being allowed to go even +to the second part of the house. But we understand this +will change very soon. Once a week we are permitted to go +to the Turkish bath, and once a week to the bazaar, where +the prices are exorbitant. Butter or honey is 30 piastres an +oke, or 2_s._ 6_d._ a pound, sugar 40 to 50 piastres, or 4_s._ 6_d._ a +pound, and tea, bad tea at that, 10_s._ a pound. There is little +else to be had, and clothing is a fictitious price. However, +one's credit in the bazaar is practically unlimited. The shopkeepers +prefer to trust us rather than their own people, and +take cheques rather than paper money. Medicines are more +or less unprocurable. + +_5 p.m._--Turned in with rising fever. Several officers in +our house have been down with it already, and I hoped I +was to have escaped. A strong physical reaction has set in +with many of our column, and all sorts of sicknesses are going +about. For one thing, we have practically starved for half +a year, and now these fatty foods of the Turks rather try +one's weakened digestion. We negotiate huge quantities of +fresh milk and lebon. + +_August 2nd._--Lieut. Locke died in the Turkish hospital +last night, and, as a result, a scare started among the Turkish +officials. One of their doctors came around to see all those +in bed, and I was ordered, much against my will, to the +Turkish hospital. They don't understand malaria at all, or +that, for colitis, the only thing to do is to diet. And, from +what we hear, the last place for diet is a Turkish hospital. +However, one is in the hands of these interpreters, and for +the most part they are lying, frightened, Greek or Armenian +knaves. Ours required me to leave everything--even mere +requisites--and set out for the hospital a "few moments away." +Extraordinarily weak, I shambled off and followed him on +a considerable trek, for a sick man, all around the town. +Then he bolted for his dinner, leaving me in charge of the +soldier, who, poor chap, couldn't read his papers. On +arriving at the place we were refused admittance, and there +was no one there to read the admission paper. A wait of +hours I spent by sitting out on the roadside in the hot sun, +near a café; a delightful occupation for a man shivering with +ague and with a temperature of 103°. Then I discovered a +patient who spoke some French, and he got the only Turkish +orderly there to show me a bed. I was taken to the bed +whereon poor Locke had just died from enteritis and dysentery. +They had not even removed the sheets. How I loathed the +Turks at that moment. However, I was so tired that I got +into bed. In the same room were three Turkish civilians, +and two British officers I found next door. + +No one appeared. I had left my room in the morning, but +by night I had only succeeded in getting some water. By +evening the ague had gone, and I wanted some nourishment, +and set to prowl around the place to get it. I had plenty of +violent scenes, but did not succeed in finding the pantry. +I began to believe that I had come to a huge automatic +healing establishment where by a series of Christian Scientific +brain waves one imagined oneself fed and convalescent. I +heard that Locke had been left unattended in his house, after +request, four or five days before he was even inspected by +the Turkish doctor, and then, on his moving to this hospital, +had a reception similar to mine. He died the same evening +as he entered. + +After my unsuccessful shikar for food through the great +building I returned in no amiable mood, and it was then that +the humorous gods held high council, and, remembering my +opinion on Angora bugs, provided a little joke for themselves +afresh. These new bugs were for shock tactics. There was +no artillery preparation or demonstration from flank battalions, +but suddenly I was awakened from a doze by bitings in fifty +places. Leaping out of bed I gathered them up in threes +and fours. Tearing my clothes off I caught the rear files +before they could get to cover. Undismayed, they renewed +the attack as soon as I again tried to sleep. This became too +ridiculous. Finally, my language attracted a crowd of laughing +Turks, and one informed me in French that the hospital +was famous for bugs. The pillow and mattress I discovered +to be their first line, but their reserve lines were in the wooden +frieze. "Ye gods!" I thought, "this is too much. Here +am I starving and curing myself and doing my best to smile +over it when I'm expected to put up a regular hunt!" I +slung the mattress away and, seizing some clothes from a +wardrobe outside, with the orderly hanging on to me the +while, remade the bed. Still on they came. I decided that +if I were Napoleon I would change the Turkish crescent to +a bug passant, with that half-comical grin the lions passant +have, the near fore paw in the air and face screwed around at +you. I collapsed towards dawn with sheer irritation. But in +my sleep on they came, on from every wall, from every point +of the horizon, from the sky, from beyond the confines of the +universe--I myself was becoming a bug--when I awoke with +a roar, and saw the Turkish orderly standing beside me +grinning. I gave him cigarettes for appreciating a situation +I no longer could myself, and he taught me some more Turkish +"Zorari yok" (never mind), and "Yawash" (gently). + +I awaited the dawn with an increasing hunger, having +now devoured about a handful of lump sugar I had put into +my pocket as an emergency ration. The hours crawled by +until eleven, when the visiting doctor came. + +Now, by this time I had begun to find out a thing or two +about the Turk. Unless you ask, he never does anything; +if you do, he merely promises he will. Your only chance is +to be demonstrative and impress him. This fellow was a +robust, bouncing, overfed, callous, perpetual-smile-sort-of-fellow. +Waiting until he wished me good morning, I leaped +clean out of bed, with a frightful roar that brought a dozen +people into the room, and showed him pints of blood--mine +and the bugs'--all over the wall, bed, mattress, etc., etc. +Then I cursed the place in German, in English, and terrible +French, and applied my word, "fenner," vigorously, ending +up my objecting to my treatment with gestures, etc., etc. +For the first minute or two he laughed, and then he sat down +and mopped his forehead and explained he came only once +a day, and without an order from him it might have been +risky to give me any food, etc. He wrote out a beautiful diet +sheet, and sent me some medicine for the colitis. This did +me good, certainly, but I waited all day for the milk and +cornflour and soup. At five o'clock one small cup of the +weakest imaginable tea arrived. Nothing else. It now +appeared that an order by the doctor on one day did not take +effect until the following day, as they had to send out for +supplies. I was really terribly ravenous. That evening, +about 8 p.m., when two orderlies brought round a trench table +filled with loaves of bread and plates of soup, I waited until +they were gone a second and seized a loaf, which I plunged +in the soup, and returned to my bed, where I devoured most +of it. The other Turks in the room, I believe, informed the +orderly, who searched for the remainder of the loaf in my bag; +but we had a wrestle for it, and while he sent out for a posta, +I finished it. Later he appeared, laughing, and took some +more cigarettes. + +The situation developed along these lines until the next +morning, when the doctor came again. This time I was +coldly indignant, and showed him a letter of complaint +to the American Ambassador at Stamboul, and requiring +to be sent back to my house. The result was he put +me on an enormous diet at once of bread and buffalo +meat that would have killed any Englishman, certainly a +siege-battered, starved, feverish, colitis-stricken sick man. +I distributed my rations among the two officers next door, +one of whom was a most congenial person, named Fox--an +officer I didn't know in Kut, as he had been in Woolpress +most of the time. We had long discussions on Turks and +bugs. The next morning another doctor came, and, seeing +my diet sheet full, evidently thought the Turkish commissariat +couldn't stand this, and discharged me from hospital. + +The medicine had done me some good, but otherwise I +was weaker on leaving the hospital than entering it. Fox +and I trekked back. How glad we were to get out of it! I +had expected an interesting girl in a purdah to look after me, +and all kinds of delicacies. One learns apace in these days. +On the way we passed Captain Martin, I.M.S., recently +arrived, and he sympathized with us, and promised us that +in future he would look after us all. I was very glad to regain +my room once more. Another small party of relicts had +arrived from Angora, amongst whom were Blind Hookey, +who was at the Christmas dinner in Kut, and Young Lacy, +whom I had left at Samarra. He had had great luck. When +he was quit of the fever he had managed to join a small party +and was driven the whole way. Our column, including as +it did the native officers, and travelling in the wake of the +whole division, seems to have had probably the worst time +of any, and certainly one saw most of the tragedy of the trek. +Our whole house is now pretty full. + +_August 7th._--Malaria returned. The ague was more severe +this time. Quinine we have at last procured in small quantities +at the rate of five piastres a cachet, which means that one's +malaria medicine bill will be fifteen shillings daily. A cold +snap in the weather has sent several others here down with +malaria. Kastamuni is said to have a cold winter, so we +hope to get this fever quite out of our system. It is raining +steadily--the first rain since arriving here. + +We have no books as yet, but it is to be hoped the Turks +will allow them to come through later on. I have finished +the Bible--a complete reading now since Baghdad. What a +vigorous teacher is St. Paul. No mundane considerations +seemed to prevent his putting the true value on this transient +existence, and from that probably sprang the facility with +which he decided always for the Lord. + +_August 17th._--The mornings continue fine and sunny, but +in the afternoons a sharp, shadowy wind springs up, and the +evenings are quite cold. We are anxiously awaiting the +parcels waylaid in Stamboul. The fever has largely gone, +but muscular rheumatism has taken its place. No one hears +from or is allowed to write to Yozgad or Kara Hissa. + +The Turks here seem to have already settled on their plan +of campaign, which is to make us get into debt at huge prices, +which already are increasing. I am, however, assuming a +sublime indifference to money matters. The financial anxiety +of the trek was enough, and I have a long score to pay off +against the Turk in this respect, so once in his debt he will +have to facilitate our getting our money from home, or else +receive cheques. + +_August 22nd._--On the 18th I attempted a long walk, +permission having been obtained for a party of us to go. +The direction led me over hills towards some pine woods--a +considerable climb for those in our condition. An extraordinary +phenomenon common to almost all Kut people, +young and old--but more especially to the young who had +starved on account of enteritis troubles--is their sudden +huge girth expansion. One's figure protrudes like any +Turk's. The fatty foods and weak state of the stomach are +said to be the cause of this. + +Still, with fixed determination, the walk party pushed +on, blowing and perspiring. One remembered one's duty +to get fit. At the pine woods one longed to be alone for an +hour--a forgotten pleasure--but we were marshalled like +geese. It is a pleasant spot of young pines and pleasantly +murmuring grassy glades, strewn in places with pine needles, +that gave additional exercise by making one fight for a foothold. +Through the opening in the pine wood one saw the +mountainous horizon that ringed us round. Kastamuni +was out of sight somewhere beneath us. + +The next day I actually turned out to rugger for our +house, as left wing three-quarter. The delight after all one's +sickness in feeling one's legs really attempting to run was +so encouraging that one Brabazon and I, for dinner, divided a +bottle of German beer. This is to become a custom. We played +three spells of ten minutes each, and quite enough too--with +a ball stuffed with wool, as we had no bladder. Kastamuni +is totally hilly, and the footer ground over a mile away, is +uneven and stony, but the best we can get. Correct collaring +is barred, but we go croppers just the same. On Sunday we went +bazaaring, and were allowed to attend church at 6.30, when we +sang hymns from memory. The text was: "You are sons of +God." We hope to make a little chapel here, by and by. + +Hailstones as large as hazel nuts, but not so large as in +Kut, made merry music yesterday over the town. The +streets then become drains and gutters, as they are intended +to. Besides being an economy, it cleans the streets. + +What a quaint town this is! All water is drawn from +springs or wells. There are no lights of any kind, except, +possibly, some faint glimmer burning from a police station. +There are no trams or much vehicular traffic, donkeys being +the chief transit. In the early morning one hears the ancient +Biblical solid-wheeled oxen cart groaning on its turning axle +beneath the weight of a huge tree trunk brought in for firewood. +At night the distant tinkling of bells sometimes reaches +one as the goats come back. And, later still, over the sheets +of darkness in deep, pulsing waves, like the voice of a dark +and mysteriously moving spirit, floats the muezzin, which is +taken up from mosque to mosque until the whole town echoes +with the cry. + +I have had some rough chessmen made out of bits of +wood, and am settling down to discipline my mind again to +some sort of methodical thinking. One feels that some such +effort as this stands between us and oblivion. + +_September 1st._--I am feeling very much better than I +have since those awful floods came in Kut that left me legacies +of rheumatics, and Heaven knows what else. We play +rugger three times weekly, and eat huge teas. One of us makes +cakes, another carpenters, another makes jam, and yet another +has started tailoring. My present hobby is to get fit and +clean my windows and "bazaar." I am putting on flesh, or +rather, fat, and must be now a half stone more in weight. +But my digestion is still weak, nerves bad, and a periodical +pain from my spine. + +We have been to a Greek dentist (?) The awful stuff we +ate in Kut played havoc with my teeth, which were in rather +good condition before. This fellow proposes to crown about +half of the back ones, is willing to accept a cheque, and talks +frequently in French. These are his distinguishing qualities. +He seems everything. Moreover, he will take a live nerve +out and think nothing of it. Sometimes he pretends to kill +it by pushing in small supplies of something or other which +the nerve likes so much that it fattens on it, with the result +that it grows so rapidly that soon one's whole body exists as +an appendix of the particular nerve! The Turks looted his +rooms lately. He has now, in consequence, only a rickety, +straight-backed kitchen chair, two bottles, a wheel and string, +and about four picks, with which he is very adept, using both +ends of each. Altogether the Greeks here are a most disappointing, +shifty lot. Poor Greece! where Pericles once +lived, and which now exports currants--as they say. + +Roumania is in the war at last. Turkey is pretty well on +her last legs; but then, like her carts and donkeys, she always +seems good for another few yards. With returning fitness I +begin to hate, loathe, detest, and abhor this soul-smothering +life. The way the Turk _in authority_ treats us, his ignorance +of his own mind, his partiality for intrigue and roguery and +robbery, as also the way he runs his country, proves him unworthy +of Empire. The brains and finance of this country +are absolutely Greek or Armenian. The Turk holds the +sword, and arrears of mismanagement he puts right by a +periodical massacre. He is barbarously ignorant and misinformed. +The most worthy fellow is the common soldier, +who has some idea of manliness and of service, but the officer +and official is a double-edged scoundrel, a smiling, dishonest, +lubricous sneak, and totally untrustworthy, also a bad soldier. + +The Armenian I would describe as the Jew of Turkey, +hence his unpopularity. He hoards money, is indifferent to +the military needs or other aspect of the development of the +country, except the financial one, and is not without treachery. +The Greek is also more able and better educated than the +Turk. With the Armenian he does the penmanship of +Turkey. He supplies surveyors, artisans, architects; but +he, too, cannot go straight. In fact, I would rather trust a +Turkish soldier than any Greek or Armenian. Hundreds of +years of oppression have dried up their springs of independent +action, and the Armenian goes about in constant fear of +massacre; the Greek just escapes it. They have no thought +whatever of throwing off their yoke or leaving the country, +although they have nothing in common with their oppressors, +and their religious divergence is as wide as it can well be. +They hate the Turk, yet choose to suffer. Even among the +children we see the tyranny of the Turk. A diversion of ours +is to watch the children playing near here. Tiny Turkish +boys maltreat and bully big Greek boys and girls, who dare +not retaliate. + +The explanation of the sorry state of Greece and of the +Greeks and Armenians here I believe to be the utter selfishness +of the people and their want of public-spirited men. But, if +only because they are less unenlightened than their oppressors, +reform should be possible to them, and although on looking +at the Greeks of the land from Aleppo to Kastamuni, they +seem an indifferent lot, still they have in them the seeds of +culture and the ardent wish for civilization. On this, then, +I believe we can build. The Turk is an interesting study. +He is half child and half savage. His predilection and habits +are like those of a child. He takes offence at small things, +like a child. Like a child, he responds to small favours. +And Germany is the last country to take the Turk successfully +under her wing. England, I believe, alone could do it. We +could utilize the Turkish talent for soldiering and practical +affairs, removing from their midst these over-corrupt officials +and Government, whom they detest. We should win their +confidence by applying rigid and accessible justice between +them and the Greek and Armenian, who would find unswerving +adherence to law and order unavoidable. Religious toleration +we could grant, and I believe that within a few years, Turkey +would settle comfortably under our influence, and learn to +trust us. But as it is, the country is rotten, the habits rotten, +and so many wretched corrupt Turks are in authority, that +one feels inclined to sweep them all away. + +_October 1st._--Loud shouting and cheering and wild stampede +towards the restaurant dining-room announced that another +mail had come. We all go quite mad on these occasions, and +charge past postas, knocking over chairs or each other, and +crowd around the table while the letters are given out. + +I have heard again from home, written before Kut fell. +I wonder what sort of a time they picture me having. Kut +still seems to have been kept dark from everybody, and +especially so the trek; but I shall always remember the great +thoughtfulness and affection of our friends reaching out to +our lonely life across thousands of miles of sea and land. +With these letters I am among the heath of Camberley, the +hills of New Zealand, and the 'buses of London, once again. + +The commandant or kaimakam (colonel) is a foolish and +babyish fellow, and also a rogue; but I, for one, believe he +has less vice in him than the other junior officer, Sheriff Bey, +who is a dangerous and treacherous villain. The old kaimakam +does rake up a smile when we try to be happy, and +although the Tartar is often apparent, he has, on occasion, +given us such a privilege as a special walk. + +We are trying to erect some structure of habits wherein +to dwell until God's good time allows us to get away from +here. Thus we make cakes twice a week. This will last +a little longer until prices become too outrageous. Which +makes two events. Church and bazaar and Turkish bath +make three more, total of five altogether, and these, scarcely +incidents in another's life, but episodes in ours, punctuate +the vacuum of time in which we roll. At 6.30 a.m. there is +_chota haziri_, tea and toast, for which we have made private +arrangements. + +Then one smokes or sleeps again. At 9 we have breakfast +of eggs and milk and butter and bread. With a posta at our +heels we return to our own house, 150 yards away. Then +some sleep, some play cards, some merely sit on a chair. +Others of us write diaries or re-read an old book. We have +lunch of fatty foods and smoke and sleep. We have tea (our +own _bandobast_ again) after which there may be a walk. +We all set off under a guard, and are trying to get farther +afield. Once a week a long walk is allowed. On returning +some of us change, even if it is to put aside one torn shirt +for another or a spare jacket. But in these times I jealously +guard every conventional cable that anchors one to the +decent life. There is a tendency to allow the coma to steal +over one's personality. This, I think, one should combat. +Dinner over, we have to wait in the _mektub_, a boresome hour. +We attempt bridge or chess. Back again in our room we +smoke awhile and sleep. It may read nicely, but in truth, +it is a sorry existence. Still, day by day, the structure grows, +and who knows, in a few months we may have a palace like +the pleasure dome of Kubla Khan! + +The extraordinary thing is that one is so secluded. One +seems on the other side of creation's wall--in the backwash +of the waters. But we all know it only seems so. The stream +of Time flows on, sweeping along with it great events in the +changing scene from which we here are far removed. I have +ever been of a restless nature, and I am told this may operate +as a rest cure. One hundred and fifty miles from the nearest +railway, and that far from anywhere, locked in by mountains +bordering the Black Sea, cut off from papers and books and +news, in a town that but awakes and sleeps, with no public +institutions or even a picture theatre, one has left for a hobby +only the delivery of direct interrogatories to oneself, and the +supplying of answers thereto. I believe this is a supreme +test of character, and may prove a strength to some and a +ruination to others. + +Sometimes an event overtakes us. For instance, I have +been placed in "gaol" for a short time, and the incident was +so funny I must set it down. + +One day, while I was filling in notes of this diary, I observed +one of the flimsy untied curtains was ablaze. How +it started I can only conjecture. Either it blew on to the hot +cigarette ash tray, or a hot part of a cigarette must have fallen +down near the bed and caught in the curtain. These local +cigarettes are wretched things and burn furiously, the head +often falling off so that it is a common thing to find one's +clothes alight. I ripped the curtain down and stamped it +out. The two beds had caught, and the room filled with +smoke. I stamped out the fire and doused the bed with +water. As it still smouldered I flung it out of the door. And +then they came, Turks, choushs, postas, Sheriff Bey, the +kaimakam himself, and I began to expect the Sultan. They +were very angry, a fire having occurred in the Gurkhas' +quarters a few days previously. They persisted in saying +I tried to burn the house down and to set fire to Kastamuni. +That afternoon a sort of court-martial was made of it, and +I was arraigned before the Turkish Commandant, thinking +it a delightful joke. Their serious faces amused me. I +told them it was an accident, that I was sorry, that I would +pay the damage, and after a debate of ordinary budget length, +the kaimakam decided to let me off on my paying a lira. +(The curtain would have cost about ten piastres, and the +bed was only singed.) Then Sheriff Bey stormed and protested +for more punishment, and I was sent under an escort +after handing over all my smokes and matches, to a dirty +iron-barred cellar room in a house used by the kaimakam +as an office. It was full of paper, and there was no bed or +chair. I had no supplies at all. When I was left in peace +I took a copy of Robert Louis Stevenson's "Virginibus +Puerisque" from my pocket, and sitting in a corner started +to read. Presently I became aware of an eye watching me +through the crack. In fact, I was just on the point of lighting +up from a spare cigarette case and matches in my hip +pocket. The eye changed. Still reading, I observed several +peering and whispering, so taking a pencil and paper from +my pocket I went through the form of writing a letter to our +Foreign Minister via the American Ambassador, complaining +of my treatment. Then pointing to the eye, I called for the +interpreter, informing him that I wanted this letter to be +shown to the kaimakam, and that even if he didn't send it +I should take care that our Government took the matter +up and dealt with those responsible when I was free. The +result was he bolted from the room, and in ten minutes reappeared +with a posta, and said I was free. Sheriff Bey +met me at the top of the road, and proceeded to harangue +me about wanting to frighten me only. + +Bluff is the only thing, and their ignorance one's only +chance. Since then, however, the kaimakam has treated me +with extraordinary respect, so much so, that I have successfully +refused to obey his order to pay for what I have not had, +_i.e._ food in the _mektub_ for all the time I was sick. The best way +to treat these Turks is to be distantly polite. Much annoyance +and trouble has been caused through some officers chumming +up to them, plying them with drinks, and conducting them by +the arm here and there. The next day there's a row about +some point of pay or privilege, and the Turk thinks himself +snubbed. The net result is that the Turk, being our captor, +is in much the better position to hit back. This he does +vigorously, with insulting titles and notices that make life +a great burden. Some of their notices posted up in the +_mektub_ are screamingly funny. The following are actual +samples, with spelling corrected-- + + * * * * * + +1. "English imprisoned officers cannot only please themselves +by disobeying the Turkish posta who have the order +of them. Neither can they go past the posta or outside +the door. In which case the posta can beat them with the +stick or rough handle the officer or officers concerned." + +2. "English officers ought to pay their money willingly. +Why do they have the trick of deceiving the peasants and +poor Turkish subjects, which is dishonest? + +(Sd.) "TEUFIK, +"Kaimakam." + +3. "Officers cannot talk to any one except themselves, +strong punishments will pursue swiftly. What is the use +of pouring dirty water into the street? Surely they need not +chivvy 'bints' in the bazaar, and officers educated in London +could know better. When officers go for a walk in charge +of a posta they shall not go to the front or the posta gets +behind in which case the posta has orders to shoot or +remonstrate with the culprit. Let every one pay the price +in the bazaar and let them pay all their money to Usnu, +the contractor, who is not a robber. + +(Sd.) "TEUFIK, +"Kaimakam." + +4. "It has been taken to my notice that English officers +never stop kicking up a shinty (shindy) in their rooms. Cards +will be stopped. Let us not play cards or kick up any more +shindy. You shall behave civilized." + +5. "In future great supplies of liquor and cognac will +not be drunk by our order as the floor of the school will go +through. In which case the officers concerned cannot hold +Turkish authorities responsible if they meet death. Also +punishment must be given. Officers will be always tidy +the room. Why choose the pig-stye? This is also a punishable +affair. + +(Sd.) "TEUFIK, +"Commandant." + +6. "Officers are allowed the bath and bazaar and footer. +Why not go about properly dressed. Surely no hat or in the +hand is not properly dressed. Sticks are forbidden and officers +cannot walk with sticks. It is forbidden to get drunk or sing +as the noise stops the sleep of neighbours. If a fire starts +it goes. Therefore don't smoke in bedrooms for God sake. + +(Sd.) "TEUFIK, +"Commandant, +"British Prisoners' Camp." + + * * * * * + +And so on. The explanation of these extraordinary +documents is that some of the postas (bluebottles we call +them) being old dug-outs, can't keep up with us when we walk, +and trail out behind. The people in the town do us down at +every turn, and we have to argue and bargain to get anything. +In fact, we enjoy it. As regards the noise, some of us have +a sing-song on every other Saturday in the _mektub_, and the +Turks fear our applause may be too much for the floor. Regarding +the "bints" we, not having spoken to the gentler +sex from periods ranging to two years, have taught some +Greek dreadnoughts to wish us good morning. The fire episode +was, of course, due to me. Their Captain, Sheriff Bey, is +the source of most of the trouble, and he stirs up the old +kaimakam. Sheriff Bey is captain of the guard, and is at +once treacherous and spiteful. To be sure he had for a time +captured the ear of a few of our officers who were misled by +his lubricity and perpetual smiles. He fawns upon them, defaming +his own country, which he predicts will be finished +in a few weeks, and has decided to leave Turkey after the +war. I loathed the man more than ever on hearing him +speak of his country so. They say he is spying on the kaimakam +in order to get his command. + +On arriving here we all hoped to get away within a few +weeks, as there was rumour of an advance in the West. At +present, however, the indications are, at any rate, for a +winter campaign. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +WINTER--OUR "SELF-MADE" ORCHESTRA + + +_February 1st, 1917._--Four months have gone. As I +write the earth is white with feet of snow. It is +a white world, the roofs no longer brown, the trees +no longer green, for even those few trees, like pines that have +not shed their verdure, have donned the white raiment of +winter's carnival. Snow! This pure and godly element, +silent and secretive, the _avant-courrier_ of the Ultimate, of +Things doomed, one day to be reclaimed by the once again +triumphant elements when, from the dome of the universe, +the last white great snow sheets shall fall, fall, fall--and this +universe, once again locked in the ice-grip of the Snow God, +shall drive forward mysteriously on its lonely way--lonely +for it shall have been separated from Life, and the Spirit, Man, +will have gone. + +As I look out on the undulating expanse terraced down +to me from the mountain horizon to the northward, I am for +a minute tempted to believe that the Great Snow Deluge has +really come, and I alone am awake to behold it. But looking +still closer I see tiny windows peeping out from their white +frames, and I know the bees within that human hive are having +their winter sleep. With an effort I trace among the smothered +definition of the buildings, the snowed-up roads and alleys, +and rising above it all I see, scattered over the town, the +white upright minarets of the mosques. Kastamuni in wintertime +is a picturesque Turkish town, and has a character all +its own. The streets are deserted, but on the hill-path white-mottled +figures move slowly upwards. It is the hour of +prayer, and the _muezzin_ has just begun to swell out in icy +circles from the minarets, reaching out to the hearts of the +prayerful, and calling them to communion with Allah. _La +illaha, illa la._ There is but one God, and that is God. From +how many thousands of mosques, and for how many millions of +the followers of the prophet does the _muezzin_ cry at this hour? + +And so I, too, find my silence unlocked after all these months +and am at last persuaded to throw off the coma that has +been stealing over us body and soul, that has buried beneath +its snow-drift our intentions one by one, and I am tempted +to jot down a few more notes to my reminiscences. + +Sometimes, as the other day, we are allowed to take down +the bob-sleighs we have made to a hill about a mile away, +and pretend we are schoolboys again. After snowballing the +starters and getting snowballed ourselves, we shot down the +slope or over the bank, as the case occurred, and once or +twice we collided, but no one got seriously hurt. The hard +toiling uphill again, pulling the sleigh, proved how unfit we +were. On the way home we religiously snowballed every +fowl we passed, and the roads are full of them. The days +are dreadfully dreary, and it is only these events that seem +to lighten the monotonous gloom. Firewood is very scarce +and expensive, and only on rare occasions do we have a fire +worth anything. If we do by chance have wood it is often +wet, and the wretched tin stoves choke the place with smoke. +I half decided to have a stove in my bedroom, but, besides +that being fearfully small, the trouble is to get wood, which +comes in tiny donkey loads at fictitious prices. So we lie +in bed under the clothes, and with the intense cold sleep +steals over us. There is the same difficulty in getting kerosene, +now five shillings a bottle, and what one gets either +goes out, or splutters until you kick it out. We hibernate, +therefore. Once or twice it has been so cold that I have gone +down to the kitchen and sat by the smoke heap there. This +is very popular these days. + +Letters are turning up more regularly. I am delighted +to have at last heard from home and several friends all over +the world, including the brilliant author of "Problems of +Philosophy." He has very kindly sent me some books and +recommends me to see Schiller on "Grumps." I also heard +from Wallace, from whom I have not heard for years and +years, and to whom I wrote in Kut along with people in the +neglected recesses of my memory, but the letter, of course, +was never sent. It must be eleven years since he and I sat +on the golden sand of a green-vestured island in that silvery +sea around Auckland--smoking our pipes as we lay on our +backs, and filling in with a wish what we wanted to complete +the scene. I remember wanting the suitable girl, but he +wanted books and debate. In between are my world travels, +and Cambridge, and Germany, and now I've been running +about in a war, and he, since a professor in Princetown, +writes to condole with me at being out of the war so early! +He ought to congratulate me on my luck in staying in it so +long. But then, of course, he can't know anything about Kut +yet. + +It seems I have been reported dead in Kut, and again on +the trek, and in England they are only just hearing to the +contrary. What an unnecessary suspense for one's people! +Mine have been magnificent, even throughout the long period +of tragic rumour. + +About my other friends at Cambridge, and in the regiment, +and in France, I never hear a word. + +Parcels have arrived, thank Heaven, from several friends. +Sir Thomas Mackenzie has been a perfect trump, and the +most wonderful and thoughtful parcels from a very kind +heart in Australia. The first three or four have arrived. My +dear old friends, the Pallisers, remember me faithfully. And +Lord Grey, not forgetting the lonely subaltern in the middle +of Asia who once held forth on Imperial affairs sketched out +by the cloistered lawns of the Cam, has sent me kind messages +and a fortnightly parcel. One's emotions of thankfulness +and gratitude are infinite. I feel it is my duty to buck up +every ounce possible when one of the busiest and most over-worked +men in England, in indifferent health, too, finds time +to think of a worthless subaltern like me. My Camberley +friends also have sent me some parcels, and some wonderful +letters. These momentous things happen only once in a while, +but when they do they tell us that somewhere beyond these +snow-bound mountains are English hearts that are glad we +are come through so far, which means they know we have +tried and are chiefly sorry we are chained because we can't +try again. + +Some few books have also arrived from time to time, but +only old ones are allowed through, though sometimes we +manage to conceal one or two. This, however, is very difficult, +as all parcels have to be opened before the Turkish authorities. +We have formed a library, and the indefatigable +librarian, Herepath, who catalogues the books and _shikars_ +every one a moment overdue, caused us infinite delight +months ago by placing in the library most of Kipling's works +which he had miraculously brought through with him from +Kut. We devour anything in the reading line, especially now, +as bridge has fallen off. + +None of the many books sent to me have turned up so +far, and have probably been intercepted at Constantinople, +whither even those that do arrive here have to be sent back +for censorship. + +No games outside except an occasional soccer match are +played now as the ground is too hard. One highly interesting +tournament was, however, recently completed. Eight soccer +teams participated, and we ran two bookies on the field. I +have not played since Christmas Day when, in getting down to +a forward rush, I had several giants on top of me and twisted +my knee badly. Just before this, however, as left three-quarter +in a match against the Lower House I scored one of the hardest +tries since I was a boy. One can't run much these days, but +I did it diving for the line as a nailed fist left four ruddy tracks +from my neck down my back. Even then we lost the match +by two goals to a goal and a try. I came to the conclusion +that my conceit was excusable. + +Christmas passed quietly enough. We consumed a +tremendous amount of cognac and mastik, and anything else +going, regardless of price, and for a few hours we quite took +charge of things. There was a concert of sorts with a few +banjo items and a farce at the end which was more ridiculous +than funny, but it served as well. + +On Christmas Eve we eluded the postas, and about midnight, +while trying to correct my bearings for the house, for I had +somehow got downhill, I saw a figure of him we call the Admiral +(a naval paymaster), who evidently having wearied of trying +to discipline his legs had given it up and was crawling vigorously +on all fours in the dark. The sight of this white figure crawling +mysteriously along in the darkness, believing himself unobserved, +made me shout with laughter. The Admiral put on a +huge spurt when he heard it! + +But the feature of Christmas was the children's party we +gave by special leave of the kaimakam. For days we had +been cooking tartlets and cakes and macaroons. They knew +it was on, and before breakfast a big crowd of children and +mothers had accumulated near our alley-way. We took our +long table and spread upon it "our events," as we called them, +including apples and special quantities of milk and nuts. +The poor little wretches are half-starved. For weeks previously +we had given them bits of bread, so that each one of us had +an "adopted" nipper. But besides our little pals--mostly +Greek, but some Turks--dozens of youngsters from far and +wide had turned up, some in their mothers' arms. Sam Mayo, +an ex-sergeant-major, took charge and formed them into +column of route, mothers and all. He did splendidly. There +was much crying and yelling, but he got them in order and +then made them file past. I don't think we had laughed so +much for many months. Each one of us soon found himself +administering milk to a monthling in one arm with half a +dozen brats into one's pockets or wrestling with one's legs at +the same time. Once there was a stampede set up by a +"Young Turk Party" (boys of eight and upwards), and we +each had to grab all the mites by a leg or an arm and hold +them up out of harm's way. One or two got a bit squashed +as it was. The supreme joke was when Sam was proudly +showing us how to coax a tiny infant to eat a macaroon; it +got so enthusiastic as to bite a half inch of his thumb nearly +off. "The little devil nipped like a mongoose," yelled Sam, +upsetting his second youngster into the sweet rock that stuck +_en bloc_ to its head. We enjoyed ourselves as much as they. +The postas, with one or two exceptions, helped us. The poor +little wretches ate and drank as if they hadn't for a week at +least. Then we had a scramble among the larger children +for the nuts and surplus, and when the fights had subsided +gave them some piastre notes. Altogether it was a great +show and made us very happy. + +The people, we hear, couldn't understand at first how war +veterans could worry about children. But you require to +be a prisoner of war with no privilege of speaking to any one, +adult or child, to understand the meaning of children. The +after result was that for days and days a huge swarm of +youngsters followed us everywhere we went yelling "Backsheesh" +and "Ekmek" (bread) and "Chocolate." + +Shortly after Christmas an Armenian turned up with a +violin of sorts. I had been on the look-out for one for months. +He wanted a fictitious price, and it wasn't a good one but fairly +loud. The strings were on the wrong pegs, and such strings +surely never existed before on any violin. The bow wanted +some hair restorer badly. I tuned it up and powdered the +few remaining hairs well on a lump of gummy resin, probably +off a pine-tree, and then, by the smoking stove of a Turkish +fire, I began to play--the first time for years and years. The +room was empty but every one came up from below to see +what on earth had happened. I found I had forgotten everything. +After a half-hour bits of Beethoven, Raff, Dvorak +and Vieuxtemps came back to me, but they wanted waltzes +and marches. The end of it was they persuaded me to buy +the thing. I practised assiduously for two or three hours a +day for weeks and then the bow began to collapse and the +strings gave out. + +It was now dreadfully cold in one's room, but we managed +to have some cheery evenings. Banjos made of hide stretched +over tins purchased at the bazaar did quite well for an +accompaniment. One of our number, Lieutenant Munro, +has shown a deal of skill in cabinet making, and has turned +out a 'cello which is the queerest thing in the whole world, +looking rather like a dough roll squeezed considerably in the +middle by a small boy until its waist threatens to go altogether. +But it makes a noise. My violin is improving wonderfully, +and I have found some bad strings in an Armenian shop. + +In other words, my violin has grown to a band composed +of two violins, a 'cello, a cracked flute, a clarionet, and banjos. +The Admiral plays a little, and having unearthed another fiddle +has come in as second violin. Major Davis plays the violin a +little, and we are going to fossick others out. Drums are under +construction, and another 'cello is to follow. Remains the +music. As none has ever been seen in Kastamuni probably +since the town existed, nor can be obtained anywhere or is +allowed through, we have to write our own. This involves +composition. There was luckily a volume of Prout's Harmony +that turned up at Christmas, so one or two with leisure hours +are working at it hard. We have had five practices. I +never could have believed I would endure such an offensive +noise, let alone help to make it! "Dreaming" and +"Destiny" and "The Girl on the Film" were the first things +we attempted. It was a thin stream of trickling melody +followed by the weirdest of side noises! + +How dreadfully cold it is, and how interminably long the +winter seems! Malaria and colds have pursued us. Our +boots have collapsed everywhere, and the few pairs in the +bazaar cost over eight liras. Here, again, we have fallen back +on ourselves, and two officers started repairing in an institution +called the "Snob's Shop." They are now quite good at it, and +turn out really fine work. The only leather obtainable, however, +is rotten local stuff. + +Other prices have risen steadily. The wretched tea +available is about two liras a pound, and there is little of that. +Sugar is ten shillings a pound, coffee dearer than tea, meat +two shillings a pound, and wood works out at about three-pence +a stick. The wonder is how all these people live. Many +are pinched and haggard, and funeral processions in the +snow are more frequent. The Turkish contractor at the +_mektub_ has been playing the extortionate _rôle_, and for weeks +we have threatened to strike and had meeting after meeting. +The net result has been to get the Turks' backs up against us, +and it seems evident enough that the military authorities +are in the financial swim with the fleecers. We have almost +decided to mess ourselves--the chief objection to this being +that every obstacle will be put in our way and prices will go +up accordingly in the bazaar. + +The other day we were allowed our permitted long walk and +took the direction of the pine woods, away up the long ascent. +We trod in young snow a few inches deep. It was a glorious +walk with the tiny bronze pines peeping through the white +sheets that stretched from horizon to horizon over hill and +valley. We climbed until on a patch of upland from which +the sun had ousted the snow, thousands of tiny crocuses +invited us to stop and listen to their premature whispers of +spring. But since then winter seems to have fastened on us +another clutch of unmistakable proprietorship. On our way +back we stopped at our cemetery, which has gradually grown +larger since we came. Last November the survivors of the +unfortunate yacht _Nida_ reached us. She had struck a mine +near Alexandretta and lost half her crew. The commander +had a terribly rough trip here, and the disaster seemed to have +preyed upon his mind. He died in the hospital here, poor +fellow. Recently we buried a gunner orderly arrived from +Angora. He had belonged to the 82nd R.F.A., and came +with the last batch allowed us by the authorities as the result +of continuous applications. The reports they brought of the +men were simply terrible. Hundreds of them seem to have +perished in the cold. The sick were allowed to die without +any attention whatever. A daily loaf of bread and one blanket, +and often no medical care at all, had accounted for hundreds. +Whole regiments are wiped out. Father Tim and the Reverend +Wright, who were recently ordered to Kara Hissah for the other +officers, managed to get a line back to us to the effect that +the reports about the men were true. Rumours are in the +air that General Townshend has gone home on parole and is +arranging for us to be exchanged or go to a neutral country. +One can't hope for that. We have heard in the bazaar that +Kut once more is in our hands. Thank God! + +_May 1st._--At last the winter has gone, but it went slowly +and fought a strenuous rearguard action up to quite recently. +How jolly it is to have dismantled those wretched tin stoves +and be able to write and read in one's room once more. Walks +have been resumed, and lead us even further and further +afield. Many changes have overtaken us--changes seemingly +insignificant and yet to us very momentous. We started to +run our own mess in February, the Turks taking away all our +Turkish and Greek servants and making us rely on our own +orderlies. They prove themselves more childish and more +babyish every week. An inquiry was held into affairs here, +and the old kaimakam was thrown out, but Sheriff Bey, the +worst of all, lied his way into remaining. Our new kaimakam +is a more decent fellow, speaks German, and has lived in Berlin +for four years. We have had him up to dinner, and it fell +to me to do all the talking to him about Berlin. He means +well, and has done all he can to help us, but he is so dreadfully +afraid of Sheriff Bey and his own restrictions. + +The band has made great strides. I'm now first violin +and leader of the "Orchestra." We have five violins, two +'cellos and a double bass, besides the drums, two clarionettes, +flute, and banjo, and the Human Crochet has made commendable +progress in writing out our music from bits of anything +we got through the post, piano solos, and many we have +had to write from memory. We perform on Saturday evenings +alternately at either house. Sometimes we sound almost like +a seaside band at Home!!! I long for the old Queen's Hall +Concerts again. To attend even those, I would willingly +forget the London Symphony or Nikisch's at the Gewandhaus +in Leipsig. The band is almost the only live thing here. One +pines for music. Every evening I can get (so to speak) with +my violin beyond these forests and mountains. My window +overlooks the town and I have quite an audience of Turkish +heads listening. I am told the sound carries as far as the +muezzin. These people have not heard any music in their +lives, and think my crude efforts quite divine. Books arrive +slowly. Swinburne has never come. But we have Shakespeare +and some of Thackeray and a lot of cheap stuff. + +With the advent of spring we all responded to the call and +took fresh hope and formed new resolves. Amongst them I +started a fortnightly paper called _Smoke_, the Kastamuni +_Punch_ and _Tatler_. In a rash moment I finally consented to +the "General's" request, the General being Captain Kirkwood, +our Mess-President. So far it has been a decided +success. Our artist was an officer from the Lower House +whose handy pen finished the cartoon and illustrated the serial +and verse. The paper was not wholly given to ragging and +joking, but in a serious corner we discussed aspects of Kut and +the Trek and Kastamuni and the war. We also ran fictitious +notes from Kara Hissa, Yozgad, Brusa (where the generals are), +and "Eve" of the _Tatler_ finally came to live in Kastamuni to +cheer us up with a certain famous chaperone called "The +Destroyer." The most popular article amongst our own mess +was the current one called "The Oblong Table," at which we +all sat--King Arthur, Sir John Happy Tight, Sir Saundontius +the Good, Sir Sulphurous Blears, Sir Bedevere le Géant, Sir +Leslie Bee de Canard, Sir Cliftus Smallkake, Sir Samuel +Longbow, Sir Carol le Filbert, Sir Richard Oldlace, Sir Pompous +Oldass, Sir Lancelot the Bard, Sir Galahad the Silent, and Sir +Rufus Appletree. And we lived well up to the best traditions +of the Round Table, and conversations and jests and challenges +flew to and fro. But altogether it is rather a sweat, as I have +to do the whole thing, and then it has to be copied out again +by some one with a decent caligraphy. Great care has to be +taken to keep it out of the Turks' hands. + +I have also worked on a further constitutional study of +the possible Society of Nations or International Body, following +out constitutional developments and tendencies as revealed +by the war since my pre-war work "The Place of International +Law in Jurisprudence." + +And so what with the band and _Smoke_ and this diary and +bits of French and my law work, I have plenty to do. I am +only wondering how long it will be before these, too, follow the +rest of our enterprises to oblivion. It is true that one's springs +of action seem almost run out, and that with leading this +dreary existence the iron of Kastamuni has already eaten into +the souls of many. The psychology of a captive is an extraordinary +one. + +At night-time, when the last tremors of the muezzin have +died away and all is still, we sometimes fancy we can hear the +echoes of those great events that are rearranging the world, +the crashing of nations in mortal combat, the battle cries of +men fighting for their faith, the death cries of the fallen, +above all, the cannon cacophany of the fire deluge. + +And from here in the backwater of the world, without +news or knowledge, our hearts go out to our countrymen on the +other front, and we pray to God that we may soon be amongst +them again. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +EXTRACTS AND PHOTOS FROM "SMOKE," THE KASTAMUNI +"PUNCH" + + +_Smoke_ was the Kastamuni _Punch_, which I edited. Its +existence became known to the Turks, who tried by +every means to discover it. When I escaped from the +prison in Stamboul, I had it around my waist. Unwilling to +risk its capture in my subsequent adventures, I entrusted it to +some one in Stamboul, from where it was safely recovered +after the entry of the British troops. The photos are of the +original copy and the extracts perpetrated by me. + + * * * * * + +(1) Letter from "Eve," whom to cheer our loneliness we +transported to live amongst us in Kastamuni. + +201, Curzon Street, +Mayfair, +May 28th, '17. + +DEAR MR. SMOKE, + +Such wonderful news for you. I'm to leave for +Kastamuni in two days. Think of it, my dear. For Kastamuni +and all of you. Almost _too_ wonderful, isn't it? You +know by the time the third edition of _Smoke_ arrived home it +became quite well known that you were incorporated with the +_Tatler_, and, of course, you and I are naturally expected to +become awfully interested in each other. Also by a marvellous +bit of planning on the part of Providence at the same time +Mrs. Huntingdon-East received such an extraordinarily warm-hearted +letter from a Mr. Carol Manrow of Kastamuni (do +you know him?), begging her to visit Kastamuni and prescribe +for his (little Carol's, if you please) loneliness, and also--but +I mustn't tell you too much, must I? + +[Illustration: LETTER FROM "EVE." PHOTOGRAPHED FROM "SMOKE," +THE KASTAMUNI "PUNCH"] + +Oh, and we just love _Smoke_. Well, you know, the next +day I met the Destroyer at tea, _i.e._ Mrs. H. E., because she's +always under full sail, or whatever you call it. She has +persuaded my friends to make me go with her. But, my dear, +I was only too _delighted_ to go, and I do so want to see all the +dear things in that wonderful little place. Oh, I'm so glad +you are incorporated with the _Tatler_, and that I am to tattle +for you. The Women War Workers' Association has arranged +for the Destroyer to look after me. Can you imagine that? +But I shan't stretch my reins until I am safe with you all, and +then we shall see what pace is to be set in Kastamuni. + +I'm to send news to the _Tatler_ as ever, and a column for +you on local gossip or fashionable intelligence. The last sounds +the best. Our spare time you must make interesting for us, +and as we are to have _carte blanche_ from our funny old enemies, +we can promise you a terrific time. And such news I've got +for you--just _too_ exciting. + +We leave in two days via Boulogne, Paris, Berne, Vienna, +Constanti, and Ineboli--and the Sultan has offered the +Destroyer the use of his private yacht, _Abdul Hamid Secundus_. +We _screamed_ when we got his wire. So nice of him, and he +hopes to find us "chic." Just fancy the Destroyer being +chic. And we are to remain with you all until you go away. +Isn't that splendid? + +Thank you so much for your long wire. So _thoughtful_ of +you, but, my dear, I'm not a bit shy, and I've not forgotten +you. In fact, I have tried to dream about you quite often. +Please try to believe this. We are to have the Vali's old +house, whatever that means. The Destroyer is a dear old +thing, and, of course, I leave all the arrangements to her. +She sends a message. "Give the dear things my love, and +tell them to pray that the weather will be good and the Black +Sea smooth." + +Well, I must away to pack. Such appalling weather here, +and we have no potatoes. But no one cares the tiniest bit, +as the news is dreadfully good. The one drawback is that the +war will be over before we have finished the wonderful time +we shall all have in Kastamuni. + +Bye-bye, dear Mr. Smoke. + +Yours with love, + +EVE. + + * * * * * + +(2) Advertisement of Kuttites Klearout Kompany, Unlimited. + +KASTAMUNI KUTTITES KLEAROUT KOMPANY, +UNLIMITED + +OBJECT, To defray the expenses of constructing, furnishing, +and equipping + +The "HOMEWARD BOUND" Airship. + +PROPOSED CAPITAL, £2000 (Turkish). + +Consisting of 1000 Fully-Paid Preference and 1000 Ordinary +Shares. + +TERMS, Preference Fully Paid, Ordinary Five per cent, on +allotment. + +Balance after the War. + +CONDITIONS, The investment in twenty shares will carry +the privilege of one seat in the "Homeward Bound," to +leave Kastamuni at some date unknown. + +N.B.--In the event of having to jettison ballast from the +airship, Preference Shareholders will not be rated as ballast +until Ordinary Shareholders have been thrown overboard. + +ADVANTAGES, On the back of every coupon will be found a +policy of insurance with the Credit Ottoman Insurance +Company covering risks against (1) Recapture, (2) +Collision, (3) Fire, (4) Cherif Bey, (5) Drowning, +(6) Falling Overboard, (7) Landing in Enemy Country. + +Last date of Application for Shares, May 10th, 1917. + +Original Allottees: (Katronides) The Rt. Hon. Marquis-de-Quinine; +(Cloulourides) Vicomte-de-Moular and five +Field Officers. + +Bankers: Kastamuni Providential Banking Co., Ltd. + +Secretary: A. Fludd, + +47.8.9 _Smoke_ Offices. + +[Illustration: KASTAMUNI KUTTITES KLEAROUT KOMPANY +(AN ESCAPE ADVERTISEMENT FROM "SMOKE")] + + * * * * * + +(3) SATIRE'S MY WEAPON, BUT I'M TOO DISCREET +TO RUN AMOK AND TILT AT ALL I MEET + +THE WINGS OF A DOVE (Leading Article) + +Had I the wings of a dove, far, far would I fly--away from +this dove-cot--from the Mekhteb and memories of Huznu--from +the Turkish bath fond joy of earlier days, away from the +chapel that has so often seen me, but now to see me no more, +from the bazaar where in days of yore I visited Ekki Bachouk's, +from the postas and Turkish female delights untasted--from the +band--ah, band of memories--most of all from the Oblong Table--in +short, from the Flesh and the Devil far, far would I fly. + +Ah, those wings. I feel them already upon me. Like a +bird I feel also my capacity for flight. Wings that lie closely +to my shoulders, white pinions the outer ribs in stiff strong +rows, beside them smaller ones lighter than air, stronger than +steel, folding like a fan, opening like an umbrella, locked and +fast. Wings flinging arced shadows, wings with which to +issue some early morn from my window, to cleave the air, to +mount up, up, up above these mosques, the river, the town, +until Kastamuni shall appear a wee pattern of dusky patchwork +crossed by a silver thread and dotted with woolly smoke. +Wings to lift me so high that even that shall disappear--and +beyond the ranges will gleam the sea. Ah, the sea. How +I long for thee also. Since when have I walked within range +of thy tossing spray, thou sea skirting the crimson battlefields +of Europe. Thee would I follow until in the last light of even +I beheld once more "that isle set in a silver sea----" + +Oh, for the wings of a dove. Far, far would I fly. Oh, +to be a dove. I, too, would stop to pluck an olive leaf, and +on it would scratch with my beak, _Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin_, +and then having reached Potsdam, would I drop it at the +Kaiser's feet as he strolls about the palace grounds of Sans-souci. +Sans-souci, forsooth! + +Then would he not conquer the world any more, but wring +the necks of all his eagles. + +And then on to other isles and scenes, whence the voices +are calling---- + +Oh, for the wings, those free white wings of a dove. + + * * * * * + +(4) A Prophecy as to the Fate of Turkey. + + THE DEATH OF COCK TURKEY + (With apologies to Cock Robin) + + "Who killed Cock Turkey?" + "I," said Bull Jack, + "With my usual knack-- + I killed Cock Turkey." + + "Who helped to do it?" + "I," said old Bruno, + "With my little U know-- + I helped to do it." + + "Who saw him die?" + "I," said her ally, + With perfectly dry eye-- + "I saw him die." + + "Who'll have his feathers?" + "I," said the Lion, + "With my usual try-on, + I'll have his feathers." + + "Who'll dig his grave?" + "I," said the vulture, + An eagle plus culture-- + "I'll dig his grave." + + "Who'll grow on his grave?" + "I," said the Lily, + She spoke quite shrilly-- + "I'll grow on his grave." + + "Who'll write his epitaph?" + "I," said the Armenian, + With the help of the Athenian-- + "I'll write his epitaph." + + "Who's heir-apparent?" + "I," said Uncle Sam, + "I guess that I am + The heir-apparent." + + "Who'll toll the knell?" + "I," said the Kangaroo, + "With the help of the Emu, + I'll toll the knell." + + And the Things of the Earth danced in ecstasy-- + When they heard of the death of the Cock Turkey-- + When they heard of the death of the Cock Turkey. + + PACIFIC BILLOW. + April, 1917. + + * * * * * + +(5) Breach of Promise Case. + + KING'S BENCH DIVISION + Mr. Justice Owes-Leigh. + Sonia _alias_ the Fair Girl _v._ Bimbashi Stew-Hot. + Damages for Breach of Promise. + +Counsel for plaintiff, Mr. Wm. Sykes, K.C., of Dukes. +The defendant defended himself, and was assisted, where +necessary, by the learned judge. + +Mr. Sykes, on traversing the Statement of Claim, alleged +that the plaintiff had been wrongfully deceived by certain +overtures and advances on the part of the defendant in that +he had, on many occasions, smiled at her, gesticulated towards +her, called her "choke guzelle," winked, and even kissed his +fingers at her when the postas were not looking. Moreover, +written evidence of a formal declaration of affection and +willingness to marry was in possession of the plaintiff. For +these reasons, submitted Mr. Sykes, an offer of the contract of +matrimony had been made by the defendant and accepted by +the plaintiff. The defendant was unwilling to fulfil--or at +least hung fire--plaintiff estimated her damages at piastres 500. + +The defendant, who was evidently a humorist, was +understood to demur. + +Mr. Sykes then called his chief witness, the plaintiff, the +Fair Girl herself. Her appearance caused a great sensation in +the court. There came a dream in daisy-patterned chintz, +the pattering of small red-stockinged feet, and a dainty whiff +of garlic streamed over the court as the fragile and closely-hooded +damsel clambered into the witness-box. Then, and +not till then, she threw back her veil, and the whole court +beheld, or rather heard, a tone poem of superlative beauty--a +song without words. Her striking looks affected the public +queerly, who fell to digging one another in the ribs, and the +learned judge had twice to threaten to clear the court. + +She answered her counsel's questions firmly and sweetly. +The defendant then put her through the following cross-examination, +by the help of an interpreter. + +"Sonia, do you love me?" (Violent nods.) + +"How can you love me when I haven't talked to you?" + +"You tried to kiss me." + +"Who stopped me?" + +"The postas." + +"Do you want to marry everybody who kisses you?" + +"Certainly not. Some kiss for fun, and some for love." + +"How could I marry you when I am already married?" +The learned judge here intervened to the effect that in Turkey +a man might have several wives. + +A question was now put by defendant to the witness with +reference to other affections, but was disallowed. Plaintiff +was now required to produce the written evidence, but counsel +for plaintiff, springing to his feet, opposed this proceeding as +violating the religious law of the plaintiff's sect. He was overruled +by the learned judge, and the witness produced from her +stocking a piece of crumpled paper. All eyes were turned on +the defendant, and it seemed now improbable that he could +win his case. However, after some delay, and much to the +embarrassment of plaintiff's counsel, and to the amusement +of the rest of the court, the paper was found to be an old +laundry list of the defendant, which he may or may not have +dropped accidentally. + +At this point a startling revelation was made in Mr. Sykes' +re-examination of plaintiff to the effect that witness had been +twice actually kissed by the defendant, and a collar stud of +his, retained in plaintiff's possession, was produced in court. +The defendant, who had hitherto conducted an able defence, +was considerably put out by the last fact, and applied to the +learned judge for special permission further to question the +plaintiff. This being given, the Bimbashi severely taxed the +witness as to her means of support, and several times the +learned judge had to intervene on plaintiff's behalf. The +questions were satisfactorily answered, and the witness left +the box. + +Mr. Sykes summed up in a manner so scathing that the +Bimbashi was heard to interrupt the court by saying that he +wished both Mr. Sykes and he himself had never been born. +Counsel was well into his final peroration, when he chanced to +refer to the plaintiff's "rosy innocence," which, on being +interpreted to the Fair Girl, caused her to burst out laughing. +On being admonished by the learned judge, she inquired of +Mr. Justice Owes-Leigh whether the picture of her counsel, +Mr. Sykes, talking of innocence, was not too funny even for +a Turk. This caused a counter-sentiment in favour of the +Bimbashi, and closed the case for the plaintiff. + +The defendant, a man of mischievous disposition, and +inclined to be humorous, opened his defence by reciting +Wordsworth's "We are Seven," and had got well into Mrs. +Hemans' "The Graves of a Household," when the learned +judge asked what this had to do with the case. + +"Nothing, my lord. I am merely making an impression." +Upon which the learned judge dropped on him like a chimney, +and Mr. Sykes suggested the defendant had tried to make an +impression on the Fair Girl. + +Unabashed, the defendant proceeded with his case, which +was-- + +(1) That he had said or done nothing to encourage the +plaintiff. + +(2) If he had done so he had not meant it. + +(3) If he had meant to do so he had had no idea---- + +"You are wasting the time of this court," thundered the +learned judge, and demanded the line of defence. + +"I have no defence, my lord." + +"Then why on earth are you fighting the case?" + +"I'm not fighting anybody. I am willing to marry her +on certain conditions." + +The elucidation of these conditions necessitated the +clearance of the court, and for some time the case was heard _in +camera_. However, it is generally known that the learned judge +himself re-examined both parties, as a result of which the Fair +Girl admitted to being secretly in love with a gendarme, and +flatly declined to marry the defendant. The case was dismissed +without costs on either side. Counsel for plaintiff explained +that the officers of Kastamuni had subscribed the amount of +plaintiff's court costs. A question by the Bimbashi as to +whether plaintiff's counsel had received his professional costs +from the Fair Girl was disallowed by the learned judge. +Counsel for plaintiff, who became greatly heated, was distinctly +heard by some to say something about "a jealous counsel," +but the remark evidently did not reach the ears of Mr. Justice +Owes-Leigh. + +The court rose, and the Fair Girl, whose nerve possibly +failed at the last moment, went out on her counsel's arm. + + * * * * * + +(6) Knights of the Oblong Table. + + THE OBLONG TABLE + KNIGHTS AT MESS (Subject: Pooling of Parcels) + +KING ARTHUR (_a three-parcel wallah with designs on Sir +Saundontius the Good, a fourteen-parcel wallah_): Gentlemen, +I propose that in future all parcels are pooled in the mess. +(_Loud protests and uproar._) + +SIR SAMUEL LONGBOW: No, I'm against that. Fancy +dividing two tins of sardines amongst fourteen. + +SIR CLIFTUS SMALLKAKE: Well, I'll tell you this much, I +shan't give mine up. One cake wouldn't feed two knights. + +SIR SULPHUROUS BLEARS: Blank your blankety blank. +I'm for pooling the blankety blanks, blank it. + +SIR EDWARD LE FUMEUR: I've a chicken, that means a +bone each. + +SIR POMPOUS OLDASS TO SIR S. BLEARS: How many +parcels have you received? + +SIR SULPH. BLEARS: None, you blank-headed blankety +blank. + +SIR LESLIE BEC DE CANARD: Very good idea. I've got +flea powders and thirst quenchers. Pool 'em, with pleasure. + +[Illustration: "KING ARTHUR'S KNIGHTS OF THE OBLONG TABLE" +IN OUR MESS. THE HILLS OF KASTAMUNI IN THE DISTANCE!] + +[Illustration: MERMAID READING "SMOKE"] + +SIR RUFUS APPLETREE: I've had no parcels. Even if I +had I would have pooled them. (_Laughter and exclamations._) + +SIR SHINYTOP STEWARTUS (_who sits next to King A. and knows +that in any case Royalty appropriates_): Hear, hear, let's pool +them. + +SIR CAROL COEUR DE LION: I'm not afraid of speaking my +mind. I'm against it, as I don't approve of socialism or cheap +parcels. + +SIR SAUNDONTIUS THE GOOD (_fourteen-parcel wallah, and +feeling under the circumstances that he had better go no further +than timidly venturing to agree with the last speaker_): I hardly +think so, Sir King, Old Thing. One tin of jam would last me +for a week, but the mess scarcely one minute. (_Storm grows +wilder, the only voices for the affirmative being those who up to +date have received no parcels._) + +KING ARTHUR (_much annoyed, and seeing a way of retreat, +in a whisper to Sir Shinytop_): Pass the word it's only a ramp +against Saundontius. (_The murmur grows to one of general +accord and cry of "Pool 'em."_) + +SIR SAUNDONTIUS (_an excellent thought-reader, aside to Sir +Sulph. Blears_): Pass the word the ramp is only an excuse of +King A. to get his point. Ramp or no ramp, the vote will +count. + +KING ARTHUR (_not a good thought-reader, and believing all +well_): Gentlemen, the vote! Who's for pooling them? +(_Votes for, six, including Sir Saundontius (who has counted); +votes against, eight._) + + * * * * * + +(7) PARCEL DAY + (_Accele-rato, con moto, mysterioso_) + + There's a murmur in the air--in the air-- + There are ninety parcels there + Full of jams, anchovies rare + For the prisoners de guerre-- + Bless their souls. + + Hark! I hear him read the list--read the list-- + Six for you--I do insist-- + One for me is rather triste-- + Though size counts too I wist-- + Bless our souls. + + At the room we breathless wait--breathless wait-- + You must not risk being late, + It might change your parcel's fate, + So on our boldness do not prate. + Bless our souls. + + All is o'er, they have them fast--have them fast-- + There's some jam that will not last, + Some tongue for a repast-- + Quenchers, shirts, and tea! avast! + Bless _their_ souls. + + * * * * * + +(8) LETTERS COME + (_Adagio_) + + Letters come. Letters go. + Winter's gone. Gone the snow. + Gone the footer and toboggan, + Gone our erstwhile trick of hoggin, + And the price prevents our groggin, + Life is so. + + Rumours come. Rumours go. + What's the truth?--we don't know. + In Kastamuni our hearts are breaking + And we fear the rude awaking + When from her tracks we'll be making, + Love is so. + + * * * * * + +(9) "Die Nacht"--an inversion of "Der Tag," a one-act +play of 1914. + + DIE NACHT + (_A New Version of "Der Tag," all about Billy Primus, + June, 1917._) + + SCENE I (AND ONLY). + + (_Large room used as smoker-library with tall windows overlooking + the waters of Wandsee. The Kaiser in the uniform of the Death's + Head Hussars, seated behind a table-desk. A shaded lamp throws + the sharp silhouette of his features upon the wall, leaving him + mostly in shadow and the rest of the room in the light. He + presses a bell. Enters_ ZIMMERMAN, _Foreign Minister_.) + +KAISER (_motioning Z. to be seated_): Before Talaat arrives +let me know briefly how the matter stands. + +ZIM.: Turkey desires peace at once, but gives the last +possible date as three months. An immediate loan of +10,000,000 liras on mutual security is demanded. + +KAISER: Is Enver in with this, or is it a feeler only? + +Z.: I assure your Majesty, it requires urgent attention. +The whole of Turkey is behind it, led by the few vested and +private interests that remain. You remember my saying +that as soon as the private interests are hit the Turks will +murmur. + +KAISER: What hold have they on the public? + +Z.: According to Talaat, and privately confirmed, the +wealthy classes are heading the general dissatisfaction at the +famine prices and daily loss of territory. It is an ultimatum. + +KAISER: What course do you propose for extending the +three months? + +Z.: I suggest the situation would concern the War +Minister. + +KAISER (_ringing_, HINDENBURG _appears_): The day, my +general, is nearer than we thought. Turkey pulls out in three +months. How will the map lie then? + +H.: With Russia merely held, or, if necessary, by retiring +to our system of railways and carrying on with smaller forces +on our Eastern Front, we can intensify our shortened line in +the West and hold it against all odds until the autumn. This +is providing Holland remains neutral and the Turkish campaign +is pushed. + +KAISER: What is your opinion of the news from Turkey? + +H.: Palestine and Syria will go during the summer. +Possibly Russia will get astride the Baghdad Railway from +their Eastern push. + +KAISER: Our connection to Constantinople? + +H.: We can keep open for three or four months, when the +Western wastage will necessitate withdrawal of Mackensen's +forces and further concentration. Say four months, providing +Turkish wastages are replaced and she remains firm. + +KAISER _to_ Z.: To what extent can you trust Turkey for +three months? + +Z.: If the line is not cut she can be kept in by our military +dispositions, so my reports say. The Turkish forces are kept +in the out-field and German troops are fought nearer to the +Capital. Their staff is still wholly German, and reports give +no ground for uneasiness, except, of course, non-military riots. +In which case comes in our "Remedy" among the Ultimate +Provisions drawn up by your Majesty. We can seize and +garrison Stamboul within twenty-four hours. + +KAISER (_turning over papers_): Hindenburg, is your opinion +still unaltered about our last stand there? Remember, it is +of the greatest consequence to the whole issue. For how long +can we hold Stamboul? + +H. (_drawing himself up proudly_): Your Majesty, our plans +are perfect. On the dispositions made I will undertake to +hold Constantinople behind the Tchataldja lines and a south +trench for three years against the world. + +KAISER: There is nothing overlooked? (_Rings, and_ +BETHMAN-HOLLWEG _appears_.) + +H.: Nothing. With our shore batteries we could outrange +any gun ashore or afloat, and as a submarine base it would +be excellent. Ammunition and food would last that time. + +KAISER (_dreamily_): Three years. It would astonish +posterity. + +BETH.-HOLLWEG: Magnificent, my Emperor, but more than +necessary. + +KAISER: You mean England would be sickened out long +before then? + +B.-H.: If the rest of the war-map could remain as it is, +it wouldn't be worth her while to insist on unconditional +terms. But gallery play in Stamboul is useless once our line +gives in the West. + +KAISER (_to_ HINDENBURG): If we sacrifice the Roumanian +line and hold one across Austria instead, make a stand in +Constantinople, and concentrate all our forces on the Western +Front, how long can we go on for? + +H.: To the autumn of 1918, when it will all collapse like +a house of cards. + +KAISER (_to_ B.-H.): The siege of Constantinople then would +not be mere gallery play, Herr Chancellor? + +[Illustration: "DIE NACHT," AN INVERSION OF "DER TAG," WRITTEN +JUNE, 1917, PROPHESYING THE DOOM OF GERMANY IN +AUTUMN OF 1918.--"SMOKE"] + +[Illustration: AN ESCAPE STORY FROM "SMOKE." THE AIRSHIP ENTERING +THE BLACK SEA] + +B.-H.: There is yet a more serious factor. We can crush +or sacrifice Turkey in revolution, but before a revolution in +Germany your Majesty's guns will melt like butter in the sun. + +KAISER: Have you not quietened the National Liberals +by nominally conceding the constitutional point of veto, and +in assembling and proroguing the Reichstag? + +B.-H.: It's not that. Neither is it the Socialists or the +Left Centre. It's the agrarian classes of the Out Provinces. +They already imagine that disaster has overtaken their absorption +by Prussia, and thought towards decentralization must +not be trusted too far. As they had least to win so they have +most to lose in a war of taxation and attrition. Moreover, +they fear the aftermath of fearful reprisals if the enemy +carries war into Germany. + +KAISER: But my army, surely it can maintain its +supremacy? + +B.-H.: We cannot spare troops to garrison railways, and +once the seed is sown lines will be cut, communications +interrupted, and the army--excepting the Prussians--which +is sick of fighting, will dissolve. I speak, your Majesty, from +a near view of facts. Three months may be short, but when +Turkey goes the terms will be harder. + +KAISER: Turkey may go. Constantinople will not go. +(_Rings._) + +B.-H.: The time to negotiate is now. We shall not +succeed in sickening England out, and if we wait until we are +right back before we ask peace, our enemies will push. (_Enter_ +VON KAPELLAR.) + +KAISER: Von Kapellar, First Sailor of the World, you are +our present hope. You have three months within which to +paralyse British shipping completely--there must not remain +one ship afloat. Everything comes back to this. + +VON K.: My Emperor, in that time I can dismember, but +I cannot annihilate. Every submarine must consult opportunity. +Their chief boats are convoyed. If necessary, the +American and Japanese destroyer flotillas will be used against +us. It would take a year before we got at her throat. Besides, +she is building. + +KAISER: It must be done. It shall be. We are working +against a time-table. With England cut off, and Turkey +remaining in, Germany is consolidated. Von Tirpitz was +right, after all. It is our chief weapon of parley. You must +smash every ship and redouble our submarine tactics ten times +from to-night--from this minute. I see it all plainly and all +will be well. + + (VON KAPELLAR _withdraws_. KAISER _motions to the Chancellor, who + disappears through the door, to reappear immediately conducting_ + TALAAT PASHA.) + +B.-H.: I present to your Majesty our friend and Embassy +from Turkey--Talaat Pasha. + + (_The_ KAISER _rises to his full height, silent and immovable, + for ten awful seconds. And during those ten seconds the heart of_ + TALAAT, _humped violently, as he beheld, at last, beyond the + bowed heads of these grim men, the famous figure, strangely + terrible, of the Great War Lord standing there dark and silent as + Fate in the lamp shadow--the War Lord that had carpeted the earth + with blood_. TALAAT, _not being used to these things, bows low. + The_ KAISER _advances and takes him cordially by the two hands_.) + +KAISER: Welcome, faithful friend of the Fatherland in +peace and war, and soon in victory. You see, I have just +been reviewing my sinews of war. A magnificent piece of +news has just arrived. We have smashed the Mistress of the +Seas. It but remains to sweep away the fragments. (_Enter_ +VON KAPELLAR.) I will introduce to you Baron Von Kapellar, +the hero of the hour. + + (_Introduces them to_ TALAAT, _and after a few moments' + conversation they withdraw, and_ TALAAT _is left alone with the_ + KAISER, _who smokes_.) + +KAISER: Your arrival, my friend Talaat, has been the +precursor of most wonderful news. I am happy to be able to +tell the distinguished leader of our brave and faithful ally +that the end of the war is a matter of a few weeks only. In +four days we have sunk seventy-two large boats. There is a +panic in England, and we have been touched about terms of +peace. + +TALAAT: Oh, that is good. My mission was for ten +millions now, and to say we can't stand the strain for more +than three months. + +KAISER: The strain? My generals will see to that. We +are at England's throat. You must press every ounce--her +terms depend on these blows. We could have peace to-night, +but the peace we want requires manoeuvring for. You remain +firm, do you not? (TALAAT _nods meekly_.) Our submarines +are supreme, and every day the position improves. + +TALAAT: There are riots in Constantinople. + +KAISER: I will arrange for sufficient policing of the place. +Now do not misunderstand me. The case for Turkey is everything +or nothing, and without Germany it will be nothing. +You are to dine with the Chancellor and me to-night. Is +there any question you would like to ask? + +TALAAT: What is your plan of retirement in the West? + +KAISER: To fall back to a line we can hold for years--to +prove to our enemies that at the rate of their advance it will +take them two years to get into Germany, which extra effort +will not mean so much gain to them more than they have at +present--but the expenditure of millions of lives and double +their war debt. That being so, we win. And now (_rising_) +it is my royal wish to distinguish this occasion by conferring +on you a Grand Duchy of the Fatherland. I have one vacant. +The revenues have accumulated since the war. We will +speak further of this at dinner. + + (_The_ KAISER, _smiling at_ TALAAT, _shakes him by the hand. As + the Chancellor reappears for_ TALAAT, _the latter, pale with + excitement, bows himself out of the royal presence_.) + + (_The_ KAISER _falls dejectedly into his chair and rings again_. + PROFESSOR ADAM LASSOON _enters--the arch-spy, Press gagger, and + confidential friend_.) + +KAISER: Well, Adam. What news? + +L.: There has been much public comment on the fact +that the Reichstag has even made it possible to demand +changes in the Constitution so openly. This has been dealt +with. There is also a growing tendency towards isolation. +Men sit in cafés and talk. The world is against us, and even +the entrance of Hayti has a bad moral effect. They hear the +hordes already thundering at our gates for vengeance. This +also has been dealt with and articles prescribed for it. + +KAISER: Be extra vigilant about the provinces, and make +a submarine boom. + +(LASSOON _disappears_.) + + (KAISER, _now alone and smoking hard, walks to the window. He + looks out on the lake in silence. The moonlight streams in + across the room. As he watches, a black sailing cloud obscures + the moon, and the_ KAISER, _turning down the lights, sinks back + dreamily in his chair. The smoke from his cigar floats up in + thick clouds as he rests his haggard face in one hand. He sleeps. + Past the smothered light the mists grow thicker and in them + suddenly appears a form, a spectre--it is the_ SHADE OF BISMARK. + _With fearful voice it speaks._) + +THE SHADE: It is true, Wilhelm. You have need for the +pilot, nicht wahr? The glorious empire I gave is on the brink +of an abyss. Colonies, commerce, shipping, armies, friends--all +are gone. The isolation of England has ended in the +isolation of Germany. The very cement with which I bound +State by State to Prussia is crumbling to dust. Germany is +sliding--soon she will be an avalanche charging to her doom. +Even now there is barely time to avert the catastrophe. You +dropped me. This is my revenge. + +KAISER (_awakes with a start, and the_ SHADE _flees_): What a +fearful dream (_quotes_)-- + +"There is a tide in the affair of Nations, +Which, taken at the flood, leads God knows where." + +On such a full sea are we now afloat, and we must take the +current when it serves or, like our submarines, go to the +bottom. I'll ring for wine.... + + (_Rings as the curtain falls._) + + Written in June, 1917. + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: +_Photo from "Smoke"_ +"THE SONG OF THE RAIN"] + +[Illustration: BALLAD OF THE FALL OF KUT. ("SMOKE") +THIS SKETCH AS ALL OTHERS WAS DONE BY LIEUT. GALLOWAY] + +(10) Ballad by a bombardier on night of Fall of Kut. + + THE FALL OF KUT + _April 29th, 1916_ + + Crack me the last bottle of date-juice + And hand me some leaves of the lime-- + For to-day falls Kut-el-Amarah, + And for us, God knows, it's time. + + We're only a siege-battered army, + And most of us bones and skin; + And we thought that our troubles were over; + But we find they only begin. + + For five months the might of the Turk + Tried to take this tiny Kut. + Now he says that we are devils-- + And we know that he can loot. + + We thrashed him at Shaiba and Kurna, + At Amarah we bluffed him to flight, + At Essin we grappled and threw him-- + How we swore when he left in the night! + + That gave us Kut-el-Amarah + Where runs in the Shat-el-Hai. + 'Tis the key to Mesopotamia, + And surrounded by Arab canaille. + + We were now a conquering army, + And we fought well and ate well and drank; + And though he'd retreated to Baghdad, + We followed for military swank. + + The march was a long one and thirsty, + Still we thought of the Baghdad goal-- + Till the Turk barred our way at Ctesiphon, + Thrice our force and entrenched like a mole. + + But Townshend saw it all swiftly-- + To him were all our wins due. + "I'll not fight without reinforcements-- + There's my communications, too." + + Now, it's a trick they have in the Army, + To ask you "What's absurd?" + So unsupported, Charlie T. + He took them--at their word. + + "It's a risk, and I'm not for it; + But if fight it's got to be, + We'll fight like the Sixth Division," + Quoth our General, Charlie T. + + We found his flank and joined battle, + And held with a frontal attack. + Stormed his first line--he vacated his second, + Was reinforced, and we had to fall back. + + A third of our force on the field; + But the Turk had suffered much more. + We knew that the game was up, + So retired with the honours of war. + + Then came the wild hordes of Islam, + Hot-footed upon our track. + They caught us at Um-al-Tabul, + But in the open we flung them back. + + Mars surely was in his chariot, + And smiled at Townshend then; + And Charles made good to the God of War, + And snatched from the grave dead men. + + We hurled him back and held him, + And got our transport through-- + It was a glorious gunner's show-- + But that's 'twixt me and you. + + For forty hours we marched on, + The nights were fearfully cold. + Men hungered and fainting, and men + That slept as they walked, I'm told. + + But Townshend got us to Kut, + And the remnants stumbled in. + And Hunger and Death stared from our eyes, + But we counted it all a win. + + We dug down deep and quickly-- + Next day they were all around, + And our planes flew away to the southward. + We were alone and battle bound. + + We fought them from the trenches-- + We came to blows in the Fort. + We fought them and we fought the floods-- + And then the food ran short. + + Relief had been expected + In two weeks, or four, at the most. + So we starved, or we died by the hundred; + But we stuck each man to his post. + + All this time the enemy, vengeful, + That ringed us tightly round, + Swept us with shell and rifle fire + That followed us underground. + + Our front line gazed into the blue, + Where Formless Things rode by, + And followed the wake of sound and heard + Them burst in the old Serai. + + Or sometimes it was the Hospital, + And sometimes anywhere, + And later came planes that bombed us-- + 'Twas only luck served you there. + + So the months went by, and we ate husks, + Chupatties, and mule, and weeds. + We'd Divisional Orders for breakfast, + And ribs of the silent steeds. + + And still the Relief kept coming-- + The Staff nominated the day. + Twenty times they fixed it for certain, + And each time explained the delay. + + So we swallowed disappointments, + Tommy only groused his share; + But one sad day the floods came, + And Destiny seemed unfair. + + The trenches filled with water, + And the plain showed scarce a sod, + And we slithered and waded, or murmured-- + "On top, for the love of God!" + + And many's the unfortunate devil + Fell to the sniper's shot + Through "chancing his arm" in the open; + But the others heeded it not. + + Once again, on that waste of waters, + I gaze from the gun-pit floor, + Where Tanks and I kept vigil + Through each hour of the twenty-four. + + I see the maidan silvered + With waters in the dawn-- + Dark lines of distant parapets. + Fresh earth against the morn, + + With files of khaki turbans + Moving forward to relief-- + I see the busy shovel, + Hear the cursings underneath. + + Farther still, beyond the sand-hills, + The trenches of our foe, + Seeming silent and deserted-- + But I know that they're below + + In lines on lines encircling + Us, north, south, east, and west-- + And if my glasses tell me true, + They're reinforcing for the test. + + 'Tis moonlight, and they're sleeping, + The detachments of my guns-- + Here, just behind the limber, + These best of England's sons. + + For the dug-outs are now flooded, + Washed by this muddy sea-- + The gun-wheels half in water, + The breech-blocks scarcely free. + + And parapets and sandbags, + Our trenches fallen, too-- + There's room for ammunition, + But not for me or you. + + Once more, from the mouth of my dug-out, + I smoke the leaves of the lime-- + Sort the destinies of my shells, + "Percussion" and also "time." + + There's a light in the telephone dug-out-- + I think I'll have a peep, + For I'm half expecting a message-- + Maybe the Bombardier's asleep. + + Asleep! in the arms of Hunger; + But I'll report him not, + Though I "rounded" him well for his slackness, + And returned to my watery lot. + + Past sheets of wintry moonlight + I see the drooping palm, + And the ribboned edge of the Tigris, + Dreaming of Eden's calm. + + Hard by, in ghastly stillness, + His four feet toward the moon, + I see the corpse of a stricken horse, + Death-knelled by the shrapnel-tune. + + A broken wagon there yonder-- + A topee adrift in the flood-- + Its owner was strafed in the trenches, + There's the case of the shell in the mud. + + I hear the belated mule-carts + A-rumbling on to the Fort + Under the cover of night-- + For so their provisions were brought. + + I hear the jackals' chorus, + Athirst for expected prey, + Where the Arab tribes lie sleeping, + Patiently awaiting "the day." + + Enough! these things are over, + The moon is on the wane, + And the palm-fronds' festooned shadows + I ne'er shall see again. + + For Kut at last is fallen, + And more men have to die-- + Our flag is down, and the Crescent + Waves o'er the old Serai. + + God grant to us, now captives-- + Who at Death's gate boldly dare + Boast we haven't succumbed to battle-- + Grant us this fervent prayer-- + + That in our future cheerless, + We yet shall know o'er Kut + Our avengers see the Union Jack-- + Tramp the Crescent underfoot. + + To that, then, drink from this date-juice, + And fill up your pipe with the lime. + We have fought till the Great Gong sounded-- + Till the Referee called out--"Time!" + + SPARKLING MOSELLE. + + * * * * * + +(11) THE SILK GAUNTLET + OR, HOW WE ESCAPED FROM KASTAMUNI + By "A Kuttite." + + +I. THE SHIP. + +The Kastamuni Kuttites Klearout Kompany was immediately +launched in accordance with the advertised prospectus +in _Smoke_, and the plans proceeded apace. Silently and +secretly the airship was constructed in the Rabbit Warrens of +the Lower House under the supervision of Captains Tipton +and Wells. The design, one of the simplest, consisted in the +usual vast air-chambers, and underneath a reinforced carrier +named the Raft guaranteed to contain two hundred men. +Beneath that ran the main shaft--a street tube bought at long +intervals in parts from the bazaar, and to it were fitted some +beechwood propellers, a special patent by Parsnip, and made +by Bamptarius and Munrati. As no engine was available, +the motor power was derived from treadles arranged in pairs +on either side of the main-screw shaft, and fitted thereto by +bevelled cogs turning in teethed collars along the screw. In +other words, twenty old bicycle pedals and cranks had been +stuck on to bevelled cogged collars along the shaft, and when +pedalled vigorously by twenty stalwart officers, it was calculated +by the designers that a speed of at least thirty knots +would be attained. A secret trial was out of the question, +but so great was the faith of every one in the abilities of our +members of the R.F.C. that parole was recalled in small +batches so as not to occasion suspicion. Then one day an +excited whisper spread from mouth to mouth. Although +officers lounged about as usual, and even played footer, or +smoked and read, the hearts of all beat high with hope, and +in every eye was the old look one remembers on the evening +of our intended debouch from Kut. The whisper was, "To-night's +the night." + + +II. THE ESCAPE. + +There was no moon--only a faint starlight that seemed to +intensify the darkness. At 2 a.m. strange figures, some +hatless, all bootless, and some in pyjamas, flitted swiftly and +noiselessly through the empty streets. The rendezvous was +the large stone mosque in the grassy plot to the right flank +beneath Mr. Smoke's window, which had been selected as the +most suitable place for fitting the "Homeward Bound" together. +At this rendezvous the committee had been working +on it since midnight, and when the others arrived the "airship" +rode proudly in the air tethered to the minaret by a +cable. I am now writing on board, and the blue sea is far +beneath us.... + +In order to picture our embarkation, cast your mind back +to the sketch in a previous issue of _Smoke_ of a "Homeward +Bound" model riding anchored to the minaret, and dark +figures with monkey-like spasmodic movements crawling +along a rope ladder to the airship. Stores and water were +quickly got on board. There was a committee for everything, +and nothing had been forgotten. The organization was +wonderful. The bandsmen were privileged to bring their +instruments. In fifteen minutes we were all aboard, and even +with the extra weight she still strained upwards at the ropes. + +The first fatigue took their places at the treadles, and the +propellers whirred. Crack! A shot rang sharply through the +night--another and another! It was the alarm being given +to Kastamuni. In thirty seconds it had grown to a fusillade. +Lights flashed here and there in the town, but the "Homeward +Bound" was in darkness.... + +"Cast off," shouted our Commander Tipton, and as the +ropes were cut the "ship" leaped to a height of 10,000 feet. "Ye +gods!" "Heavens!" "What's happened?" were heard on all +sides. What a leap at the heavens it was. We fell sprawling, +clutching at anything, but the caution we had previously +received saved us, and for the most part we held the guard-ropes. +You see, we had expected something, but scarcely +that. Yet the plans were perfect. The 10,000 feet had been +calculated to a pound of gas. "It's all right," yelled out +Tipton, no doubt accustomed to these stunts. The fatigue +party had been jerked half off their seats and couldn't pedal +as her bow tilted upwards. That was righted with the air +valves, and in a few seconds she brought up at dead level. +Then the fatigues started pedalling hard, and we waited--waited. +A cheer burst out as the "Homeward Bound" +slowly started forward, her pace increasing every second. +Then, overcome with joy, the band seized their instruments +and struck up an air. Away down in Kastamuni the people +awakened out of their sleep by the alarm, heard a soft whirring +high up in the sky, and then the strains of "Destiny Waltz" +came floating down to their astonished ears. This changed to +"Rule Britannia" and "God Save the King." + +Bullets pished-pished past us, but as we got further away +we lit up, and all they probably saw was a light or two in the +sky, moving like stars towards the hills. + + +III. THE FLIGHT. + +We now proceeded to make ourselves comfortable on the +raft. We rigged up sleeping corners, a reading corner, a band +corner, and storeroom--although many stores were suspended +from the airship by dangling ropes. Not the least feature +about the appointments was the coffee-shop and bar, presided +over by Sir Bedevere le Geant, King Arthur's henchman and +mastik drawer. The Oblong Table as the chief promoters, +with Mr. Smoke, of the scheme, rigged up an oblong table of +sorts, and kept up the old order of things, King Arthur being +in great form. Sir Shinytop regaled us all with humorous +lamentations for his lost love in Kastamuni. The consumption +of _mastik_ was limited to ten per man per night. Oh, the +sensation of those first starry hours of freedom, the exquisite +sensation of easy movement (it wasn't my fatigue) on a glorious +early summer's night, the thrill of joy after months of confinements, +the speeding on towards liberty! If you have been +a prisoner of war you will know the meaning of this. It was +exactly the reverse sensation to that we had on going upstream +as captives after Kut. So we drank, drank, drank mastik +after mastik and thanked the gods. + +But I must hasten to repair an omission and say something +about the "Homeward Bound." Tipton was commander +and aeronaut wallah, assisted by Lieut. Nicholson, R.N., +navigating officer. Captain Wells "repairs," and Sir Lancelot +le Fumeur as international lawyer in case of complications, +Lieut. Wulley, M.A. (Maiden Aunt), as Intelligence Officer, had +a little crow's-nest on top to which he pluckily scrambled by a +ladder. In an ingenious manner he had drawn maps all around +him on the silk cover of the ship. Major Syer had Supply, and +Captain Reyne did Sergeant-Major of Fatigues, as he got more +work out of the boys who went on in two-hour spells. The +"Admiral," our pilot, had much time to spare, and started a +book with Fludd and Hunger on the various risks uncovered, +also betting on where we should land and when. The tiny +bridge was forward in the bows, with a glass window that +looked out ahead. Some of the orderlies were on the after-part +of the raft and others on a trailer just below. Away +astern, and towed by a long tow-rope, was the dinghy, a contrivance +of King Arthur's by which punishments were inflicted, +the boat being hauled alongside, and after the delinquent being +placed therein, let out astern. The first offender was Sir +Pompous for _lèse majesté_, and as he drifted past he yelled--_quelle +politesse!_ Sir Sulphurous followed for "language," +and Brabby for promoting a fight between two small gamecocks +he had smuggled on board, thus drawing a crowd and +tilting the "airship" at a dangerous angle. Hummerbug +came next for regretting the kaimakam was not with him. +Most mysterious of all was a buoyant canoe called the cradle, +also in tow, that floated high over the "Homeward Bound." +Great secrecy was maintained about this, but rumour had it +that Sir Lancelot le Fumeur and Sir Carol le Filbert had +worked this project for exploiting a new model in the London +music halls--in other words, that Sonia the Fair Girl was +in the cradle. In support of this theory it may be mentioned +that during the first night of the voyage each of these knights +was missing for a time, and could nowhere be found. We +averaged about twenty knots and soon passed over the dark +passage 7000 feet below us that stood for the ranges we had +so long beheld as the horizon of our imprisonment. Less +than three hours after leaving, as the dawn was breaking, we +saw far beneath us a silver feathery line. + +"Gentlemen," said our genial commander, "Turkey is +behind you--behold the sea." A small wiry figure came +scrambling down the observation ladder in breathless excitement. +"It is the Black Sea," he said, and every one laughed, +and Le Fumeur, who sat writing in the corner, swore he would +shove that into _Smoke_ if he was hung for it. By the way, he +promised us a last edition of _Smoke en voyage_. It appeared +yesterday, but all in good time. We kept on this course for +an hour, and the mist prevented us seeing any shipping. In +the distance we had seen a few white dots--possibly Sinope. + +"Head wind springing up. Storm ahead, sir," reported +the pilot to the commander. "Clap on pace," yelled old +Tipton. "Stick her at it, half-hour fatigues, band strike up, +emergency guard-ropes out, lash everything quick." + +The wildest scrimmage took place. Sleepers were trodden +on, mastik bottles upset, and people sent sprawling as the +"first twenty," all fit as fleas, sprang to take a relief. How +those fellows pedalled. The propellers screamed a higher note, +and for a moment we swept along; but a second later, as the +tide of wind caught us, our pace slackened more and more +until we remained almost stationary. The wind whistled +through us, and the canvas screens on the raft reported like +cannon shots. Every one had hold of something, except the +band, who were in a sheltered corner. We played ragtime and +poppies to some purpose, but when we struck up the "Marche +aux Flambeaux" a miraculous thing happened. Scarcely had +we done ten bars when we bounded ahead as if we had cut a +tow-rope holding us back. We did ten knots in the teeth of +the gale. The fatigue pedalled six revolutions of a leg to every +note of the Marche, and The Crochet set the pace. The whole +ship cheered, and a solitary shout came from far behind. +This was from dear old Pompous in the dinghy, whom every +one had forgotten. We beheld the latter being twirled round +and round like a spinner, but now that we moved its occupant +shouted with glee to find himself on an even keel. This kept +on for two hours, and as man after man gave out or got cramp +another replaced him at the pedals. "Storm approaching, +portbow," yelled the pilot. "Emergency holds every man. +Prepare to mount," our commander yelled in a cavalry voice. +The band instruments were secured. We held tight. A lull +had succeeded the heavy wind, and somehow the sea was +much nearer. + +"More speed, more speed, keep her head to it," was the +order. + +Suddenly, without a second's warning, an avalanche of +wind swept down on us, and the shock of impact seemed to +hurl us a mile back. "Stick it, boys," yelled Captain Reyne. +"Splendid, splendid. Try a bit more, kick it in." + +Stuff got swept overboard. We held like grim death. +The ship plunged and reared like a mad horse as we were +hurled from side to side, and the deck took every imaginable +angle. But Nicholson somehow managed to keep her nose +to it. Something snapped, and there was a wild beating and +creaking. The next moment the repair party, headed by +Captain Wells, all on life-lines, got to work, and one or two +who fell off were fished back. Then the propeller went, and +a violent controversy was waged between Parsnip and Bamptarius +on the matter. But a new one was fitted by Bamptarius +with extraordinary skill and daring. It was just in +time. The ship was bearing round, and once beam on she +would have gone smash. I remember looking astern the while +and seeing the dinghy playing high jinks and whizzing like a +ball. Then came the hail and lightning that played over the +steel ribs in an awful fashion. Something else gave on top, +and there was a wild fluttering of canvas. + +"Hold tight," yelled Tipton. It happened the second +time, and this time much worse. + +A man astride of a bullet couldn't have gone up faster than +we did. Something to do with exploding a gas charge--a +secret stunt of Tipton's own. We found ourselves gliding +along smoothly and evenly with incredible swiftness, possibly +doing eighty knots. The relief from the storm-tossing to the +thrill of racing smoothly was wonderful. Have you ever +while yachting beaten up in the teeth of a heavy gale round a +headland and had the sea sweeping over you and the boat +dancing and leaping like a mad thing, and then suddenly +found yourself gliding down a smooth channel with the wind +behind you? Then you will know what this was. + +"Why on earth did not you do it before?" we all demanded. + +Tipton laughed. "To lend colour to our enterprise, of +course, and then we have now left one emergency charge only." + +Our first thought was to have the dinghy alongside and +rescue Sir Pompous. We found him very white. "Thank +God you are alive," we said. + +"Seems so!" he answered sarcastically, a favourite phrase +of his. + +"Fearful time, wasn't it?" + +"No. I liked it, of course." + +With that King Arthur clapped him on the shoulder and +poured half a bottle of mastik down his throat and shirt. Sir +Lancelot gingerly climbed along the ladder with a reviver for +Lieutenant Wully, expecting to see that officer in a faint, +instead of which he was quite cheery with an empty bottle of +mastik protruding from his pocket. + +"How the devil did you stick on?" + +"Stick on? Oh, eashy!" + +"What's this?" asked Le Fumeur, producing the empty +mastik bottle from the pocket of our Intelligence Officer. + +"Ohsh, thaths noshing. Nerve resthorah. Keep oush +cold, verish draftish ere. Donst shay anyshing to boysh. +Don't wansh go dingsh." + +Sir Lancelot helped him down, and he slept. + + +IV. LOST. + +The wind fell and the sun came out. The ship was put to +rights and, scarcely knowing where we were, we headed due +north. It seemed about midday. We had a full ration and +dosed away in a pleasant sunshine to the steady creaking of +some stay or rippling flutter of some loose ribbon in the air-chambers +above. We smoked and dreamed of home. A +little later our Intelligence Officer, now at his post again, +assured us he could tell from the birds beneath us that we +were near land. + +"What land?" we all asked. + +"I'll tell you at tea-time," he said. At tea-time he reappeared. +"Through a break in the mists below us I'm sure +I saw a town," he said, "white dots on green." + +"Possibly sheep," said one. + +"Or sea birds on a green sea," ventured another. + +"Rot," replied he. "It is not green; why, it is the Black +Sea." + +Two hours later, as the twilight fell around us, we saw, as +in a flash through a rent veil, the twinkling of a myriad lights. +Some one suggested fire-flies. "A mirage," said an orderly +from the stern raft. + +Without doubt it was a town. Great excitement prevailed. + +Our navigating officer believed it to be Odessa. + +"I believe it's Constanty," declared Wully, and as the +lights grew nearer he became more insistent. "The sea is +beyond and around the lights, it must be Constanty." And +half an hour later, "I tell you I can see mosques and minarets; +besides, I know Constanty. I am absolutely----" + +Boom! A dull billowy wave of sound reached us. + +"That proves it," he said; "we are being fired at." + +On this a council was held, and it was decided to steer due +N.W. We ran before a strong southerly wind that until now +had been on our port beam. We did about sixty knots, and +by fifty hoped to have reached Russian territory. But to be +quite sure we kept on until midnight, when we descended to +what we considered was 5000 feet. Suddenly a cry from the +pilot brought every one to his feet. There, not a 1000 feet +below us--a mere 300 yards--were the white-crested, creeping +waves towards which we were rushing.... "Hold on." +Boom! Swish! Our second barrel of gas was exploded and +we rushed up and up. But once there the "Homeward +Bound" began to sink again. + +"Pedal, pedal, or we are lost," shouted Tipton. And they +_did_ pedal. But we still sank slowly.... + +"Lighten ship," he roared, as the repair party tackled a +huge rent in the side of the bag. Things were slung overboard +wholesale and the dinghy cut adrift. The ship then steadied +and gently rose, but not before a large volume of the _Mastik_ +was hurled overboard by Blind Hookey. + +"My poems, my precious poems," shouted Mr. Belton, as +he leaped to save them. He slipped, beat the air, and had +not Mr. _Smoke_ seized him by the coat tails and twirled himself +around a stanchion he had followed _Mastik_ into the abyss +of mist and cold grey sea. The gas generator was set going +and we gradually rose to 10,000 feet once more. + +"Gentlemen," said our commander coolly, "we have been +under way twenty-four hours, and I beg to report we are lost +at sea." + +Lost, lost, lost, the words echoed. A ringing cheer was +our only answer. + + * * * * * + +(12) FROM MY BEDROOM WINDOW + +Spring has come. The tree I told you of is thick with +leaves. And so when as now the evening wind blows, a +changed music falls on my ear. Instead of the soft swish of +branches is the lisp of the young leaves, stirring in delight as +they listen to the story about the winter dreams of the old +tree. Birds are back once more, Old Jim Crow, the jackdaws +that awoke me early last summer, and a little fellow like a +wagtail who in his own fashion is accompanying the lyrics of +a thrush in the mosque garden close by. One and all they +have the look of adventurers thick upon them. "Happy to +meet, Sorry to part, Happy to meet again," is the leit-motif +of their song. Perhaps like birds we shall ourselves soon +return to English woods. + +A great window is this of mine with its view from the +garden across the town to the distant hills. Now, to appreciate +a view fully, it is imperative that you shall have spent +just previously some considerable time in trenches and dug-outs +and gun-pits. No, it is not a view either, but rather a +stage. In the background is the drop-scene of mountainous +hills, dotted with villages and scored with paths and gullies. +It is a scene shadowed with forests and sprayed by the +advancing sunlight, or sometimes by this light misty rain. +Other drop-scenes are the mists that advance or retreat with +the rain, and sometimes a thunder blanket shuts off the stage +just outside the town. For the curtain there is the mantle +of night--when there is no moon. + +An extraordinary stage. Let us look at it more closely. +I can promise you no set drama, but great entertainment if +you are the sort of fellow to enjoy sitting on a bit of a hill +above a winding river in the country--with a pipe and some +field-glasses wherewith to watch the affairs of the world +around you. No man-made drama, no plot, no prompter, +and not a cue. The players stray on to and off the stage, +and suggestion can do lots. + +In the fowlyard below two cocks have renewed their battle +for the right to crow last. "Seems so," says Sir Pompous +beneath my window, as he watches them intently. The +youngest pullet, coy and not uncoquettish, withdraws from +the scene of combat to arrange her feathers in the far corner. +She, in any case, will have to abide by the decision of the +contest. + +Cynically the old hens condescend to a dull interest only, +contrasting this sorry affair with the strenuous and gory +combats that waged over _them_ in _their_ day, when their hearts, +too, were young. Love's young dream long since awakened to +matter of factness and steady routine. But for an example +of love still dreaming observe the cocks themselves--the +younger lamenting his lack of experience, but game; the elder +no doubt regretting that his Virgil is not at hand to adorn +further Georgics with the account of his strenuous endeavours--to +point anew that old moral in the Battle of the Bulls. + +A mate has joined the chirruping wagtail with many a +ship and twist of her small head. The cock-bird, prepared to +earn his amours, indulges in risky flights round the twigs and +back again, landing suddenly beside her with a little joyful +chirp. "In the spring a brighter crimson comes upon the +robin's breast--in the spring the wanton lapwing gets himself +another crest." + +"The call of Spring," as Pacific Roller says in another +column, "announcing that the season of love is at hand and +inviting youth to put on his gayest apparel." + +There has just appeared in the foreground of our stage the +wee bear Alphonse, delightful little fellow except when he +makes that awful noise--and why shouldn't he? 'Tis time, +he thinks, that he was on the warpath alongside his dam, for +it grows dark and the call of the wild rings out for him in +clarion notes, challenging him to fulfil his destiny. Manfully +the little fellow is trying to do so, roaring lustily and making +commendable attempts to stand on his hind legs and reach a +bough. As he thrusts his way through some _débris_ I can see +his woodcraft is coming on apace. + +The first drops of rain are falling, and as they swish on to +him his wee heart, I've no doubt, throbs restlessly for +freedom once again. Freedom. Poor little lad, I sympathize +with him. Different from the cocks or the wagtail he, if he +could speak, would agree with me on this point at least. But +one thing he doesn't know, and that is the future, nor how +close the hand of Fate is to him even now. For it is as good +as decided to poison him for being in disposition incompatible +with all of us--to wit, that he is a bear and roars. As a matter +of fact, five grains of strychnine were given to him last night +and he survived. + +And what could augur better for the normality of the +Knights of the Oblong Table than to say that some cheered +and all felt glad when, to-day, we saw Alphonse still going +strong, apparently overdosed. The iron of Kastamuni, that +rumour says has entered into more than one soul (and rusted, +too, withal in others), cannot have bitten so very deep into +King Arthur's Knights. And Alphonse the bear, innocent of +our design or of the attitude of Destiny, stands on his hind +legs like a wee man and chuckles. Is all this drama a tragedy, +or comedy, or what? + +Please note there has been a duel over an _affaire de coeur_, a +love episode, a captive, with a great Fate of uncertain mood +flinging a dark shadow at the end.... + +Past the column of grey smoke thickly climbing through +the raining mist, a black speck moves down a white path. It +is a labourer returning from his fields beyond the town. To +the west is the smothered glow of the setting sun. In the +central background of the stage above the high lights, observe +a wee, grey coil of smoke twisting upwards from the shining +speck in the gully. I know the hut well, although never has +it appeared larger than the tiniest button. There is a romance +of an old man and woman, a son at the war, and a pretty girl +within, if you look closely!! Behind the house a long track +winds uphill to the pass. But the last light has left the hills +and I see only the dark patches of forest. Look carefully, +and, if I mistake not, you will see an advancing pair of darkly +burning orbs. They are the eyes of another Alphonse, luckier, +let us believe, on the warpath, traversing his domains, the +dusky fastnesses of the wild glens.... + +The sun has set and the rain falls more thickly on the +hills. Through the gossamer of moving mist fond fancies +steal to me. And so the last scene before this slowly falling +curtain sings of the Past. + +What play does not? It is the song of the rain. Would +you like to hear it?... + + * * * * * + + THE SONG OF THE RAIN + + Oh, I'm longing for the homeland way past the setting sun-- + I'm yearning for old faces and for more sober fun; + But sometimes, as at even, my heart with pleasure fills, + While it drifts back to England--when the rain is on the hills. + + Oh, I'm tired of the Orient, I want the old, old lanes. + I want the Dear Old Country--her pleasures and her pains. + I want the white-frilled hedgerows--the heather and the rills + That lift me back to England now the rain is on the hills. + + Night's mantle softly falling o'er Kastamuni town, + The last dim colours flying, dark grey and dusky brown. + I hear the goatherd piping to the flock his good-night trills, + And my heart hies back to England--for the rain is on the hills. + + Below me in its basin the old town dreams away-- + I see the first light flicker that ends another day. + The distant bugles dying--the muezzin floats and stills + My heart to pray for England--when the rain is on the hills. + + Oh, I'm longing for the homeland, my homefolk and my pals, + I know that some have fallen 'mid the bullets' madrigals; + But a memory's in her woodlands--a love no distance kills-- + And to-night my heart's in England--for the rain is on the hills. + + PACIFIC ROLLER. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +SPRING--PLOTS TO ESCAPE--BETRAYAL--ESCAPE OF OTHERS--I +AM SENT TO STAMBOUL FOR HOSPITAL + + +In this diary, notwithstanding it has been written in +the greatest secrecy and kept hidden, I have nevertheless +refrained from including any mention of a +subject that in my latter days in Kastamuni engaged almost +all my attention, _i.e._ escape. Besides being an unnecessary +risk, it would have been unfair to those concerned. I am +adding a note from Brusa. + + * * * * * + +After our first winter in Kastamuni, the warmth of April +stirred our blood to respond to the call of spring. I decided +to try every human device to get away. + +The Turks asked us to give our parole not to escape. A +keen controversy sprang up in our midst. From the point of +view of some officers it meant a few more privileges and less +punishment, and escape was almost impossible anyway they +said. + +Some senior officers were for giving orders forbidding the +whole camp individually to escape. Others, including myself, +considered this a private matter for the person concerned. I +refused my parole, and was down in a black list of the Turks. +It meant extra convoy and less privileges, but we asked for, +and were given, no facilities for escaping than what we could +make. + +In the town some months before I had got to know a +Russian "runner," Kantimaroff by name, who was interned +in Kastamuni, but secretly in touch with the Russians. For +a heavy bribe he got me news of the Black Sea coast only +some forty kilometres to the north. So careful was I with +Kantimaroff that outside the Turkish baths I spoke to him +only once, and then in a shop. + +It would take many chapters to set down all the many +changes of programme of increased and diminishing hope +according as the octroi posts between us and the ranges were +changed, or as the Black Sea patrol scoured this coast for +fishing-boats. Sometimes vigilance was so increased as to +terrify any one against helping us at all. This took months. + +At last, by great good fortune, I discovered a Greek outlaw, +on whose head the Turks had put a price. He was in hiding, +and wanted to get away to Russia. He was in need of money, +and, provided he did not run too much risk, would meet us at +the Black Sea's edge, and take us with him. + +Kantimaroff, who was practically free in Kastamuni, sent +him again and again to the coast, or said he did. The scheme +looked rosy enough. The main road to Ineboli was heavily +guarded, as was that to Samsun. + +But between them was a track over the mountains known +only to a few. It led to a sacked village halfway to the coast. +Here, formerly, the Greek had lived. It was within ten miles +of the sea, and in case the coast were too crowded one might +rendezvous here in caves. + +The boat problem was the most serious. All these had been +collected or destroyed by the German and Turkish authorities, +and only a few licensed ones were allowed at all. They were +simply not to be had for any money. The nearest coast of +Russia lay only 250 miles away. + +The Greek, however, after collecting a considerable amount +of money for his trips to and from the coast, announced that +he had bought a boat, tested it, and buried it in the sand near a +creek. There were oars, but no sail. It was while waiting for +the return of the Greek on this occasion that Captain Ellis +of the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry asked to accompany +me, and Lieutenant Sweet of the Gurkhas also decided to come. +We had every detail ready, our kit and disguises and stores +and compass, and wanted to start that night. But Kantimaroff +said he could not agree to this. Suspicion might fall on him. +He must be given a few days to perfect his schemes. It was +now June, and the moon was rising too early. A later rising +about 11 p.m., while leaving us obscured in getting out of the +town, would enable us to negotiate the hills and rocky detours +we proposed to make, as quickly as possible. So we decided +to wait. In the meantime I reserved for myself the supreme +luxury of breaking bounds to test the feasibility of this part +of our programme. Just after dinner, when the other officers +were settling down to bridge, and before the postas had put +on their all-important "night" bearing, for at night they were +extra vigilant, I side-tracked the sentry downstairs and hid +in the woodshed. After waiting half an hour for exchange of +guard I got a tiny window open and hopped out into our back-yard. +I had to wait another hour before I could close it +behind me. Then I went through the yard, over a roof-top +and a high wall, and found myself half stunned at the bottom +of the wall on a side street, with some sleepy Turks near by +going to prayer. + +The mischievous feeling of a schoolboy breaking bounds +for the first time was nothing to mine, although I had been +out on previous occasions. This time I felt that the first step +of the escape was feasible. I wandered around the town in +a fez and old clothes, shuffling a pair of dilapidated shoes _à la +Turque_, and coughing steadily. This because I had disguised +my face with a scarf as if I had a severe cold in the head. I +found out where the postas were, and where not, and after +more than one narrow squeak got back over the wall with the +greatest difficulty, pulling a part of it down in doing so. Some +days later, as the plan was being held up, it was necessary for +me to get out again. This time I slipped out in the afternoon +in uniform with a basket of purchases, ostensibly from the +bazaar. Now, sometimes our postas lagged behind us in the +town so that an officer walking apparently alone was no uncommon +sight. It worked beautifully. On being seen alone +with the purchases I imagined our own postas would think I +had outdistanced or lost my posta, and on this occasion I +merely walked boldly past all our sentries and into the front +door of our house. They were suspicious the second time. +Not a word of all this I said to any one. Experience was +dearly bought and precious. + +Two days before we were to start I heard that somehow +or other Kantimaroff had been approached by a party from +the Lower House, and anxious to reap a double harvest, he had, +it appeared, taken money from them and divulged about the +boat. At this time any intercourse between the houses was +difficult, and I endeavoured to communicate with Keeling, +who was organizing the other escape. Ellis was less watched +than I was and asked the other party not to touch Kantimaroff +who was, it appeared, heavily suspected. We agreed to give +each other notice of our "bunk" so as to arrange to go the +same night. So soon as one party got away the other would +have little chance. + +I now met Vicomte d'Arici, the Italian songster that had +lately come to Kastamuni, and who resided with the Italian +interned. I met him secretly in the castle above our house, +and he helped me with information considerably. I found +also that he was a political prisoner, and had done an amount +of political work before the war, and knew people I knew in +Berlin and on the Continent. He was a light-hearted and +plucky fellow, and except that it wouldn't suit him, would have +come himself. He told me to beware of Kantimaroff, who was +on the point of betraying us to the Turks. The Greek seemed +straight enough, and wanted to see us. + +Later I took Ellis, and we both had a night "rehearsal." +Being two helped matters at the wall. We improved our +disguise, and even gave lights to unsuspecting Turks. + +On the way back, however, we took a wrong corner and ran +into the arms of a sentry who challenged us. Ellis tried to +answer in Turkish, which was fatal. The sentry was obdurate. +He had hold of us lightly by the sleeve. Pushing some liras +into his hand we disengaged ourselves and took to our heels, +scrambled over the wall, and got back into bed by inches ahead +of the search party. + +The next morning, to our secret amusement, and the wonder +of the camp, a certain major, who had given his parole, and +who used to walk about proudly without any postas at all, +was suspected by the Turks with having been "out at night." +The variations of the rumour were highly interesting. Who +were the two out? Every one good humouredly accused +every one else, and quite a number of officers decided to get +out as it now appeared that it could be done. + +I supplied the other escape party with particulars of the +brigands with Cowi Bey in the valleys between us and the sea. +If one could get to them the chances were that for a ransom +they would assist one across the Black Sea with the extreme +chance of getting knocked on the head for one's boots. + +I was now secretly informed by d'Arici that I was heavily +suspected. This made inter-communication between houses +most difficult. Sweet who was in the Lower House decided to +start with the other party, and Captain Ellis and Lieutenant +Taylor, I.A.R., who were in my house, to come with me. We +got everything ready, and on an evening in the third week in +July, we waited in our room ready to start with all our +disguises and equipment ready. At the last moment I got +an urgent message that Kantimaroff's house was picketed +by police, and the Greek had run away in fright to a house +near by. We made one more desperate effort to go and join +him and make our plans after getting out. I sent urgent +messages to Lieutenant Keeling through our trusty Sergeant +Britain not to try to see Kantimaroff openly, as he was suspected. +However, that day he and two members of the other +party went up to the Russians in the street, with the consequence +that I got a chit on a paper bag saying the Greek had +fled, and he was in danger of his life and that, for the money +we had given him, he could not do more than give us all the +information he had. The same night a posta was delegated +to watch me, and every half-hour he came to my bed. We +waited for an opportunity. None came. And our escape, +which had offered a most excellent chance of success, went +"phut" accordingly. + +The other party duly informed us that they intended to +start. Three weeks afterwards they did. The posta had just +left me about eleven, when we heard a shot. Some excitement +occurred down below, and postas swarmed up to our house to +see if I was there. Search parties were out all night. + +We were all confined to our house. Next day I heard that +at the last minute the escape was nearly nipped in the bud at +the start. This was prevented by our old Bombardier Prosser, +who did servant down there. One of the party forgot his +watch, and actually sent the bombardier, who was showing +them out, back for it. A posta accosted him. He knocked +the posta down, and rushing up to his room, shaved his +moustache off and got into bed. They had him out and +listened to his heart to see, as they did on such occasions, if +it was still beating quickly. This would have meant he had +just been out. + +We remained under "bund" without incident. Hourly +reports came that the other party had been captured. But +they didn't return. The following notice appeared posted up +next day and signed by the commandant. + +"_Possession of the offensives have been taken. Other officers +are requested not to escape, and will be surely shot in bunking. +Officers offensive in this fashion, giving their parole, are informed +they must be fired at in any case. All are requested to be happy. +Do not take rotten advantage of your old postas for God sake. +This is final notice before shooting. Let the special one note._" + +I was voted the special one in my house. + +We heard a rumour that the party while trying to avoid +the bandits in making for the coast had actually struck the +main band, and after getting away, tried to pass off as Germans. +They were discovered. I have no wonder--and a letter written +by an officer, amateur at Turkish, was taken. + +Clumsy as the start was, they have done well, and we all +wish them the very best of luck. + +So the days dragged on and the nights stood still. Once +more summer was over. Once more it seemed we were +entering the long stretch of autumn that led into the terrors +of winter, with its cold, and scarcity of food that our slender +means could not negotiate. But through the nights and days +always, always, there was the same range of hills dividing us +from the sea. In the first days of September there suddenly +appeared in Kastamuni a tall Turkish Mir Ali (full colonel), +named Zia Bey, the inspecting officer of the Government. +He came to hear our complaints. His visit last year had +been hailed with great glee, but we had since learned that +these events were shorn of possibilities of increase of liberty. +He came, no doubt, to inquire about the escape. We were +still heavily under "bund," and so he visited each house. +He had a pleasant appearance, was very quiet, and extraordinarily +polite, but he did nothing. We stood around his +chair while our spokesman told of our petty troubles, the large +ones we knew it useless to recount, so we asked for fresh air +and money and leave for our British servants to go to the +pump without a posta as they were few and we were often +thirsty. He noted our points, but promised nothing except +one or two. + +I heard him ask which was I, and I could see I was still +under heavy suspicion about escaping, although my eyelids +were so swollen that I could not see at all out of one eye, and +only indifferently out of the other. But I was not so blind +that I could not see that Zia was the polite type of lazy Turk +that in the heart of him has fear. I said nothing of the scheme +that evolved itself as we all sat together. It was fatal to hand +over one's embassy to another. When he had gone I wrote a +letter to him. + +My assets were that I had really been very ill from the +effects of a shell contusion in my spine for a very long time. +Of this I could show nothing except in two places, the vertebræ +were parted and irregular, and one had since grown +nearer. If one could refer to anything so damnable as captivity +being blighted, I might say that bruise has blighted +mine. Of the untold hours that I lie awake waiting, waiting, +for the roof, sky, and earth to stop pulsating to the pulsation +in my spine, no one can ever know. But the eye trouble, +originally strain from shell-shock and from grit, is now only +bad conjunctivitis, although it looks awfully serious. As first +violin of our band my bandaged eye, and, later, my absence, +had been conspicuous enough to the Turks. Moreover, I had +recently received word from the late Lord Grey and a letter +from some friends at the Foreign Office. In one letter a kind +inquiry existed about my health, noting the special treatment +our enemy prisoners were getting in cases like mine in +London, and saying medicine and glasses were being sent me +to save my eyes in the meantime. On this I made my case +without threatening the Turk, but indicating that they had +become aware of my case in London. That I had been so +neglected my eyes were imperilled, and that whatever had +happened in the past the inspecting officer, at all events, now +had the opportunity of giving me in Stamboul the treatment +that the Turks got in our best hospitals. + +I terrified my interpreter into giving this application to +Zia Bey himself, as I could not trust Sheriff Bey. This I did +by showing him another letter to be delivered by another +source that night to Zia Bey, showing that as had happened +in previous cases applications were not allowed to reach him. +Ananias, as we called him, took my letter to Zia Bey. The +next morning I was summoned to the office. They led me +down. Several fat Turks stuck oily thumbs into my eyes. +The local doctor had to say what my complaint was, and +although they admitted that under him my eyes had got worse, +and he would not accept further responsibility, they allowed +him to say what the trouble was. It developed into a hot +discussion. I refused, point blank, to be diagnosed by a +doctor who wasn't a specialist. Had they no specialists? +Finally they produced a file of letters to me and extracts and +bad reports on "qatcheor" (escaping). They asked me if I was +willing to go to Angora for examination. Now I loathed this +place above all, but it was _en route_ to Constantinople. Here +I made the most important move of my captivity. Lieutenant +Greenwood, with a smashed shoulder from football, aggravated +by an old wound in Kut, was a dead certainty to go. I refused +unless I could go with him. They agreed. + +On my return the whole camp was discussing "Mousley." +How the devil had he worked it! What a fool he was to go to +Angora! Others said I was going to escape _en route_ or at +Constantinople. I was told I was leaving the next day. + +Oh, the delicious whirl of life again as I felt the first unloosening +of the chains. Only three officers at long intervals +have gone over the mountains from our camp to Constantinople. +Here in this basin by the Black Sea, buried from the +world, and far away from the great issue, one has been left +alone with one's inactivity, one's interrupted career, the +unaccepted portion of one's sacrifice, and has too much time +for morbidity. But now, to-day, the sun shines on Kastamuni +as it never did. The postas are more than kind. The castle +alone is green. I may be off to an indifferent fate, but I am +off. Munro our lightning carpenter has justified his reputation. + +"A box, righto! This cupboard just it. Oh yes, about +twenty minutes." So he did. He kicked the lid off, closed +the sides, braced the back, and altered the hinges, and as we +looked there appeared the box good and strong. I have packed +a heavy accumulation of stores as belated parcels have +recently started to arrive in exciting quantities. + +I have given away all my spare kit to my former companions. +In fact, with my good joy, I couldn't auction anything. +Every one has been very kind and given me odds and +ends for the journey, and the doctor has sent up special +packages of emergencies _en route_. I am told I am to leave +at dawn, but we are still under _bund_, and I can neither visit +the other houses nor see Greenwood to make a _bandobast_ for +the journey. It will mean our carrying two of some things +and nothing of others. The Round Table gave me a very +lively dinner. My box is ready with all my worldly possessions, +including my manuscript packed in below. I tried to get a +false bottom made to my box, but with the wood this is not +possible in time, although I expect a search, but rely on their +previous permission given to me to work at these. + +_Angora._--We arrived here last night on foot in a battered, +lame, halting and blind condition in the dark. I must set +down how our gay cavalcade that left Kastamuni early on +September 3rd dwindled away to this. After my last entry +I did not leave the following morning, but waited in terrible +tension lest they should cancel the arrangement. But the +delay was the worst. One horse had just had a foal, and a +substitute could not be found. Another horse had gone sick +and had no shoes. The arabana or wagon was to cost us +twenty liras. This we refused to pay out of our funds, but +told them to cut it out of our pay. As a matter of fact, and by +a miracle, we got off paying, as, of course, we ought. They +found an old vehicle in some yard and put the commandant's +bodyguard on to it. They nailed up the wheels, put on a +cover, and in the early dawn Ananias, the interpreter, burst +into my room screaming "Haidee." This was the day after +my last entry. Sergeant Britain, our very estimable N.C.O., +and another took my box and kettles downhill to the commandant. +Here I was made to sign my pay sheet. Then, +suddenly, Sheriff Bey entered the room, closed the door and +demanded to see all in my pockets. I had to produce them. +He took from me my private papers, including addresses, dates +of remittances received, numbers of cheques cashed, and private +accounts. Also my manuscript music in part. Then, tragedy +of tragedies, he demanded on my word of honour if I had +anything else written. One was by this time fairly sick of +giving one's word on nothing, but there was no way out. I +told him, however, that I had had permission to work on my +book, and on a law study, that I had given much time and +thought to this, that they knew in England I was working at +it, and that I would show him all I had if he promised to give +it me back on my assurance that it contained nothing against +the Turk or of military or political importance. His glee on +receiving a large book of manuscript was unbounded. The +interpreter read parts of this to him, anecdotes of captivity, +of the campaign and other selections on problems of the new +International State or Society. He assured me on his sworn +word of honour I should have them back at once after the +censor had seen them if they contained no plans of Turkish Forts, +and in any case on the signing of peace. (I subsequently heard +my book was found torn up in his office.) In vain I begged for +them. He felt that at last he had me at a disadvantage. I +appealed to Zia Bey. He was all politeness, and gave orders +my name should be carefully and legibly written on the book. +But my heart sank as I thought of the fate of such things on +former occasions, and of the many many hours I had worked +at it. + +Our kit was put on board the wagon, a place made with +our rugs for Greenwood to rest his broken shoulder, and an +orderly named Mathews, who was being sent back to Angora +for breaking barracks repeatedly, was to do servant for us. +This was untold luxury compared with our trip to Kastamuni +eighteen months before, but I was terribly depressed over my +book and parts of this diary. Valuable or worthless, it stood +in any case for a part of my life, and I felt as though something +very close to me had been snatched away. For many months +here and there I had written this. It was a history written +among dying men, not of them, but of many things, and such +that I can never reproduce. On many a night in winter, by +a black smoky oil light bought with money saved from my +tobacco or mastik money, I had worked with the flickering +wick near my bandaged eyes, my two worn blankets wrapped +around my legs and feet, stockings around my head and neck +to keep out the paralysing cold. Outside was three feet of +snow, and sleet and wind from the Russian waste blew icily +over the Black Sea straight to my window. Ours was the +highest and coldest house in camp, and faced the north high +on the bluff above the town. And so I wrote and re-wrote +until often only my writing hand remained unfrozen. + +Before leaving Kastamuni we had to wait two or three hours +for the gendarmes that were to accompany us. I was not allowed +to visit the two shops to rectify my accounts, so carefully did they +watch any one leaving lest any communication should be set up +for those left behind. I went to the Lower House to say good-bye +to some friends, including Square Peg, at work on law. His +friend, whom we called the Count (Horwood), was most +sympathetic over my book, and took me to the bar to have a +last bottle of beer (so-called) that had arrived. This beer, to +me so long estranged, was so good that I bucked up to a +degree, and decided, as I have always tried to do since in +moments of catastrophe, to merely suspend judgment and my +grief. At the time it is too much deliberately not to care or +to try to diminish the size of the catastrophe. + +At last we were rushed off, crowds of people following us, +and small boys wanting tips, and many peasants whose faces +one knew were honestly grieved to lose us, and possibly our +money as well. Last of all Sonia, our Sonia, who had on +occasion had quite an amount to do with me, and had danced +to my fiddle and carried notes for me, and decoyed the postas +from my rendezvous in the castle, followed us for miles with +her basket, crying bitterly. She was a case-hardened daughter +of Eve, a wild little untamed savage, but pretty and entrancing +and very daring. She waved to me, and threw many kisses +with lightning rapidity when the gendarmes were not looking, +then followed the river bank to her destiny, and we rounded +a bend towards ours. + +The first time in one and a half years of restriction, that +seemed one and a half centuries, we wound up the eastern +road back on to the plateau, and the brown roofs of "Kastamuni +the Terrible" fell beneath the brow. + +It was a beautifully soft morning. Our cavalcade scattered +themselves out on the flanks to scour for brigands. Besides +the _arabanchi_ (driver), there was our excellent sentry Mustapha +and his _choush_, a sergeant, from the Lower House, who was +reported rather treacherous, also a wretched little officer cadet +fellow named Ali, and about three or four _askars_ and eight +gendarmes mounted. We halted for lunch among some trees +in a delightful glade between two hamlets. In the evening +we walked to get over the jolting of the springless cart, which +bumped and bounced over every rut. My travelling companion +had a bad time on occasions with his fracture, although +it was better than we had hoped. We reached the region of +pines and ravines, and in the dusk pulled up at a grimy and +dirty Serai a few miles short of the old saw-mill where we had +stopped on our way out. + +We were bundled into a tiny room filled with smoke and +all sorts of travellers. We emptied this room after much +argument, and allowed in two or three of our postas only. +This was my first scrap with Ali. He was afraid, as Zia Bey +had arrived at the Serai just after. Zia was off to Angora, +but travelling in luxury in a landau. We had a good supper +after paying huge amounts for water and firewood, and to the +owner of the wretched _khan_ or shed. The place teemed with +fleas and bugs. In the early dawn we had breakfast of Cambridge +sausage, biscuits, tea, and jam, from our parcels. My +travelling companion likewise had a large box full of stores +just arrived, and I should think ours was the best supplied +caravan that ever crossed that mountain. + +We walked along beside the wagon up the incline. The +horses were so poor that they could scarcely pull the empty +wagon. The route led among pine woods and water-falls +alongside a sparkling brook. I exchanged a few words with +Zia, who was also walking, but he soon passed us. He had +seen service in the Dardanelles and at Sivas. + +Slowly we climbed, sometimes walking, sometimes riding. +The great forests of fir with tiny log houses perched among +the heights on every clearance, were above us as we started. +By three o'clock we were on the summit above them. Al +Ghaz Dhag, a fine peak, lay alongside us wreathed in mists. +We were kept together, and quite an army of gendarmes +convoyed us. Recently the brigands who swarmed in these +hills had robbed the mails and repeatedly held up passengers +for tribute. + +My eyes became troublesome, and Greenwood's arm +inflamed. However, we made a good halt and lunch in the +summit among pines, and here met our old good Commandant, +Fatteh Bey, who was storming against Enver Pasha and Sheriff +Bey. He had had some difference at last with Sheriff Bey, +whom he was too weak to restrain. This led to Fatteh's +getting removed to Eski Chehir. He had had so many contradictory +orders to go that at last he set off without them. +While he was away the escape occurred, and he was interrupted +at Changrai and ordered to return. Sheriff, the nominal +commandant when the affair occurred, accused Fatteh of +conniving. He caused Fatteh's kit to be searched secretly at +Changrai, and a letter, really innocent, was found from an +officer in Kastamuni to a friend at another camp. So Fatteh +got in disgrace, and was now pensioned off. It was all worked +by Sheriff. Fatteh told us he wanted to leave Turkey and +go to England to live. Every now and then he produced a +Cook's English-Turkish. He has already learned the money +quite well! + +That night we reached another wretched _khan_, and slept +on the roof. We smoked a little while the drivers slept, and +the gates being well secured we could not escape. Ali became +obstreperous and obstinate, and wished to show his authority +even in the matter of our walking or riding or getting firewood +or procuring water to wash. He wants us to get it from the place +where we must, of course, pay for it. But these have been wonderful +days of movement, a voyage of rediscovery of the +world, a passing from sleep to dreamland, from death to life. + +We find very many old landmarks that we now remember +perfectly to have seen on our outward trip--a lonely cabin, a +path over the mountain, a deserted mill, a desolate Armenian +house. Thus in moments of tragedy can the eye collect vivid +impressions of things so commonplace that they are usually +missed. A very hot day of trekking, followed with frequent +collapsing of the horses, and more frequently of the harness, +which was tied with string or rope. Periodically came a +louder crash from our groaning wheels, which wobbled dreadfully, +sometimes so ominously as to threaten to tip us out +altogether. We were at an angle certainly of forty degrees off +the perpendicular quite often, and Greenwood, being a sapper, +developed a trick of making elaborate calculations as to how +many more fractions we might go over, and what the momentum +of our boxes packed behind our heads would be in a general +roll. We were hemmed in by the ribs of the wagon's cover, +and in case of accident could not move a foot. Once we +actually did go over, but only tipped on to the side of the +bluff, and luckily not the other way. We kept Ali in cigarettes, +and gave him more than one tin of food. Fatteh and another +very fat Turkish officer who accompanied him lived, I verily +believe, on the same onion and melon from Kastamuni to +Changrai. They ate bread and olives. + +I was not altogether free from suspense lest I should be +held up in Angora and not allowed to proceed to Constantinople, +and I had asked Ali if Zia's letter to the medical officer +at Angora really existed. He said we would both go to +Constantinople, but this in the lying way of appearing pleasant +the Turk has. As we had been quite good friends, I asked +Fatteh in German to have a look for me. He got the letter, +and said aloud that it was for us to go to Stamboul. I asked +him again that night, and he admitted it was only for examination +in Angora, and did not mention Stamboul! However, I +saw the line. There was no need to pretend, as my eyes were +really bad. More than once I had to be completely blindfolded, +and sometimes lie down in the roadside. + +We passed the Hittite caves in the cliffside near Kosah +river, and then reached Changrai, the halfway village. Here +we were taken into another serai in the town, an empty room +with hanging doors and broken windows. We ate hard, and +drank bad _raki_ hard, and slept hard. We stayed there all the +next day. Here I hid a section of my papers I had not shown +to Sheriff. When he pronounced his intention with regard +to my book, I slung the rest of my kit back into the box in a +great rage, and, of course, over the other parts of the book he +had not yet seen. These I expected to lose here. I now +forestalled a search by getting them sewn into some old rugs. +Fatteh promised to do all sorts of things for us, but I had the +usual doubts. He wishes us well, but is a Turk. + +We saw the wretched little bazaar, and heard that the +whole of Kastamuni camp was to be moved to some lonely +barracks outside the town, so as to prevent more escapes. On +the morning of our departure we walked out slowly about a +mile over the fields to these barracks which lay en route. +They stood alone in the plain beside what in winter was a +stream, a four-sided great building of many rooms enclosing +possibly an acre of ground with a pump of bad water in the +centre. The rooms, or rather divisions, were large, enclosed +on two sides only, and strewed with filth and litter. Sheep +and goats ran from corridor to room as we went the round. +Windows were broken, and doors long since burned. The +building itself was fairly solid, as these go in Turkey, but +altogether the change from Kastamuni to this would be a +serious one for the worse. I tried very hard to get some +cryptic word back to our friends in Kastamuni, so that they +might put up every objection. (This I heard later never +reached them, and they were told excellent quarters were +awaiting them in Changrai.) + +My resolution to leave this part of the country increased, +and I prepared to risk much, even life itself, for a change. +From Changrai on our voyage was much more uncomfortable. +It lay through the region of dry arid land, stony and dusty +tracks, or bare rocky defiles. The horses collapsed, our guard +got sick, and was reduced to Ali the _choush_, and Mustapha +the guard. The gendarmes had turned back on emerging from +the passes. Escape from here was hopeless, so barren was +the land. We hoped brigands might surprise us. We hatched +schemes for knocking Ali on the head and wrecking the wagon. +With one good friend something might have been possible, +but as it was I was half blind, in fact in the last month my +eyes had become very much worse, and my companion walked +with pain. So we went on. Ali, or rather Peter Pan, as we +called him, with a huge revolver and tin sword grew more +overbearing as the trek wore on. When we were most weary +he pressed on. The fellow was congenitally a fool, and often +after passing a decent camping place with shade and water, +stopped on a burned-up patch. At night he stuck us into some +vile _khan_. However, one way and another we got through. +At Changrai I doctored the wheel, which was nearly off, and +decided by pocketing the rivet to stop the caravan when +necessary. This I did more than once. However, two marches +off Angora, in the middle of some ruined and sacked villages, +two wheels had got so bad that they came off, the wagon +nearly going over a _khud_. They fixed it up with sticks and +rope, and then a few miles farther the spokes fell out, two or +three at a time. Just here Mustapha, who had walked the +whole way, collapsed with acute ague and malaria, and shook +violently on the ground. This simple soldier had come along +pluckily, and often did sentry duty at night as well, after +eating his bread ration that he carried. We admired him, and +although tired and in pain with over-walking ourselves, we +got out at once to give him a lift. Imagine our feelings when +the malignant Peter Pan broke into a terrible rage, bullied, +and struck his soldier for daring to ride, kicked him into going +on, and took our seat himself. We had a general row, and +Peter Pan struck the _arabunchi_. It was he and the _choush_ +against us three, but Mustapha, the patient soul of the Turkish +peasant, and the best thing we had found in this country, was +too good a soldier not to submit. He was fond of us, and even +cursed his officer. He said he wished their officers were like +ours, who considered their men a little, but no word of rebellion +escaped him, and so collapsing every few moments he staggered +on. Then Peter Pan half drew his sword on Greenwood and +jostled him, a cripple. This was too much. I seized his arm, +and in a most impressive rage told him if he drew it I would +disarm him. He was speechless. It was a most colossal row. +Then we sat down and refused to go, unless we could get our +seats. "We are invalids, special cases _en route_ for hospital. +You have no right to sneak our seats." His defence was that he +was to be an officer by and by, and if his man could ride, he +could. The _choush_ sided with him, and we had to follow, while +he rode. But I showed him some letters, and swore to report +him to Zia Bey, who was not far ahead. He then showed his +teeth, and said his secret orders were to _shikar_ us, and give no +liberty, as I was a dangerous person whom they couldn't +catch. Anyway I took good care the wagon went phut +again soon, although he proposed to go on still a distance, +dragging the broken wheel. Finally the whole show crashed, +and he had to get out. Another driving _arabana_ of much the +same quality was commandeered, and we were wanted to +move without our kit. This we wouldn't do, and smoked +cigarette after cigarette on the road like disobedient schoolboys. +Finally the kit was put up, and we had to walk. The +_choush_ then became very ill with what he thought was cholera, +but what was evidently cold in the stomach and malaria. +He was rather a coward. He asked me for medicine and +prescription. I told him castor oil was a good thing, and gave +him enough of this and some ginger to put him out of any +future arguments. Peter Pan then had to capitulate, for he +was all that was left. We walked side by side, and more than +once made off as if we were escaping after water. Then he +let us drive a spell, at least I drove, and the _choush_ lay huddled +up frightfully ill in the back of the wagon. His rifle lay +resting on our knees, and if there had been five per cent. of +chance I believe we would have risked everything. But we +were pretty rocky by now. + +Eventually we had to deposit the _choush_ by the roadside +near a _khan_. The wagon couldn't get up the hills, and so, on +foot, blundering on in the dark without a guard, and almost +too weak to go a step further, we at last staggered into Angora. +Here we were shown into a _gasthof_ of sorts where men and +women, Turks and Jews, and mongrel Armenians all seemed +mixed up in one living-room. Eventually we got rid of Peter +Pan, who went to his wife. + +I squared the proprietor. Mustapha, who had come along +in some conveyance, was most accommodating. So when +Ali returned the next morning he found us in the hotel next +door, we two with Mathews our servant in one small room +which I had got emptied, and Mustapha asleep outside. He +said I had to go to a medical board at once, and Greenwood +was for Stamboul that night. + +I found several dignified Turks around a table who proposed +to examine my eyes and spine. Before they did so I +asked leave to tell them something. This I did in German +and indifferent Turkish, but I told them certain things about +their politics that made them stare, also about the responsibility +of medical boards to whom a sick officer after eighteen +months' neglect had been sent in a wretched conveyance 150 +miles over mountains in a Turkish cart. I refused to stay in +Angora, and said I wanted a diagnosis in Constantinople. It +was a long competition between their disinclination to send +to the capital one who had seen so much of Turkish maltreatment, +and their fear. I won. In fact, I made myself such a +nuisance that they had to do so. But I am certain it was only +a parade of arguments that won. The Turk can't grant a +straight-out request to a prisoner. But there are ways of +getting him not to object to a certain thing happening. + +We went to the Military Commandant of Angora for a +servant, as we are in no condition to move our boxes. He is +the same evil-looking old villain we remember of old. He +literally spat at us and roared. I roared also, and when he +ordered me out of the room I walked the other way, being +blindfolded. He caught my arm rudely, but had scarcely +touched it than I sprang up as if electrocuted, almost upsetting +him. I told him that it was merely surprise, as Zia Bey told +us no one in Turkey must touch a British officer. He snapped +and snarled like a dog. We got out. I reappeared to ask him +if he could let us have any of our parcels that were _en route_ +to Kastamuni. We were quite polite. But he barked that +there were none. Oh yes, pardon! there were. We had +seen them. He screamed that he had finished the interview. +We withdrew with chuckles. To-night we had the +usual appalling scenes about leaving. Eventually we got +to the station, and after a score of interviews and running +about the station against orders, I managed to get two seats +in a carriage with Fatteh, our old commandant. One had to +browbeat the officials, who said they had no orders for us +unless we paid. Our boxes must come on by a slow train. +Finally, weak to exhaustion, but elated at heart, we got into +the stifling carriage. + +_En Route._--It is night, and delicious music of a train that +is carrying me away, away, is in my ears. We drank two +bottles of beer and a small bottle of Julienne, which we got from +an Armenian at the station. I met there my excellent former +acting-sergeant-major, Sergeant Graves. He looked well, and +said the survivors were now more or less free, but these good +times came only after all the terrible deaths and complaints. +There were, besides himself, six survivors of my battery. I +spoke to some of the men. Their sufferings last winter had +been awful in the Taurus, and even here at No. 12, Angora. +They had lived in holes in the ground, without kit or cover, +working from sunrise to sunset on the roads. Their food was +a mixture of wheat and water, and sometimes bones. One +called it Chorba. At the end of their meagre reserve strength +they fell ill. Some were then thrashed. Others were left to +die, and in some cases did not receive even bread-and-soup +rations unless their friends earned this for them by working +overtime. Here also the deaths had been so numerous that +the survivors kept themselves going by the dead men's parcels +which a German commandant caused to be distributed now +and then. The stories of the men having been compelled to +eat various kinds of vermin found on them was verified +beyond shadow of doubt. This was the Turkish method of +keeping down typhus. It was, however, impossible for our +poor lads, in the appalling conditions under which they lived, +to keep themselves clean. There had been several mutinies, +and often unsuccessful escapes, also with disastrous consequences. +I heard a ghastly rumour of some sick British +soldiers suspected of having cholera being deliberately +murdered with a dark serum with which they were inoculated, +and from which almost no one was known to recover, death +usually following within two or three hours. I cannot vouch +for this being true, so record the fact as it stands. There are +very many Turkish officers who would scorn to do this. On the +other hand, there is the class of official like the _Vali_, promoted +to Angora _Vilayet_, when his predecessor refused to countenance +a wholesale massacre of Armenians in 1916. This enterprising +gentleman picked his troops, and then, firing half the Armenian +quarter, drove the other half into it. I heard the most terrible +stories of fanatical Turks bursting in upon a family at their +evening meal. The men and old women and children were +first killed. The young and prettiest girls were promised life, +but were spared only for a night or two. One heard of cases +where a busy _Askar_ in the middle of the carnage maimed a girl +to prevent her getting away. + +We thought Angora was very changed. So were several of +the Armenian villages a few marches out of Angora where we had +bought milk and fruit on our outward journey. They were +now deserted. Weeds grew above the walls and in the burned +floors. Here and there a vine or vegetable told of the swift +and terrible change. Still Armenians go about in Angora, +having daily affairs with the Turks. A consuming fire of black +impotent hate is in their hearts. And because it is impotent +the Armenian has by destiny become treacherous. Fatteh +and I talked German on many things; and after whistling the +"Merry Widow" out of tune for another hour, he fell asleep. + +We reached Eski Chehir in early morning and found our +Choush quite willing to be reasonable, if we did him well. We +went to the hotel opposite, had a meal, slept, and then walked +to the town with our guard. Some loud and rather disreputable +women, Armenian and Jewish Levantines, I think, were in the +hotel. They were in some theatrical show, or had been. +Greenwood and I described them as performing women. We +travelled on again that night with Fatteh Bey and our guard. +Fatteh promised many things for us in Constantinople, but +being pensioned off, seemed doubtful of his ground. + +The carriages were packed with travellers, including a +great number of children with mothers. They carried household +effects. One heard they were Armenians or Greeks whose +husbands were dead, and they were off to some new town. +We heard a confirmation that the big terminus station of the +Baghdad line on the Asiatic side of Constantinople, Haidah +Pacha, had been blown up two or three days previously. + +After a pleasant run round Ismid Gulf we got to Ismid, a +large town with railway works. There in the silvery waters +of the Marmora we beheld Principo, Halki, and the other +islands, their bronze green shimmering in the bright sunshine. +A few sails were on the sea, the sea, the sea! Never shall I +forget the thrill we both had as, for the first time, after ages +in tiny mud dug-outs, flat plains, and a taunting confinement +behind a high range, we saw, a few yards off us, the sparkling +drops glistening as they fell from the tiny waves of the Marmora. + +The sky darkened as we stopped at a place called Kadakeuy. +We now heard Haidah Pacha was in ruins, as a well-directed +plot had arranged that a huge consignment of petrol +should be fired. The flames prevented a train-load of ammunition +from being removed. This went off, playing havoc all +around. Missiles had been thrown into the adjoining districts. + +After some delay we got our scanty kit on a ferry. The +boxes had not arrived. They contained our all. From the +paddle steamer we beheld a thunderstorm burst over Stamboul. +The minarets stood out above the streaks of yellow and +electric blue. Altogether I thought it a most impressive and +magnificent city, with all the beauty and passion and mystery +of Turner. From the close quarters of Galata bridge it +appeared less delightful. We said good-bye to Fatteh. It +was now nearly sunset. Our Choush, who had been quite +pleasant hitherto, grew obstreperous. We were bandied +about from barracks to barracks, deserted empty buildings +that made a tired and sick traveller faint. He wouldn't allow +us to get any food. We drew nourishment from the strange +sights and a few pleasant ones, such as the dainty progression +of Turkish ladies. They were sombrely but prettily apparelled +from head to foot in the prescribed Mussalman dress, an +overmantle from the forehead thrown back and hanging over +the shoulders as a cape. For the most part their carriage was +excellent. The better-looking ones were more or less unveiled. + +As it grew dark we grew hungrier. We were tired and +sick, and in pain, hungry, cold, and thirsty. In this state to +have to sit hour after hour in an _arabana_, with the fees amounting +up to the last paper notes in one's pocket, while one's +guard goes off to drink or gets lost, left in his absence to the +unkind caprice of a passing soldier, is the lot of a prisoner of +war. Some time after dark we halted at an Armenian church, +now our new commandant's office. The locality was called +Psamatia. Here was more delay. A doll-faced and heavily-scented +Turkish subaltern at last appeared, and after administering +ridiculous questions, left us to some vicious-looking +postas, who led us away. Our _arabana_ took us on another +half-mile, and stopped at a tall, gloomy building behind heavy, +tall iron railings. We crossed a tiny yard behind them about +forty feet by fifteen. The gate was double locked and guarded +by sentries. We groped in the dark, up flights of stairs, +through the empty house, and reached a room where was an +iron bedstead and a filthy mattress. Here we were left. + +After a moment or two some white-faced pyjamad figures +came to us, and proved to be Russian prisoners from Salakamish, +prisoners already for three years! One, Roussine by +name, we liked better than the rest. We drank their tea, +almost water, but it was hot, and we talked of news. Roussine +was inclined to be Bolshevist, and as Russia was now collapsing, +we held decided opinions on it. We ate some raisins brought +all the way from Kastamuni, and I remember well with what +solemnity on this sad night of disillusionment, I regarded +those raisins. This, then, was the Stamboul of rest and peace, +of clean sheets, of fresh flowers, medical attention, and +delightfully prepared meals handed to me by some Byronian +Stamboulie! A garret empty save for rats and bugs! No +food, no water, only the selfsame raisins. We still said we +were glad to have left Kastamuni, but, all the same, they made +us almost homesick for that we had left behind. + +This was the first night. Others were precisely similar. +No one came, no one cared. The third day we got black +bread. Water that had flowed intermittently from a single +pipe now ceased. The commandant had been once to see us +in the dark. I complained to him. He was one of the worst +type of Turks I have met, a sullen, ignorant, hopeless brute. +He said _peckee_ (very good) once or twice and withdrew, his +tin sword clinking down the ghosty stairs. + +We wondered how long this would last. + + + + +PART III +STAMBOUL AND BRUSA + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +PSAMATIA (STAMBOUL)--STARVATION AND NEGLECT IN HOSPITAL +AND GARRISON--PLOTS TO ESCAPE BY THE BOSPHORUS--I +ORGANIZE ESCAPE FROM PSAMATIA THROUGH THE HEART +OF STAMBOUL--STORM AND WRECK ON SEA OF MARMORA--RETURN + + +Sentries stood on the stairway to keep us from talking +to some Russian soldiers herded like animals down below. +We had not noticed them the first night, as they had +been on fatigue. On occasion one might go downstairs to +walk on the tiny stone courtyard. From near our room the +stairs led upwards to a large garret from where one looked +over Stamboul. The view of the city from here was excellent. +The many minarets flanking an expansive sea stood out +against the sun. One idea was predominant--the idea that +seldom if ever left us--Escape! The walls were high. Guards +marched ceaselessly to and fro below. + +Among the prisoner officers was a sea captain. Greenwood +and I consorted with him. Our plan was through the local +restaurant, a wretched hovel, whither we were allowed once +about every three days for a meal of Kariwannah (vegetable +soup). We offered heavy bribes for oars. It meant going +over the high roofs with the hope finally of getting down, +seizing a boat, and trying the Bosphorus disguised, getting +out to the Black Sea before the dawn, or trying a long walk +to Rumania on the chance of something turning up _en route_. +But a few days after we arrived some Rumanian prisoners +escaped from a working party. All boats were drawn up, +and only the heavy ones allowed on the seashore. Guards +were redoubled. Our hopes diminished. + +We watched from our desolate room all day long to get +acquainted with the movement of ships and trains. The +Balkan Express passed near our house, but every point was +guarded. We were somewhat weak and ill, but waited for +our chance. Money was a hindrance. This deterred us more +than the fact that the train was heavily guarded and closely +searched, and ran through Bulgaria, where prison life was +even worse--or Austria, if one chanced to get there. After +some ten days, we were sent to hospital, guarded by a Turkish +soldier, without any papers, and were told we weren't wanted, +as it was not a prisoners' hospital. At one of these Greenwood +remained, but he was placed by mistake in an infectious +disease ward, and when, in addition, a junior subaltern proposed +the most serious alternative operations, he made himself +such a nuisance that he was sent back to the prison camp. +In the meantime I wrote letters in French and German and +English, which I gave to passers-by or threw into the road, +and more than one I gave to German soldiers, who were +sympathetic with us. I wrote Bach Pasha himself, quoting +extracts from Conventions and Parliament on reciprocity of +prisoners' treatment. + +The net result was the appearance, late one night, of our +commandant, livid with rage and excitement. Roussine and +I were playing chess by a flickering oil light, and my eyes +were bandaged. He strode up and dashed the chessmen +violently to the ground, and kept on touching his sword. +I am afraid his wrath was nothing to mine. I intended to +impress him with the fact that we were not schoolboys, and +in vigorous manner demanded why he hadn't visited us, or +given us bread or water, or allowed us our boxes. Was this +the hospital? Was he the commandant? Was it not a +whole week since, as he rode by, we besought him through the +railings for bread? I was overwrought with pain and endurance, +and came very close to physical remonstration. We literally +shouted him down. This brought the Russians around. +Before they had been cowed down, now they lamented loudly +too. All the while the doll subaltern stood by the commandant, +obeying his orders, but the sickest and sorriest object +one could wish to see. Most of all, I demanded leave to see +the commandant when necessary, in order to get an application +read. + +We were then allowed once daily to the restaurant for half +an hour. Hospital attention seemed out of the question. +We made one more attempt, when the Chief of Haidah Pasha +Hospital sent for us, but the Choush took us to the wrong +hospital, through ignorance, and we were not allowed to +explain. We gave up hope of treatment. Then Ramazan +commenced, and the commandant did not appear for days together. +I was now watched, especially for letters. An amusing +incident concerned a letter I sent after this to Bach Pasha, +and one to the Dutch Minister. We had been so well watched +that all communication seemed impossible with the outside +world. For example, in the restaurant our plates were +searched, and our seats also after we had left. We were not +permitted to speak in any language our interpreter did not +know--generally Turkish only. I had contrived to leave +more than one letter in the street. If directed officially in +German, I thought it probable that it would be sent on. +Bach Pasha, the German General in charge of prisoners, did +not, however, prove sufficiently enthusiastic to reply. I +quoted conventions and parliamentary extracts for his benefit +in case we got freed. He now evidently rang the commandant +up, who merely came round and ordered me not to be allowed +to speak to any one. Our bread ration ceasing the following +day, I wrote another letter. As I paced up and down the tiny +courtyard, waiting for a German soldier to pass, the postas +followed every movement. I managed, however, to have +more than one conversation with Germans by pretence of +declaiming aloud from a book as I walked. The difficulties +were that the sentry would see a letter thrown on the path, +also that no German was allowed to approach the bars if I +was near them. I had managed to talk to one private from +Wilmersdorf, a suburb of Berlin, a homesick lad who hated +the Turks and enjoyed outwitting them. Besides, I said the +letter was for his officer. I told him not to approach until +I was seized. Seeing some other privates approaching in the +distance, I beckoned to them with my right hand with some +cigarettes, and rushed towards them. Half a dozen Turks +seized my hand and the cigarettes before I had gone five yards, +in order to interrupt me from communicating to the Germans +approaching. They did not notice, however, that as I waved +my right hand, I had placed a letter on the bars. The German +from Wilmersdorf, who, instructed by me, had waited close +by, dropped some cigarettes in. The postas rushed up. I +saw a certain cell if the letter was still there; but it had gone. +The Russians, who had breathlessly watched the show from +on top, cheered loudly. It was great fun seeing our lad +return an hour later, on the opposite side of the road, and hear +him shouting, ostensibly to his companion, "Richtig. +Gegeben." I had said certain things, and results could safely +be expected. + +Nothing happened the next day until about 8.30. By +the glimmer of a fat candle the Russians and I were playing +chess with some pieces I had had sent out from home. My +eyes were bandaged up, and I had to peer over the board to +play. We were deep in a game, trying to forget our wretched +pains and hunger, when loud stamps, followed by increasing +roars, approached the room. The door was kicked open, and +our commandant, his face black with hate and rage, strode +up to us, struck the board with his fist, and knocked things +off the table. The only way to impress a Turk is with rage +or fear. He had hardly struck the board when I started up, +knocking and kicking the bench and chairs yards away. I +rushed to the door, shut it violently, and cannoned into the +fighting wax doll of a subaltern who accompanied him. +Being bandaged up I had a good excuse for going within an +inch of the commandant's head. I told him things in Turkish +and French, and more in English. We threatened him, +showed him some official letters from England I had kept, and +told him that answers were already on their way to England +about his treatment of our men, and that he was in for it, whatever +happened. It appeared that some kind of inquiry had +been made about our ability to write letters, rather than +about our cause of complaint. However, he had at least to +realize that we weren't children, to be starved to death without +a protest. He had evidently been well reprimanded for my +having contrived to write letters. In fact, my letters had +become quite a propaganda. + +Russians flocked into the room, and, once started, they +also developed considerable horse-power, although the poor +brutes were too much kicked to say much. + +The commandant ended up by mopping his head and +ordering me to go to gaol. But he subsided later, and after +waiting an hour in the cold, quite triumphant, I was allowed +to remain in my quarters. The next day we got one loaf and +some water, and were allowed to go to a filthy eating-shop "to +have hoof soup!" Instead I ordered eggs at an enormous +price, and, having eaten them, left it to the posta to carry on, for +we were months behind in our pay, and were not allowed to +cash cheques or get our Embassy moneys. This led to a wordy +scene in the street, and while the row was on I got another +letter off to the Dutch Minister by exchanging matchboxes +with a Greek. In it were my last lira note and a letter. That +night the commandant came again, and with dignity almost +too terrible even to be laughed at, pointed to me with his tin +sword, and ordered me to be taken away. I felt relieved. +Change is good for the soul. + +We filed through the moonlight, a solemn little procession +of my few goods and blanket. A posta, who had received +from me heavy bribes--an awful scamp--took this opportunity +of jostling me along, to ingratiate his commandant. +I arrived at the garrison, the camp office of the commandant, +who, however, lived on the Asiatic side. + +I was shown into a small empty room. The door was +locked behind me, but after some time, fearing I would +escape from the window, they unlocked it. I was not allowed +out of the room for the first day. Repeated remonstrations +with the posta resulted in nothing but the information that +I had to call the Choush if I wanted anything. Late that +night they pushed in a filthy straw mattress, ages old. Bugs +fell from it as it was carried in. It swarmed with them. +Being by now fairly accustomed to them, I tried to sleep. +Their voracity, however, proved too much. I was not allowed +to push it out of the door, so I put it out of the window into the +street. A posta was below, and reported this. Another +posta reappeared, and I gave him cigarettes for him to keep +it. He tried to sleep on it, and loud roars of laughter kept +me awake all night. They, also, had tried in vain. + +A low-class Armenian was now allowed to buy me food. +He retained half the price for himself. The fellow was an +absolute bounder and coward, a hypocrite at heart and a +treacherous cur at all times. I can safely say he spied not +only to save his skin, but at any time there seemed money in it. + +I heard tick-tacking in Morse from the men's quarters in +the same quadrangle. Quite an amount I made out. They +wanted money, money. I tried to buzz a message or two back +on the violin. Staccato notes are quite effective in their way. +I had no access to the commandant. The room was small, +but the light from the window was so intense that my eyes +could not stand it. I hung most of my clothes upon it. When +I did not sleep, I planned and planned escape. It all seemed +futile, but nevertheless one went on. I wanted, at any rate, +to get outside. Five days after, a Turk drove up in a carriage +to see the commandant. He seemed a man of note, and I +saw the commandant bow graciously to him, and make as +to kiss his hand. Giving them time to get into conversation, +I forced my way past the old posta, and kicked into pieces a +door of what had once been a bathroom. One had got tired +of being days without water or convenience. Three or four +soldiers came in, but I made as if to bolt out the back way, +and then sprinted upstairs, back as if to my room, passed it, +and, in a wild, dishevelled state, burst in on the commandant. +I gave my reason to the distinguished guest, and altogether +the commandant was badly rattled, for I showed a letter +from an important quarter in England about our treatment, +and he appeared very disturbed. I made a horrible scene by +refusing to leave the room, and eventually got leave to go out +for a walk around the thirty yards' beat of the yard for half an +hour a day. Here, for the first time, I managed secretly to get +direct speech with our men, most of whom were either totally or +partially disabled. They had been collected for exchange. On +each occasion, months apart, they had got as far as the station, +some even on to the train, but the train so far had never gone. +They had not been paid for months. A Turkish subaltern +had stolen some of their pay and faked a receipt. + +Their parcels had been opened, and a one-armed sergeant, +who spoke up, had been assaulted by the guard. We were +almost the first officers to arrive at Psamatia, and the first +the men had seen for years. From them I heard details of +the fall of Baghdad. + +I got a letter into the Kivas' pocket about all this for the +Dutch Minister, Monsieur Villebois. A few days after this +a fat, beefy figure entered the door and said, "Bleiben sie +ruhig." It was our new commandant, Gelal Bey. I had at +least effected some good result by getting the old rascal kicked +out. I can honestly say that his own postas loathed him, and +said he put their soup money in his pocket. Matters improved +to a degree. Some order was possible, and a minimum of freedom. +Gelal was a straight Turk, from what I saw of him, and +certainly more fair. The men's complaints were heard and +some were allowed a daily walk, although it was obvious my +reputation was quite terrible. A raging toothache I had had for +a fortnight was now mercifully righted. The other commandant +had not allowed a visit to a dentist. Before this I had been +fairly sick of my room, and even went so far as to try to burn the +whole show down with a large box of matches which I stuffed +in a rat-hole; but the fire went out, probably, I should think, +extinguished by bugs. + +[Illustration: BAGHDAD CAPTURED AT LAST. GENERAL MAUDE'S ENTRY] + +It was before this new commandant arrived that I commenced +arrangements for sending news to England. A +Sergeant Mandel, who had lost one arm at the shoulder, was +to be exchanged, and I arranged for him to take it, as I thought +him a likely person for exchange, but I wanted to run no risks. +He was strongly for having it put in a crutch, or sewn into the +sole of his boot; but as I anticipated a search of every particle +of kit, I adopted my own plan. With my scanty money I +bought candles. Having written my letter quite small and +as carefully as I could with my bunged-up eyes, I rolled it up +tightly in a small cylindrical shape, and making a paper mould +around it, filled up the interstices with dripped fat, thus making +a candle with the letter inside. This was to preserve it. I +shaved it down, pushed it in a water-bottle, and ran the other +candles boiling into it, thus filling the bottle two inches from +the bottom. I shook it, and found it firm. The bottle was +then filled up with strong tea. This was because it was not +transparent, and cold tea was a usual drink--when one could +get it. + +I hoped this would answer, and that they would not suspect +anything. Nothing rattled, and inside the water-bottle was +quite dark. + +One letter was to Lord Islington, and contained, besides +a _précis_ of information I had been asked to send from the +senior officer of the prison camp, a statement by me of the +condition of the men, and their treatment since the trek. I +gave some information on the high cost of living, and the great +difficulty of keeping oneself alive without cashing many +cheques at a worthless exchange. + +I had heard of a convention recently signed between +England and Turkey at Berne about prisoners, and quoted +some glaring cases of maltreatment which, as one of the +original arrivals in Stamboul from provincial camps, I was in +a position to know about. I sent also a few other matters of +information about the state of Turkey. I prefaced all my +letters with a statement, "I alone am responsible for statements +therein, which are unknown to the bearer of the +packet." I did this in case the letter was found. + +I had scarcely got it away when I was sent to Harbiay +Hospital for treatment. I had now left Kastamuni some ten +weeks without receiving any medical treatment, except for +one visit to a place called Tash Kushla, where a doctor examined +my eyes, and said I was to be exchanged. Even in +spite of my distrust, gradually a gleam of hope found its way +into my mind, and grew to huge dimensions. I was afterwards +coldly informed, however, that his actual written report was +merely that Turkish eye treatment was preferable to German, +and I was not to be allowed to go to German specialists! + +At Harbiay I was put in a room with a half-mad Russian, +who had been shot in the head, and some poor old Russian +grey-headed men--sailors, I think--who smoked and cried +most of the night. Here I had no food for thirty-six hours, and +then only watery soup. We were not allowed to leave the +room, and the postas were unusually brutal. The director +of the hospital, who had been most kind to me at our first +interview, offered to send me diet and books, and even +medicine, and to attend to me himself--all of which I doubted. +After about four days I was sent to a Turk, and an old savage +he was, who said if God willed I would get right. Then a +German doctor examined me, but was most aggressive and +rude, and seemingly angry at being asked to diagnose an +Englishman, and muttered something about this. He prescribed +some special injection for my eyes. Then we were +lined up, and were all dosed by a filthy Turk out of the same +squirt, whatever our eye trouble was. This was a mistake, +it appeared afterwards. + +The next day, having hidden my trousers under my +bed when I arrived (they always take away all one's kit +on entering hospital) the guard was sent to get them. I +put them on nevertheless, and then demanded to see the +Director. It took all day to await my chance, but when the +posta was off the _qui vive_ I ran along in my trousers and a +blue overall of the hospital towards his office. It was a huge +building, and I got lost, but it was fatal to turn, so I went on +through numerous corridors with an increasing train of postas +at my heels, and finally fetched up in what appeared to be an +ante-chamber of the Director's wife. The postas stopped +short and peered in at the door. I apologized to the Turkish +lady, who was arguing with some Armenian maids. She asked +why I was running away from the postas. I assured her I +was doing nothing of the kind, but I was merely running to +the Director. She was tickled by my having trousers, and +asked how I had managed it. I explained that the Director +had given me a standing invitation to his office for any request +and that I had hidden my trousers to be able to do so. She +rebuked me for breaking rules, and asked me what I could +possibly want. I said I wanted to give some urgent information +to the Chef d'Hôpital. Finally, she conducted me to him. +He heard me coming, and I saw his face over the posta's +shoulder quite enraged and savage, and he said I was not to +enter. + +It was spoken in Turkish. I had, however, already +entered! His face changed in a second, and he was the +crafty Director, professed huge surprise at my statement that +I had had no food and had not been allowed out of the room, +or to cash cheques, or to receive any attention, and that I +wanted to return to the garrison at Psamatia. He promised +to remedy all things at once, and to send me "ée yemek" +(good food) at that very moment. I extracted a promise to +depart next day. How I loathed the place! The Russians +alone made it unbearable, poor fellows. They seemed on the +verge of suicide in that great empty room with hundreds of +beds in it. Nothing else happened for two days except that +a Turkish doctor came and injected some serum into my eyes, +which he said was to happen three times a day. The Director +himself came round next day, and tried to pretend he was +busy, when I went for him. I made myself such a nuisance, +and torpedoed his dignity so successfully, that he finally unmasked, +and I knew him for the cruel, lying, and crafty type +of Turk, veneered with excellent manners, but a brute at heart. +It was the same fellow, as far as I can remember, who refused +a dying Russian officer's daily request for permission to have +one or two of his friends from Psamatia to see him in order +to make his will and provide for his wife and children. I had +been in Psamatia when our Russian friend (Roussine) had +daily asked for this from their end. Their letters were never +answered, but were destroyed by the old commandant, as +were the dying man's by the Director. He died. When he +had been dead some days the Director sent to Psamatia a +kind request to the officer to come and talk to his friend, +with private directions that they were to be told the man +had just died when they came. + +Anyway, by the end of the third day after the "torpedoing," +my patience was at an end. I had learned, after +many weeks, how difficult it was to get out of a hospital once +one was in. After more scenes I left in the evening in an +_arabana_, bearing a letter in Turkish, saying I had been +excellently treated and had received the best attention +possible. On arrival at Psamatia my little sad room seemed +heaven again. I was alone, and the groaning of the Russians +was somewhere away. + +The new commandant was haughty and somewhat Germanic, +but I found him a much better fellow, and straight. +He did what he promised. He heard my complaints about +the men, and rectified their pay and provisions, he got us +money, and sent me, on one occasion, a Polish book to read--which +tickled me. I found he meant well, and decided to cultivate +his good graces, which I did in German. He had had +four years in Berlin, but sided against us in the war. Anyway, +he let me go to see Dr. König, a German eye specialist from +the _Goeben_, at a marine hospital around the harbour. _En route_, +the posta with me led me across the station, and in the crowd +I went to ascertain how to get a ticket, and found they would +have issued one to me right enough. Vesikas (passports), etc., +were necessary, however, for the train, which went only so +far as San Stefano! + +While awaiting Dr. König, I talked to a delightful old +French lady nurse, who was seventy years of age, and had +not been allowed to leave. I mixed freely with German +sailors from the _Goeben_, and heard of their escape from our +fleet. They thought they would win the war, but seemed less +confident than before for an early peace. They were all very +loyal, and stuck to it that their country was well provided for, +and "sehr billig." König I found a very capable and courteous +officer, and quite efficient. He prescribed most carefully for +my eyes, told me to avoid all glare, to follow his precautions, +and I might prevent my eye trouble from becoming chronic. +He explained my blurred vision and periodical darkness as +nervous exhaustion, and related it to my spine, where it had +been bumped by the shell explosion. He ordered rest and +quiet, and sent me to his colleague, a nerve specialist. The +net result was that I was not allowed to get the medicine as +the shop recommended was not a Turk's, and I was sent to a +Turkish nerve doctor, who mixed the whole thing up, and +thought an operation on the eye was necessary, but, later on, +said he had meant the other eye! I felt like operating on +both of his. + +My visit to König, however, was momentous in one +respect. On my way back I was stopped by an Englishman +in mufti, and offered cigarettes. He seemed very kind, said +he was a sailor man, and, before the posta intervened, gave +me his address. We had to be careful, as the posta knew some +English. In short, in five minutes we had agreed to escape. +He was an interned civilian, taken at the outset of the war +from his ship. I found out that church was the best meeting +place. I hoped to further matters on my next day at the bath. +I was now allowed out once a week. I found out which bath +was best for my purposes by talking to the postas. The thing +was to find one near the Galata Bridge. This was, however, +out of bounds. I did the next best thing. Frequent +visits to the commandant's room made me acquainted with +the map of Stamboul. I found a bath, both hot and cheap, +in the Turkish quarter but a mere five minutes' walk from +the Galata Bridge. After two trips, and working the right +posta with a heavy bribe of a two-lira dinner, I was allowed +to a restaurant after the bath, but only on promising not to +enter any shop. I stumbled most miraculously, however, +into a Greek restaurant, which afterwards became quite a +favourite centre of plots and plans. I eyed the place at once +as very strategic. It was some steps down from the road, +and not too conspicuous. One could see without being seen. + +Two tables at the far end adjoining the wall had benches +behind which one could slip letters, and I arranged for cushions +to be placed there in which I could put letters in case the +posta searched, which he did more than once. In the middle +of the door at the far end was a small pigeon-hole through +which the manager or his assistant shouted orders for food. +I gradually built up a disposition to order my own food. A +few words were allowed. Often I went up, and, completely +blocking the view, slipped in a letter. I even went to the +extent of getting a message along the 'phone on the opposite +side of the street by two relays--the first from me to Theodore +in French, about food. It was a great dodge to get some other +officer with one--_i.e._ to go in twos--and by some clear conversation +with him in something the posta didn't understand, +give information to Theodore the manager. In this way +we often ran a four-cornered conversation. I paid heavily, +but money was forthcoming from my cheques, and the Dutch +Embassy's allowances came in regularly here. Letters and +replies were received here from Dorst the sailor. We formed +rendezvous for the church, if one could only get there. The +Christmas season was approaching, and we assured Gelal Bey +we wanted to go to church. We had asked very often for +months, but this had been refused. However, the new +commandant allowed us this on certain severe conditions. + +I shall never forget how restful and glorious it seemed to +get into the Crimean Memorial Church, an excellent chapel +built of stone off a side road in Pera. An Englishman preached +most beautifully to us, and English people sat all around; +but we were not allowed to speak or sit near them, and an +interpreter came to approve of the sermon. Our money was +scrutinized to see if there was any writing on the notes. + +I had a Burberry that I had dragged along with me on the +trek, and I often changed it for one very similar, having made +rents and marks similar on both. One left at the door on +our entry would be substituted for the other, with notes +carefully sewn into the shoulders, underneath the lining. + +On more than one occasion the crude efforts of our dear +countrymen and women to communicate with us brought us +within an ace of discovery and always intensified suspicions. +This often resulted in a redoubled guard or, greatest tragedy +of all, a blank week, when we were not allowed out at all +except along the wretched suburb of Yedi Kuhli. + +But I proceed too rapidly. All this took a long time. +Time for a prisoner with experiences such as mine behind one +is one terrible blank punctuated by moments that count. +There is born a patience terrible with hope. To get out on +Sunday we waited and planned all through the week, arranging +appearances with postas, often waiting a whole day for a +chance to speak a word freely to our brother officers, only +possible when a certain posta was on duty at night. How +seldom all the necessary elements of a setting to a single +successful transaction are present, only a prisoner can know. +But as I went homeward from that bath and restaurant and +saw an avenue through that way to freedom, I felt hope once +again stir within me. + +In two or three weeks I had already got plans quite far +advanced. + +The scheme began to shape itself as follows:-- + +I would escape from barracks at Psamatia some Thursday +night. This would give me a good start, as Friday is the +Turkish Sunday, and inspections, etc., on that day are very +slack; in fact, the commandant did not always come out on +that day. He also lived on the Asiatic side. The first step +would have been impossible while I was in the garrison itself, +as besides a permanent and personal guard on me there was +one beneath my window, one at the foot of the staircase, and +several on the door, besides one at each street corner. By +complaining of the morning sun that poured into my room, +and of the noise, I got a transfer to an old building opposite, +the real reason being that my small room was watched and +impossible. + +The old building I had found out all about from a Russian +who had been there before, and great was my delight in first +getting over there. I had to pretend I was almost blind for +days before I effected this. As a matter of fact my eyes were +getting a little easier and only troubled me at times, so far as +seeing went. + +I had to be so very careful those first days. I was alone +and all the postas watched every movement and seemed to +suspect my very thoughts. So much so that I had never yet +had an opportunity to go upstairs. After a few days I had +got friendly with an old posta who generally came on duty +very early. When he had got my cigarette well going I +chased my kitten up the stairs. He helped me to catch it, and +I had a good clear survey. A hammer to extract nails and +screws from the window, and a rope to get on to the ground, +were all that was necessary, provided we had a clear field. +There were many difficulties, among which was the increasing +of the guards, on account of a stampede of prisoners and +the arrival of a whole regiment of Rumanians, that seemed to +have surrendered intact. To make room for these the +Russians were now moved from the Bastille at Psamatia and +brought to my house upstairs. We were not allowed to talk +to them, and guards to prevent this were stationed on the +stairs. They could not be trusted, but Roussine certainly +could. The others were curious to the point of being a +nuisance, and while not on for escape themselves were not +very sympathetic. Roussine was loyal, however, and most +sporting. I spent long hours each day in watching every +movement of the street and the habit of the neighbours. +Near by, one old Turk, straight opposite our back windows, +used to light his pipe about dusk and smoke well into the night, +staring towards us. Another wretched fellow used the back +road for his rendezvous with his sweetheart. After a few days +I had collected a great amount of information and knew the +routine of postas with their family details and homes; they +loved to talk of all this. + +I became acquainted with the changes of police and the +street traffic. My behaviour improved so much that I hoped +the posta would soon be removed from our landing. I +encouraged the habit of the postas meeting downstairs. This +I did in various ways. One was by making huge cracks in +the wall with an axe above where he stood. The cold was +now acute. A little fire downstairs in an old kitchen, even +after our frugal meal was finished, was a further inducement. +A Turkish soldier loves to sit over a plate of hot cinders and +dream of his fields and goats on the far-away uplands of +Anatolia. They would not drink on duty, and seldom off. + +A plan of the house was as follows:-- + +We were directly opposite the commandant's garrison, in +about the middle of a street. The house on one side was, I +believe, "to let" in its upper story. I formed wild notions +of a secret tunnel through the wall from the inside of my cupboard, +and a Monte Cristo chamber on the other side with a +comfortable bed and excellent table, with an office for all kinds +for secret-service meetings, with a free access to Stamboul +through the back door by a change of kit. Alack and alas! +the house proved very much inhabited, and often when I was +spying on others I found they were spying on me. The +basement of our house was only a cookhouse and a stairway +that led up to the landing on the first floor, and up another +flight to the Russian officers. On the second flight was a +window-door, old and flimsy, that was nailed up. It led +outside to a tiny landing that was surrounded by windows +from other houses. Behind this landing was a tiny spare +plot where a house had been burned down. Other windows +high up in our lavatory looked down over roofs on to this +section. I got through on several occasions and crawled on +the tiles, which cracked like biscuits when one knelt not +precisely at the sides. And this was very conspicuous, besides +being right under the Russians' noses. + +Doust and I had met once or twice at church. He had +been in charge of a Turkish tug for months and knew the +movements up to the harbour, ships' booms, the plans of mine-fields, +and also replacements of guns at the Dardanelles. We +intended to take these plans with us. He first of all promised +an old launch to pick me up halfway to Galata, and go through +the Bosphorus against the strong current. He was to bring +Visikas (passes), and I was to go disguised with a fez. He said +that the boom was open for hours each night, so that a small +thing could get away. The whole plan had to be altered, +however, on account of the Russian armistice and revolution. +It was now the second week in December and the boom was +closed all night. + +Only traffic heavily searched was allowed through. This +the Germans supervised, and they were thorough. I verified +many of these facts from the German sailors themselves. In +fact, quite often I wore my Burberry, and with my cap +passed for a provincial German on several occasions with the +German Tommies. Others thought I was a German American. + +We altered our plan to that of going as fishermen, as these +were still allowed out and in more freely. We should all be +disguised as fishermen, get to a point inside the entrance, +walk overland a few miles to the Black Sea, and then pick up +the boat, which would be skippered by some reliable so-called +fishermen through the actual entrance. + +We only awaited a strong wind to enable us to get over +the distance in time, also some money, and the perfecting of +the arrangement. I did exercises, tried to get fitter, and laid +in a stock of necessaries and medicine for my eyes in case of +exposure to the weather. + +My difficulty was to see how to escape from my room just +at the right moment. Neither part of the _bandobast_ could +wait for the other. Moreover, a chance had to be taken when +offered, as everything depended on the right posta. To +escape and hide in Stamboul seemed the best thing to do, but +this meant that my chance of getting right away was lessened, +as one would be sure to be missed after some hours, and at +most after a day. This would be telegraphed all over the +place and search would be redoubled. The ordinary risks +were bad enough. Communication got very difficult owing to +the capriciousness of the commandant, as he sometimes +wouldn't allow me to go out, or only to a bath near by, and +sometimes the posta was obdurate. On one occasion I +crossed from one tramcar on to another and then back again +on to the first, leaving my old posta revolving around helplessly. +I had previously told him that if we lost each other, we +should each go back at once to report. He was an old peasant +from Anatolia, or I would not have dared this. I had promised +him not to escape while with him. This I did first thing +before he allowed me into the restaurant. A change of trams +and swift walking brought me to Pera. I made plans and +called at the rendezvous. Nothing happened. I left a letter +and then drove back as hard as I could to Psamatia, passing +the posta just before arriving there. He was weeping with +fright and annoyance, but forgave me on seeing me again. + +The new commandant gave me an orderly named Plaistow, +from the Gloucestershire Yeomanry, and a very excellent +fellow and good friend he was, although his cooking was not +of the first grade. A night or so after this when he was +rubbing my spine, from which I suffered acute neuralgia at +intervals in the region of the bruise, the door opened and two +British officers came in. Their physical condition and that of +their kit marked them as just captured. One was a colonel +named Newcombe, who had been captured north of Beersheba +with a small striking desert force armed with machine-guns, +during a phase of the battle of Gaza. On camels he had led +the force, about sixty strong, without convoy, before the +battle, by a circuitous route over the desert to the Turks' rear, +and having captured cars and staff officers and generally +enjoyed an excellent field day, he was himself taken after +heavy casualties. A large Arab force, which by the Emir +Feisul's influence should have co-operated, had let him down. +I liked him at once. He seemed dead beat and very non-plussed, +if not depressed, at being captured. He could not +sleep, and I combated in my mind this new difficulty in my +escape programme--of a colonel who could not sleep. A +goodly number of the senior officers I had hitherto met in +captivity were against escaping, some unsympathetic, some +almost hostile, and one actually gave a written order to all +officers junior to him not to escape. I was extracting secret +delight from the fact that here at least was one colonel half +asleep and little conscious of the fact that I was going that +night, or certainly during the next few days, when, following a +huge sigh, I heard the extraordinary words, "Mousley, what's +the chance of bunking from this, do you know?" + +The colonel was eyeing me attentively. Gradually I +acquainted him with how I had had designs to escape from +the very first, but everything had been frustrated, that now +once more I had a show on hand ready after much work and +patience. We sat up in our respective beds, smoked many +cigarettes, and planned. A bottle of bad whisky helped us. +I found him a most interesting companion and very human. +In fact, immediately after his capture he seems to have +complained to Djemal Pasha about our men's treatment one +moment, and the next to have proposed to Djemal's A.D.C., +Ismed Bey, either to let him (Newcombe) escape or to let +our Fleet into the Dardanelles, no matter which. We talked +politics, and he put up all kinds of extraordinary and difficult +schemes which we crystallized together. Actually I promised +to let him join my escape plan with Doust, provided he agreed +with the scheme and came under my orders so far as plans +went. He agreed most readily. + +This was necessary for many reasons, as I had trodden +very delicate ground what with impersonating Germans, etc., +and could not trust any one with the plans at that stage. He +helped me most loyally and generously although not always +effectively. To get out to Pera and Stamboul it was necessary +to act, and act earnestly, before the commandant, and the +colonel more than once abandoned the point and through lack +of insistence lost the day. This meant hanging up things. +My privileges of a bath and dentist had grown to be a regular +thing, won single-handed after much struggle. + +I had now to start afresh. To make matters worse some +more officers, newly taken, now joined us. One was a firebrand +and tried shock tactics, such as kicking the postas. He +did himself much harm and no one any good. Others were +content to be told "Olmus" (Can't be done), but we old +hands knew that by a judicious alternation of determined +insistence and quiet submission one got ahead on the wave of +the commandant's mood. My plans had to be altered on +account of the extra guards put over us, and the heavy snowy +weather. I managed after much difficulty to meet Doust and +his friend, a youth named Castell, in a Turkish bath. Plans +were ready. They cashed my cheque. The boat laden with +oars, sails, provisions, and charts would come to a point half +a mile from our camp the next night or two, depending on the +weather. The signal was to be given by Castell passing at +2 p.m. precisely, smoking if we were to start and not smoking +if it was off. He came and did not smoke. + +After delay and trouble we got word from him that the +wind had changed and it was impossible to get through the +Bosphorus in time, before dawn, as the current was so tremendously +strong, and the only way was somehow to contrive to +reach a point by road about halfway along the Bosphorus, +thus shortening the time. This meant more _bandobast_, more +money, more contingencies, and more meetings with more +interviews of the commandant. + +By this time I was quite friendly with him and knew his +politics. He was a German-hypnotized old Turk, too simple +to be either clever or dishonest. He assumed the rôle of uncle +to me. This I fostered and became a most unruly nephew +constantly out of money (so as to get cheques cashed), full of +pains (to get at a doctor--I mean Doust), persistent in wrong-doing, +and contrite after commission. + +My violin he quite loved (so he said), but while I played +forte he little thought that the colonel was either pulling out +nails from the escape window, or smashing the frame. I got +a posta to help me haul up a bucket of water from the well at +the foot of the stairs, and contrived to let it go with the end +of rope and all. He certified this. We got a new rope. This +we intended to use on the night. + +About eight days before Christmas a change of plans had +to be notified to Doust. Everything was "Yesak" (forbidden) +on some new temporary order. I could not get out, +so, much against my will, I trusted some one. Colonel +Newcombe assured me that a Jewish Armenian interpreter +who had just joined the garrison was absolutely trustworthy. +He had carried several letters to the Embassy. I had written +Castell (there was no time so I abandoned our code) a note +giving a new sketch of our house, the section at the back, the +place by which we would descend, and where Doust would +meet us. Also I gave orders for a motor-car or arabana +(Turkish carriage) to be half a mile off. We were to go hard +for the Bosphorus point arranged. I put in urgent orders for +roubles according to prearranged plan, also that the boat +should have lifebelts (in case we had to swim for it at the +entrance), charts, and certain food. Also bailers!! + +The letter was sealed and signed with the cryptic sign +I used [the pentagram symbol]. This I gave to Newcombe, and, on his +strong assurance, agreed to his giving it to the interpreter Fauad. +He said he would take it. We waited for a reply. + +Nothing happened for days. No reply or answering signal +from Doust was forthcoming. We waited anxiously. About +four days before Christmas, Fauad told me quietly after our +evening meal (we were eating with the commandant and his +staff, raw fish chiefly and soup beans) that he had posted the +letter instead of delivering it. The censor had come to him +secretly that night and for £1000 would keep quiet!! I +tried to take this as coolly as possible, and announced as quietly +that he would be hung at any rate for carrying the letter. +This was to see if he was blackmailing. When we got back to +my room we had a general council with the colonel and +Gardiner, a captain of the Norfolk Regiment, whom I allowed +to come with us. The colonel advised not taking him as he +was not much used to the East, and he couldn't talk any +language but his own. But I promised to let him come as he +wanted to see his wife, and he was quite enthusiastic. It was +a pleasure to me to see how keen he was and I admired him +much for this. However, they both thought I should see +the censor, and prevent him going to the commandant. I +felt more and more strongly as I thought it over, that there +was something unsatisfactory about the thing. The censor +would not commit himself to Fauad and us. Moreover, would +Fauad post it? He was an Armenian and the Turks were +against him. My friends insisted. I persisted. + +For one thing I could not understand a Government censor, +in a place so full of intrigues as Stamboul, playing with a +noose to such an extent. But if Fauad was acting he did it +well. A post-office official did visit him every day or so, but +in spite of all, I could not get over the fact that Fauad had +been quite cool when I had sprung it on him, that if the censor +had seen it he, Fauad, would be hung. If the censor _had_ seen +it Fauad should have shivered. In the meantime I told +Fauad we would pay a good sum, but not £1000, and +pretending to be very frightened, showed him that we must +be allowed to go to town often to get money. We would have +paid a good deal even on the chance of the story being true, +and intended doing so. However, I watched him carefully, +and the more importunate he got, the more leave we obtained +to town, where, needless to say, I strained every nerve to +further and hasten our escape. We told Fauad we couldn't +pay before a week, and hurried on our arrangements to get +off before then. I grew more certain, day after day, that it +was merely a scheme for getting money. He seemed to grow +more anxious daily lest we should escape, but more, I believe, +for fear he should lose the money than anything else. He +tried to stop us from going to a certain bath where I had +arranged a last rendezvous with Doust and Castell. At the +last moment, through the innocence of some newly arrived +subalterns, we nearly missed them. They wanted to go elsewhere +as the bath was full--but I was undressed and through +the door before they could get me back, and there I saw Doust +and Castell. Fauad spied on me and followed me to the bath. +I introduced him to Doust as an Armenian who would lend +us the money in a few days, and thus I told a good deal of my +story to Doust and Castell with Fauad not suspecting, and +in fact being quite overjoyed about his money. A few +moments alone when we got outside the bathroom, and our +plans were ready. Fauad became rather suspicious, but I +risked all. + +[Illustration: PHOTO OF THE AUTHOR TAKEN SECRETLY WHILE +A PRISONER IN STAMBOUL] + +When we got back I was greatly surprised to see a posta +on the stairs and doors. The commandant knew nothing of +this, but afterwards it appeared that Fauad had probably invented +something vague about hearing us talking escaping, +just to safeguard himself in case we went, and without divulging +about the letter. This was a serious block. The +stairs' posta had been taken off, and was now on again. + +I had within three days to re-establish an entente with the +commandant. We got ready. Our clothes we stuffed with +cheese, oxo, cigarettes, and chiefly nuts and raisins. I wore +my uniform under my mufti kit, as in certain quarters I +wanted to pass as an interned civilian, in others as a German. +I also had a fez. + +By this time our plans for escape from the building were +ready. The door could be opened noiselessly and on more +than one occasion I got Colonel Newcombe to hold the rope +while I went down to reconnoitre. I remember the exquisite +feeling of being on the road outside the guard. I lay in hiding +the opposite side of the wall and watched processions of people +passing, the movement and change of sentries, and explored +the street corners near by to see which were guarded. It was +quite difficult to get back by the rope up the wall without +knocking down old bricks or tiles. Doust failed me time and +again on these occasions, partly through uncertainty whether +to take a risk or not. As the day grew near we felt more and +more our difficulty of communication. As I have said, I +believe I was the first to have really a plan of escape in +Kastamuni, and I can safely say that in no case of escape +within my knowledge, was communication so very difficult. +We had to have alternate plans. + +Thus a tremendous storm burst at the entrance of the +Bosphorus from the Black Sea and altered all the police +arrangements. German reliefs changed the guard at the walls. +I saw that the difficulty was to find an occasion when the +auspices would be favourable both for getting out of my +prison and getting away from Stamboul. On this account +Doust promised to get me a secure place of hiding, in fact +assured us both that in hulks lying in the harbour, or in +quarters of Stamboul, it would be very easy and without risk +to any one. + +This latter consideration was my only deterrent from +changing a life of wretched misery and oppression for comfort +and rest, that the consequences for the unfortunate discovered +sheltering us would be more than one could reasonably allow. +Moreover I steadily avoided, so far as escape went, any assistance +from women, let alone the kind and dear souls of the +English fraternity who were in Stamboul. I considered it a +selfish measure and one that no man has any right to accept +from a woman unless she is professionally in the secret service. +For a woman to risk the penalties of discovery in Stamboul +might be a terrible ordeal. I had asked only to be shown an +empty place, _e.g._ possible for a stowaway, and I would retrieve +my own food. + +In the meantime we had heard from Doust that he had +suddenly decided to get married and would send, instead, a +youth of about twenty, called Castell, more or less an English +Levantine who could travel as a Turk or Greek, had a passport, +and knew the country from Panderma to the coast. The plan +had now been altered to the Dardanelles, failing which we +were to make for Panderma and overland to Aivalik on the +coast, thence to Mytelene. + +The wind had been steadily east for days. No other craft +was available except the sailer. But by leaving here, say +Thursday night, and getting past the shipping zone by dawn +and making the Dardanelles entrance late that (Friday) night, +we should run the gauntlet through the narrow neck of +Gallipoli past the unwary watchmen and lightship, and what +with our capellas (Turkish officers' fezes) and a good German +appearance of one of us, with a current of six knots plus the +wind behind us, we thought it good enough. An hour or two +later and we should be at Imbros, and pictured ourselves +coming gaily along on a flood tide heading straight for our +gunboats, probably attracting the fire of both our guns and +the Turks'. Doust had verified that there were not very +many surface mines, most, the nearest, being two feet deep. +We drew about eighteen inches. Altogether it looked a most +sporting chance and I can say that we enjoyed preparing our +plans as much as schoolboys. The navigation was to be left +to Colonel Newcombe, who made a quadrant, and to my +excellent radium prismatic compass which I had retained +from the retreat. Failing our reaching the Dardanelles in +time, from stress of weather or other cause, we intended +making for a point past Panderma, which we hoped +to reach by next evening and from there march to the +coast. + +Just before Christmas the weather grew colder and more +boisterous. I got leave to go to town and was allowed into +the Maritza café. Here I found most urgent and useful news. +Some fortnight before while walking with my posta, who was +quite friendly towards me after his lira lunch, I told him I +wanted to ask some German soldiers what mosques we could +go to at Tchouka Bostan. Reluctantly he allowed me to +speak to them. They took me for a civilian _interné_. I soon +learned that German N.C.Os. often got along to the forbidden +quarter, where were the usual nightly attractions for the +troops, by pretending they were going to the _Korkovado_, a +large Russian ship near the southern end of Galata Bridge, +and used by the German General Staff Officers. Having got +through the military police by saying they were off to the +_Korkovado_, they swung past the ship around the bay. I +intended to do the same, only to swing round out to sea. +The restaurant man now verified this to be true. + +The wind was so favourable and the position of our sailing +boat, which had to be kept in an exposed bay in order to be +ready, was so precarious that our friends sent us word that +we must start Christmas Eve, notwithstanding the extreme +cold. The idea of their arriving at the foot of the back wall +was less to help us than to tell us whether the road was clear, +_i.e._ on what streets the police sentries were, for as I have said, +besides the garrison itself, a cordon of police surrounded most +of the streets. + +Doust and Castell came about six o'clock to the back +street. As arranged, I had lowered a string down. Doust +was to tie a note on the end if our plans were altered, and to +smoke if we were to start. + +Instead of this, however, they bungled badly, lost their +direction in the dark, and jumped about in the most ridiculous +fashion; in fact, their proceedings were the most suspicious +imaginable. They continued to grope in the wrong corner of +the section and to take alarm at their own shadows. They +had previously inspected the section and said they had located +our rope. This they could not have done. + +All this time I was on the ledge outside our house hiding, +with Greeks and others peering towards me out of windows +not eight feet away. One was smoking and washing up. I +thanked Heaven it was dark. Once she called out asking if +any one was outside. I could almost have reached her with a +stick. The posta had cut off my retreat by going upstairs, +but it appeared he did not know I was outside. I felt greatly +amused at our sentry with fixed bayonet mounting guard on +the stairs, his prisoner being a few feet away outside the house +beyond the door, which I had shut after me. I heard my +friends trying to get the posta downstairs. When his steps +sounded as going downstairs I threw some small bits of clay +towards Castell to show him where we were. He looked +round helplessly. I dropped some just over our corner. It +made a loud sound. Still he did not understand. Then I +threw a large lump and hit him. He skipped like a jackal and +took to his heels with a terrific clatter. Although it was +annoying the whole show was so funny that I almost overbalanced +with laughter. + +I went after him down the rope and found postas and +sentries wandering about us in all directions, but our friends +had gone. Sentries being on all the streets and on the _qui vive_, +I returned up the rope and sent my orderly to the bazaar. +There he found Doust. They said they had only come to tell +us that the boat had been smashed on the rocks near Psamatia +and had also fouled the Galata Bridge. But we were to start +next night and walk to Galata, risking the German police and +so on. + +This was Christmas Eve which we now proceeded to celebrate, +and determined to start next day. The other officers +bearded the commandant's cat, a satanic beast that had stolen +our food often. It combined all the cunning and resourcefulness +of a dozen cats. It broke several windows and went for +several of us before we despatched it. As a matter of fact, I +deprecated all this as it meant renewed guards. + +But our escape was known only to me and two other +officers, as more than one found the topic all engrossing, and +the newly captured had no idea of the danger from the Turkish +spy system of being overheard. I was feeling pretty done up +with the tension of waiting and waiting for days on the point +of going every moment. I did not go to church as I wanted +rest, and we had had a boisterous night. They brought back +a note from church saying we should be off that night. All +this meant an appalling amount of anxiety, as we had to eat +with the commandant opposite. However, at the last moment +a posta appeared, and in any case the wind was unfavourable +and no signal came. We opened our Christmas parcels from +the English community at Pera, and the colonel and I smoked +on still full of hope. The posta pacing outside my door kept +me awake. Alarmed at this embarrassment to our escape I +protested loudly with him and called the guard to stop him. +It was maddening to any one in our state of nervous health +(besides inconvenient for the escape). + +First thing next morning I went to Gelal Bey, our commandant, +and complained. He smiled and shook his head. +It was necessary. We had been caught speaking in church. +I assured him it was the Christmas season, a season of peace +on earth, not of tramping postas, etc. He laughed and said +he would take him off late in the night. I asked him if he +thought I was going to escape. This completely disarmed +him. He indignantly said "Of course not. My arrangements +are complete. You cannot." And he took off the posta at +once. We had dinner, intending to start as soon as we got +back from the commandant's house. The whole crowd of +officers and clerks was there with the commandant at the head +of the table. Colonel Newcombe was so silent and thoughtful +that I thought something would be spotted. I contributed +some liveliness, however, and drew up elaborate schemes for +to-morrow's marketing and getting boots mended, and the +usual routine. On returning to our room the posta was off, +as had been promised. + +Now I had been marked as an escape officer, and had +refused my parole several times, so I was not bound in any +way. I therefore assumed my disguises. I bulged horribly +with my double clothes. Parts of this diary I had around +my waist, and some in a roll which I had sealed. I waited +twenty minutes from my hiding place outside, disguised and +ready. Should we start or was it another failure? Then two +highly-nervous figures passed at a quick walk, or run, beckoning +us to come at once. At the last moment they abandoned +all our careful plans, why, I never found out. I told them to +wait a second and watch, as we heard sentries. They did not. +We risked it. Half a word to the others and we were down the +rope. I went first, then came the colonel dangling two legs +in the air in great style. We waited at the foot of the rope +while people passed. After a terrible delay Gardiner's little +stout figure appeared on the rope going round and round. I +reconnoitred and went ahead. Doust and Castell had simply +sprinted on ahead rather panicky. I set out to track them. +The others walking together tracked me. At last the two +appeared, and Doust on seeing me started at a run evidently +thinking me a German or sentry. It was awfully funny. I +called to him to walk quietly, but he could not. His was just +the way to attract notice. He led us miles round the seashore, +and many people regarded us wonderingly. Finally, +in reducing our going to a normal walk, we lost Doust altogether. +At last when we reached the most glaring quarter, to +our horror he came out in the main streets. Some one asked +for a light. I went on. + +The night was rainy and sticky, and what with two suits, +a heavy trench burberry lined, and with about ten pounds of +food, I developed a most awful stitch in my side. The weight +of my coat I estimate at twenty pounds. The others felt the +walk less, but then I was a much older prisoner, and had been +solitarily confined for weeks and weeks, often without stretching +my legs. More than one policeman looked at me. I wore +a fez, and at last Doust walked more slowly. With my +burberry on and field cap I passed as a German. While +carrying my burberry on my arm and wearing a mufti jacket +and fez, I passed for a local inhabitant. We adopted our own +pace and walked on opposite sides of the road. The colonel +most kindly changed coats with me, his being much lighter. +In the heart of the traffic by the tramway at Sedkigevy, +Doust stopped us to sign some document purporting to be +that he had helped us to escape, so he said! He gave us a box +of wedding cake at the same time, for he had been married +on Christmas Day. We put our names on the paper without +reading it as we were under every one's eye. Rather an unnecessary +and totally unwise procedure I thought. We were +now nearing Galata Bridge. Passing Maritza café, now dark +and gloomy, I jocularly suggested a drink. It was, of course, +closed. Doust shook hands and left us. Castell had gone +ahead it seemed, and ought now to be paddling about disguised +as a boatman near Galata. Early that evening he had +sent some one ahead with some bribes for the Turkish water +police, whose duties were to examine any one leaving the jetty +by Galata Bridge. The German guard also was informed that +some German officers were coming over to the _Korkovado_. I +now walked on a hundred yards ahead alone, with a good +Prussian swagger, wearing my burberry and cap. A Turk or +two saluted me, and some Germans also. But one of the latter +came boldly up to me and I thought I was discovered. The +Germans would be the last to let us escape, although they often +sympathised with us. I pretended, however, I was in a great +rage. I roared out in German for a boat for the _Korkovado_, +and spoke sharply to the police, asking them if they had nothing +to do. The fellow then stopped, turned, and strode off on the +regulation beat. A boat now came out from the ruck with +several others behind it. I recognized Castell disguised as a +ferryman, and got aboard. + +A few moments afterwards, what seemed ages to me, the +other two appeared, the police regarding us all. We pushed +off. The water was choppy even here. We passed the _Korkovado_ +in the dark, the anchored boats, and what appeared to be +a guardship. Here certain boats were challenged. Castell +earlier in the evening by lying off for some time near these +boats, had heard the password given by other boats on going +past this point. He now used it once. As the water moved +behind us, one felt that one was at last committed to the +attempt for good or bad. Stamboul was behind us. We had +now actually reached the Marmora Sea by steady rowing. It +was about 8.30 p.m. + +We had purposely not conversed until we were away from +the jetty, and now took stock. Our dismay may be imagined +when we found the money had not been brought, and for which +we had given cheques. The boat we had bought. The lifebelts +had been forgotten. I had said we couldn't start without +them. In fact, these and buckets for bailing I had repeatedly +asked for, and was assured they were there. There was no +spare mast, one faulty rowlock, a chart and telescope. We +might have been going on a voyage of discovery to a new +America! + +I put the wedding cake down near our seat, and four dozen +eggs Castell had brought were placed on another. Castell and +Gardiner and I alternately sat on these. In fact the boat +seemed full of eggs, and we joked about poultry farming. +Only two loaves had been brought. Then I sat in some more +eggs that were covered up by a coat. + +We were now a mile or more out in a dark heaving sea, at +this stage about a foot of water in the boat, which plunged +violently especially as Castell's oars were generally in the trough +of the sea just at the wrong time. By the light of our lanterns +it was a queer show altogether. Gardiner moved about in +a most unsteady fashion, with wedding cake sticking to his +clothes, and we were all over egg. I fell to eating them raw. +Ever since the sporting days of my youth I have liked eggs. +The others chaffed me about this, and we became quite jocular +over the whole show. The wind and sea now made progress +difficult. I opined that if we didn't get on, the commandant +at dawn would see us from his window. Castell had told us he +knew everything about a boat. In fact, he knew extraordinarily +little. He assured us that when we got out a bit more +the wind from the Bosphorus would enable us to hoist a sail. +We were a long while getting there, and more than once were +very nearly upset. The swell increased tremendously. One +second we saw the gloomy form of mosques and minarets, and +lights, the next we were in the trough of the sea. + +I had had the rudder, but now started to bail out with +small tins. It was useless to be angry with our well-meaning +friends, but to put it simply, the whole _bandobast_ was a horrible +"let down." I have before been in a storm without a bailer, +which had been washed overboard, and almost lost my life +through the same cause. Gardiner nearly fell overboard more +than once in shifting about. I was trying to bail with one hand +and keep the boat's head on to the sea, eating eggs in spare +seconds. The boat rose and fell and plunged severely. Suddenly +Castell's oars fell plop into the sea, and he vomited +frightfully. Here was our skipper sea-sick! I am afraid I +was bad-mannered enough to laugh outright. Colonel Newcombe +joined in. Gardiner was silent, we learned why a few +minutes later. Colonel Newcombe pulled splendidly for some +time, and then I, and then Gardiner. The colonel and I +bailed with all our might, bailing out eggs (the bad ones +floated), wedding cake, cheese, and all kinds of garments. +The boat was like a horse out of control. And filling rapidly. +Gardiner couldn't get both his oars into the water at the same +time, or if he did they fouled his knees, and his legs beat the +bilge and air trying to recover his balance. Then Colonel +Newcombe took the oars again, and we got along, although +slowly. Subsequently our skipper decided on the sail. We +ran it up, and the boat sprang before the wind in a most +enthusiastic manner. The boat, I have forgotten to note, +was about twelve feet long, and, of course, quite open. She +cut through the water at a great pace, the black waves rushing +past us like snakes. We were heading, however, between Haida +Pasha and Principo instead of the open sea, and we thought of +General Townshend asleep in his excellent bungalow, and +some one suggested we paid him a visit. + +[Illustration: LIEUT.-COL. S. F. NEWCOMBE, R.E., D.S.O., +WHO ATTEMPTED TO ESCAPE WITH ME BY BOAT OVER THE MARMORA SEA] + +I suggested at this juncture that the Dardanelles were not +in this direction. We tried to get her around, but the wind +was changing and varied greatly. It now came on to blow a +gale. There was nothing for it but to tack. Our tacking, +however, was much like a political speech of Mr. Asquith, +chiefly zigzag, without much progress. The wind beat us up +to the Bosphorus, and one tack very nearly landed us on a buoy. +We were driven in the wrong direction, and I prophesied we +would ultimately land in the Sultan's kitchen. Poor Gardiner +now became very sea-sick, and said things to me for eating +eggs. I said I enjoyed them, and that as a matter of fact I +hadn't been able to afford eggs for ages. + +Suddenly there was a loud report, as if some one had fired +from close by. The boat nearly upset. We shipped a heavy +wave that broke over us, and something wild and heavy +smothered us. It was the sail. The mast had broken off +short above the stays. We were very nearly wrecked, for the +boat was heavily waterlogged and still leaking horribly. +Hitherto our pace had kept her going. We all bailed for life, +then Newcombe and I took the oars. There appeared to be no +spare mast or cord. Then we bailed for life, while the colonel +pulled magnificently. + +When he was tired I took over, and found that, notwithstanding +my back, I could pull fairly well. + +To attempt to go on was ridiculous, even if possible. It was +freshening to a heavy gale outside, and we had taken about two +hours to get two or three miles. Castell proposed landing at +Haida Pasha and walking to the coast, which, of course, was a +most childish idea, meaning a huge and unnecessary march without +arrangement. I proposed we all returned and got a place of +hiding until a proper _bandobast_ could be made. This had +been faithfully promised us. It now appeared, however, that +there was no arrangement made, and we were advised to go +to Doust's house. This we all refused to do, as he was now a +married man. We begged hard for some other hiding-place +until a plan for escape could be made, but nothing seeming +possible without implicating women, we decided to return. + +Sadly we put the boat about, and made for the lights of +Topkana. The water literally poured into the boat. After +several narrow shaves we regained Galata Bridge, but instead +of returning to the same jetty, I decided to cross under the +bridge, and disembark the other side. This we did without +mishap. Rendered bold by disaster, we were rash to the point +of recklessness, and I set out to get a carriage, leaving the others +by the quay. This I did by haranguing an Armenian driver in +broken Turkish and German. He was to drive us back to the +Arc Serai, a military quarter not far from Psamatia. The +others clambered in with me. + +We left Castell to do as he liked with the boat. Short of +encumbering our English friends there was nowhere to go, +although we had been assured there would be when we started, +and we all realized only too well the double difficulty of making +the opportunity of getting out of the house coincide with that +of getting right away. We thanked Castell and said "good-bye." +I first took the precaution to indicate the line of defence +in case we all came up for trial about the letter. + +We drove past police and sentries without mishap, and I +thought how easy it would have been to have gone the same +way. + +The question now was how to get back to garrison. The +colonel advocated driving to the commandant and saying we +had been out for a "nuit joyeuse," a sort of supper and dance +programme, in fact. Gardiner, on the other hand, advocated +"benefit of clergy." We were to walk to the house of the +Catholic padre, who had been very good to us, and get him to +take us back like prodigals. Both of these courses I thought +unnecessary, and determined to try to get back undiscovered. + +We passed many police and sentries, who came out to look +at us, but we kept talking French, and except for a _chokidar_, +who followed us and kept hammering the street with a stick, +and who eyed us most severely, we arrived at the back entrance +without incident. I left my friends behind and reconnoitred, +intending to get back if possible over the roofs. To my great +astonishment, however, the rope was still there. Now, before +starting, I had asked our friends left behind to pull the rope up +between one-half and one hour after we had left. The reason +was that I didn't want the rope discovered at dawn or by some +night watchman, thus advertising the escape. And if, on the +other hand, the strong cordon of police and guards round +about the camp rendered escape impossible, we should be glad +of the rope. It was, however, now long after midnight. + +I asked the colonel to be especially cautious, as I felt certain +there must be some reason for the rope being there. + +He climbed up, leaving his coat with ours, which we tied +with the end of the rope. In getting up, however, his foot +went through a pane of glass. But he arrived at the top, +peeped in, and said there was no posta, and the road was clear. +Gardiner and I arrived up, in fact I helped him over the wall, +as I found his nose, hands, and feet all together within a few +inches of the top as he had tried to scale the wall like a steeplejack. +He went inside and I remained to bring in the rope and +coats. Laden with all these and twenty feet of rope I was just +about to enter the door, when I saw a Turkish posta returning +up the stairs. It afterwards appeared that he had been sent +on duty shortly after we escaped, probably by a secret order +of the commandant, and had only gone downstairs for a +moment to see what caused the falling glass. + +Dropping all my kit and the rope on the landing, and closing +the door, I rushed downstairs as if coming from the Russians +above, shouting that some one was ill. I managed, of course, +to collide forcibly with the posta, knocking him and the lamp +downstairs. While my friends arranged his injured feelings, +I made for my room, tore off my clothes, and got into pyjamas. + +It was now necessary for some one to go down the rope +again to get some coats and disguises which had fallen down +through some one's tying them to other coats in the loop +instead of on to the rope. The colonel very sportingly insisted +on going down the rope while I, in bare feet in the +thinnest of pyjamas, made a violent demonstration downstairs, +saying I insisted on going to the shops to get some brandy +for an officer who was dangerously ill. As I expected, the +posta downstairs, thinking I was escaping, called his friend +from above, who came down, leaving the road clear. They +both hung on to me and drew their bayonets. I managed to +delegate one to ask the commandant for special leave, while +the other was compelled to remain at the front door. + +There is nothing like thoroughness on these occasions. +This gave them a good fifteen minutes to get the coats, and +hammer up the door, which had been hanging by a nail. We +made some hot tea, one of the most glorious drinks of my life, +and, quite exhausted, slept. The last words I heard when +going to sleep were from Colonel Newcombe, who said, "For +Heaven's sake let us never mention escape again." But an +hour before the dawn he and I were both at work with a small +hammer inside our charcoal cupboard, hammering a hole +through the wall to next door, which we believed "to let." + +We worked at this the whole of the following day, and +except for the sentries being on duty permanently outside our +door, no one visited us the whole day. This shows how well +the plan for having a good start would have succeeded.[2] + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +DISCOVERY OF THE LETTER--BRUSA--COURT-MARTIAL--LIFE +IN A STAMBOUL PRISON--POLITICS AND INTRIGUE + + +On the day following this, extra sentries were put on us, +and all privileges stopped. Nothing was known, but +it appeared that Fauad was suspicious, and had +probably informed the captain of the guard. He was more +importunate than ever for money. The crisis was precipitated +by our discovery that he had appropriated large sums of +money for cheques given to him by other officers. He said +that the censor had become impatient, and that he had had +to be paid with this money. I got Fauad to come to our room. +I proposed to buy the letter off him, as it was stamped. He +first swore that he had the letter, and on our producing the +money, some only of which we wanted to give him, he started +to blackmail us by refusing to say where the letter was until +he got the whole sum. It ended up by me closing the door +and saying I wanted the letter and proposed to take it. He +was a tall but sloppily built fellow, and after a straight one +on the point of his chin I back-twisted him over the iron bed. +We searched him, but found nothing. It was at this point +when he said the letter was known about, and when it seemed +he would betray us in any case, that another officer caught +him by the throat. But he managed one wild yell, which +brought up the sentries. I was marched off with fixed +bayonets for about the tenth time in my career as a prisoner +of war, but had time to hand my pocket-book and papers to +a friend before this happened. + +The commandant kept me waiting a long time, and, of +course, the letter was produced, but not a word was known of +the escape. I believe they sent urgent telegrams to the +mouth of the Bosphorus police, so that if we had actually +got away to the Dardanelles, fortune would have assisted us +with an extraordinary false scent. In the meantime, the +commandant's wrath was terrific, in fact, as I explained to +him, it was rather unnatural, seeing he had once said he would +adopt me as his nephew. But, alas, he was beyond a joke. + +I was remanded under a heavy guard, who inspected me +about every five minutes, so that work at the hole had to +cease, and two nights after, we were carpeted before a Court +of Inquiry consisting of the commandant, another officer, +and some one from headquarters. As we didn't know +whether the letter actually existed now, there was no point +in saying much. But the colonel, when asked why he wanted +to go out, said "Pour une nuit joyeuse," comprising, presumably, +a dinner at the Tokatlion and a fairy row on the +Bosphorus. His countenance, however, and mine also, fell +when the commandant produced the letter, all about our +roubles and lifebelts, and the way to Russia. But when the +commandant jeered at the colonel as being too old and past +his prime for such undertakings, I laughed out aloud, for on +our actual show, so far as physical serviceability went, the +colonel was worth about six of us. + +At the inquiry the others left the affairs to me. The net +result was that by evasive answers and careful admission we +were able, while sticking completely to the truth, to save +the escape from being divulged. At the beginning of the +inquiry we thought they had found out from Castell, who, +we were informed, was under arrest. Our fears were allayed +and our cautions justified when it turned out that nothing +was known. + +One was amused at hearing the old commandant's boast +about his having made it too difficult for us to get out. + +"Why didn't you start?" + +"We did not start for the Black Sea because you had got +our letter of plans, and then it was difficult with our sentries," +etc., etc. So I replied. + +Masses of documents were compiled. The colonel was +twitted about one so senior as he being led astray by me! +And I was locked up. + +I had only got one message away, about trying to establish +a hiding-place, and I feared I would be sent away now to camp. +The others, after several false starts, left one night in a hurry +with a heavy guard for Afion Kara Hissar, the camp away +back near Konia. Col. Newcombe and I had patched up all +sorts of schemes in the meantime. The difficulty now was +how to communicate with him. One good scheme was by +intercepting letters arriving from England for him after he +had left, and adding words. In fact, more than once I took +such a letter and extracting a bill, sent on news from England +and from myself, which practice became general. + +A week later I was, to my great delight, examined by a +doctor for my spine--a concession due to the kindness of the +commandant, whom I played to across the road one or two +tunes he had informed me he liked. + +One had to bank on there still being a soft place in his +heart for me. But he resolutely refused to see me. I wrote +him, saying he couldn't be more angry if I had got away; yet, +here I was, and might I not be allowed to stay in Psamatia--my +parole, of course, being impossible. I got no answer, but +to my delight he followed Dr. König's recommendations for +me to go to the baths at Brusa, the Generals' camp, the reason +he gave being that my former General (G. B. Smith) had no +A.D.C., and I might join him. I was paid up to date (Gelal was +an excellent fellow in this way) and in the early twilight, one +snowy morning, with my sad little bundle of baggage in front on +a donkey cart, I set out with a heavy guard, who watched me +every second. My guard had evidently had terrific orders, +but I managed to implicate them into a fray with some German +soldiers, who didn't understand Turkish or that I was a +prisoner. One of them gave me a _Tageblatt_, which I returned +during the fight with a letter inside for the Dutch Embassy, +containing news as to my departure. This I hoped would let +every one concerned know at once where I was off to. + +The steamer trip was wonderful after so many years away +from a ship. I watched a German officer and a rather pretty +German girl on board. They were quite polite, drank beer +marked Münchener, and talked about friends on different +fronts. It was roughish weather. We got to Panderma +about 3 p.m., caught a tiny train that wound over pretty, +undulating country for twenty miles, bringing us nearer and +nearer to the snowy heights of Olympus. One and a half +hours later I was put in a gharry (_quel luxe!_) and taken +to the commandant, a youngish Mir Ali, who spoke a little +French and tried to appear kind. Our _entente cordiale_ progressed +considerably, he pointing out how he loved all his +generals and other prisoners, and how they loved him, and how +I must also get to deserve his affection, as he put it. He +said we were all free, had a posta each--I already saw myself +near Olympus, making a bee-line for the coast--and then he +opened my confidential report from Gelal. The commandant's +jaw fell, and he got black with rage at having taken me, as he +said, for a _bon garçon_. I was, it seemed, a horrible "escape +officer," and had come to stir up his flock to revolt, etc., etc. +I should go to the bath only once a week, and not enjoy any +privileges or walks, etc. Knowing the Turk by this time, and +seeing much hope ahead, I said little. The generals were in +what had been a hotel, and were divided into several messes. +They had a garden in front of the house. + +Captain Goldfrap, whom I remembered from Kut, came +to take me up to General Delamain, who was kinder to me than +I can say. He gave me dinner and some cognac. I was half +frozen with the snow. I noticed that his first questions were +about his officers and men. The generals had been cut off +for long from all the rest of the Kut force, and I enlightened +them considerably. General Evans, made a brigadier in the +last days of Kut, was still as cynical as ever. On this first +night of comparative comfort, I also talked to Major Hibbert, +whom I had had a little to do with when on General Smith's +Staff. They were all very, very kind to me. I didn't say +a word about escaping just yet. General Delamain talked +to me quite a long time after the others had gone. He was as +cool and unruffled as ever, and weighed the political news I +gave him very carefully. He was very much more _au courant_ +than most officers through having read German literature +"on the passing show." + +I rigged up a bed and slept. In the early hours of the dawn +I felt more peace than I had had for years. Snow was still +falling. I was very much impressed with every one's kindness +to me, a subaltern, and, knowing how hard up they all were, +decided to go on my own so far as possible. As I lay in bed +shivering with cold, I found a figure rattling tea-things beside +me. It was Namatullah, the faithful Mohammedan servant +of General Smith, who had heard I was back. He was always +the best of servants, and his delight at seeing me was a rare +treat. Later I got a servant to myself from the camp. The +escape got abroad the next day, when orders came that I was +not allowed to go out. But the generals one at a time took me +for walks, or went bail for me. + +[Illustration: HOTEL AT BRUSA +WHERE OUR GENERALS, WITH THEIR A.D.C., SPENT THEIR CAPTIVITY] + +Life here was more possible. They had books and papers +not so very old. They had had over two years of uninterrupted +study, and were very proficient in acquired languages. General +Melliss I thought more aged than the rest. His captivity sat +heavily upon him. He also was extremely kind to me, in fact, +I might say that one of the most wonderful experiences of my +many and varied phases of captivity was meeting these senior +officers of our army in captivity. More than ever I saw deep +into those traditions of the old British Army, where efficiency, +quietness, and comradeship took first place. I felt that for +these men captivity was even more serious than for me, for, +although their careers were more or less perfected and mine +broken off sharply at its beginning, still they had so much less +time left. + +I am writing this part in Brusa, some little time after, and +want to give first place to this important record. I am tempted +to remark with Stevenson on the glories of old age. Youth +is uncharitable to youth, so coltish and impatient with shortcomings, +and so infinitely borable. My whole experience of +captivity showed nothing to equal the brave resignation of +these Christian men at Brusa, "their kindness and forbearance, +their oversight of imperfections." And I had had the +privilege of seeing their brigades in action, and knew them one +and all by common report for men who would have had their +own armies to command if they had been spared by fate for +France. I only hope that if ever anything of all this is +published they will not take amiss anything written herein. + +_Later._--Most of the notes of my life in Brusa have been +lost. I must only record the gradual relaxation of my restrictions, +and my earning, by good behaviour (!), the right to my +own posta, who took me through the sights of old Brusa--for +this was the former capital--to the Green Mosque, and sometimes +away to the near foothills. Brusa is a smiling valley. +The high-road was forbidden, and it was only when we got a +new posta that we could go there. + +I discovered most excellent companions in Major Hibbert +and Captain Goldfrap, who sometimes walked with me, and +were most strenuous workers at languages. General Hamilton +sometimes gave me tea and talked India and history, and +General Smith talked chiefly fishing. He seemed much +restored by his captivity, and walked at a tremendous pace. +General Delamain I discovered was a chess player, and many +were the excellent games we played together. He was very +much stronger than I, but I improved, and managed to win +about one in three later on, Queen's Pawn Opening being the +only one that he ever succumbed to. We had frequent talks +on politics and travel. He has many points of contact outside +his profession, and is most exceptionally well read in foreign +politics and international movements. On occasion at the +football field I was sometimes privileged to discuss with him +the larger game of chess that seemed to promise to pass from +an apparent stalemate to decisive results. The collapse of +Russia was now more than ever apparent. It was the fourth +week of March, 1918. + +I had got to know Brusa fairly well by now with a view +to politics, and had sounded many of the prominent Turks +there. It was seething with sedition and readiness for revolt. + +Suddenly two pieces of news arrived simultaneously. +Without notice I was ordered to Stamboul under a heavy +guard, being told I was probably to be exchanged.... + +And a heavy barrage of artillery had begun in France. + +After dinner General Delamain took me into his room. +We had some Brusa wine and a long talk. He pointed to the +paper, and said he believed the beginning of the supreme test +had arrived. Facts following on this showed how right his +judgment was. He was most kind, and offered to lend me +money, for which I thanked him sincerely, but said I had +enough. + +In fact, I told him I expected to be up either for a court-martial +or else to be going home. We had a pleasant evening, +and he wished me all luck. + +General Melliss also gave me a tin bath and some good +advice. I collected orders for articles wanted for when, if +ever, I should return, and left at dawn. + +The journey I made under a most undesirable character, +called Mohammed Ali, a Turkish subaltern, thoroughly dishonest +and treacherous, and a bully. We soon came to loggerheads, +as I realized I would get no privileges from him except +what I took. I was driven to the Brusa station in his gharry, +for which he made me pay two liras. When we got to +Modarnia I had to wait an age on the roadside in a biting +wind. This, I remember, set my neuralgia going severely in +my back. It was necessary to wait, he said, while he bargained +for various hens and a lamb, which he proposed to turn over at +a profit at Stamboul. Then, when I went for a meal to an +exorbitant Greek, he wanted to stop my ordering from the +waiter, even through him, and proposed to decide what I +should eat, and this, when he proceeded on the usual presumption +that I would pay for him. We did this on occasion, but +the regular thing into which this custom had grown was often +exploited against us. He ran up a huge bill of about two liras, +which he was so certain of my paying that he started bullying +beforehand. His face, when I didn't pay, was a study for +Mr. Punch's artist. + +The sea ran high and our boat left before we arrived. I +hoped for many things if we could wait that night in Modernia, +what with communications and plans useful in case I returned +to Brusa. No one had ever stopped there. As bad luck had +it, a terrible little produce boat turned up late in the evening, +and, with many cattle and sheep and hens, we crouched down +from the wind. It was the third week in March, and at this +season the Marmora can be very rough. + +White horses raced by, and cold spray dashed over us. +Except in the sun it was almost freezing. We called at two +or three little ports. The weather grew worse, and every one +was seasick, including Mohammed Ali. It was a race as to +who would be sick first. He eyed me helplessly. And, of +course, no sooner had he been sick two minutes than I had +a letter or two off. I felt sick, but was not actually so, and +tried to hide it. Later, I was allowed into the captain's wheelhouse, +and sat down. The sea was very rough, and got so +bad that we had to lay to all night off an island, where we +tossed and tossed. All the Turkish peasants, men and women, +went through their toilet in the dark, and what with men +smoking, women being seasick, and children--dozens of +babies bawling their heads off--I had plenty of entertainment. +I paid a lira for a place to stretch my legs and, later on, slept. +Before morning I had appropriated a fat peasant for a pillow, +in discovering which at dawn he was so honoured that he gave +me some cigarettes. Here Mohammed Ali butted in and +kicked him. However, I gave my place to him to finish my +lira's worth, and at this Mohammed Ali became nearly mad +with annoyance. During the previous day the cattle had +stampeded from side to side, and as the boat heaved one went +overboard, but was recovered. One was lost for good. More +than once, when the tiny top deck was deserted except for +my guard and myself, Ali edged away from the heaving side +and eyed me most furtively. I saw what he was thinking of. +I laughed, and caught hold of him, and he squealed and had +his posta brought up. I informed them both that they must +be careful, as the boat was rocking and the sea was rough and +that one cow had gone overboard! + +The next morning we awoke to a magnificent dawn, and +all was still. Across a silver, warm, and sunny sea we cut a +gleaming path towards Stamboul. Land was scarcely in +sight, and I was alone with the sea. Things deep down within +one stirred with a sympathy now long grown old.... The sea +and destiny and the secrets ahead of us, known only to these +both.... Here was I, returning to Stamboul either to the +wonderful far-away world that lay before April 29th, 1916, +or to prison. I knew not which. + +At about 3 p.m. the minarets of Stamboul stood out of a +glorious afternoon sky. I saw the scene of our adventure, and +soon was ashore once more by Galata Bridge. + +Here I found a whole _posse_ of police to escort me, and began +to realize I was not going back to London! + +On shore I found the most indescribable bustling in the +streets, and newspapers and bulletins were being bought +everywhere. My guard, and, in fact, several people, shouted +out to me as we went on, that England was "biti" (finished), +that our French front had collapsed, and we had lost 40,000 +in prisoners alone. This increased my guards' excitement +so much that they walked at a fearful pace, and I told them +that when their news was bad they went slowly, and when +good they ran. This steadied them, and we clinked along +over familiar streets, and I expected to be going to Psamatia +again, but, instead, I was left with my guard outside the +Ministry of War, in the large square known as Serasquerat, +in the centre of which stood a very old tower, Yargun Kuhle. +Here, after some delay, I was sent into a room, and some +insolent Turkish officers gave contradictory orders. My kit +was burst open and searched, and anything like a knife or +matches, or razor, or even the commonest utensils such as a +fork, were all taken from me, together with any written +matter or books. Then I had another long wait in the central +hall, while Staff officers came and went, all talking about the +great news. + +I was dead tired and hungry, having eaten only an egg +and some bread since leaving Brusa, thirty-six hours before. +My back gave such trouble I could hardly sit up straight. +Ultimately I was taken to a building called the Marhbesana, +a gaol where military and civil offenders languished and died. +I had heard a lot about the place. Four British officers had +been in it and one had died there. It was half full of +Armenians, who were spared until they divulged where their +money was, or of officers put on one side by Enver, and of +scapegoats, a few of whom, no doubt, deserved being there--excluding +myself. I went along hard stone passages to a +fellow called Djemal Bey, acting commandant of the gaol, +who wouldn't say anything about me, why I was there, or +what I had to do. I grew very tired and impatient at another +long wait of over an hour, standing up. Then I was put into +a room with an old Arab and a dishonest-looking civilian Turk, +and a renegade Egyptian. I was to be left here "a moment," +so my escort said, as he went away, but the door was barred, +and I realized that I was a prisoner in this wretched tiny +dark room, with a window looking out on the passage and an +appalling lavatory place opposite. A heavy guard on the +door paced ceaselessly to and fro, and had strict orders about +me. I was not to be allowed anything. + +The Egyptian actually made me a cup of coffee. He was +a cross-eyed sort of chicken-and-egg lad one sees in Port +Said, but I preferred him to the rascally Turk, who was +from Rumania, a clerk fellow, who called me Herr Leutnant, +and, when he wanted anything, Herr Hauptmann. Shouting +and roaring went on between these people. I got +a sort of tiny wooden frame down and tried to sleep. One +couldn't walk or move about while the others were there, +for want of room. The Arab was evidently a man of some +position from Aleppo. He proved a fanatic, and prayed +every half-hour on his mat, working his lips the while. +He had all the fervour of the fanatic, and when he prayed his +eyes assumed a Berserk look. I discovered him to be an old +rascal, none the less. He gave me a little of his soup (gaol +stuff), and then helped himself to some sugar and tea which +I had brought in my pocket against emergencies. No one +came near us with food all that day. I commenced to roar +lustily through the bars. After some hours of this a man +appeared the following day with some soup and bread at least +twenty-four hours after I had arrived. My companions now +laughed, and said I was to be court-martialled, and the old +Arab, who seemed friendly with the guard, told me they had +decided to try me for escaping, for sending letters home about +Stamboul, and that they had got letters back from some +"big men" in London to me which proved I had done so. +At this I felt more resigned. + +The Arab then commenced in all sorts of ways to sound +me about helping him. He wanted a large sum of money to +let loose a conspiracy, something about killing the Sultan, +Enver, and a few more. It was very difficult to talk with +him, as I didn't know Arabic and he didn't know Turkish, +and he would only trust one old inaccessible man, who spoke +French, to translate. The scheme set me thinking. That it +was partly a feeler I had no doubt, but I began to glean direct +intelligence of many matters of intrigue in Turkey. + +All the elaborate caution of the East this old Arab showed +when we talked together, pretending he was discussing food, +and we had often to wait for hours until the others were +asleep. This was March 27th, my birthday, and a terrible +one it was. I felt very unwell. There was no food. I had +no access to any one to ask for food, and my polite notes to +the commandant were ignored. I managed to get a paper, +and the news from France was bad. The German offensive +was sweeping everything before it. + +My guards and gaol companions amused themselves by +showing literally how Germany was now walking over the +French and us. I, however, awaited the counter-offensive, +if we were not too broken, and, in any case, the moment +when the German advance must be outdistanced owing to +the elaborate communications required for pushing on the +great masses of men and materials of modern war. It was a +most miserable birthday, but in the evening we had a side +show, which I encouraged. The Turk slammed a door on +the Egyptian's heel, and then, in a second, the latter, who +had been very forbearing, was at his throat with one hand +and tried to brain him with an iron off the bed with the other. +The Turk produced a knife. They fought, and knocked over +the table. The old Arab came in to separate them, and got +embroiled himself. + +When the show was at its height and the guard came in, I +stepped out and got a note on to a shelf in the washing-place. +This was for a poor little subaltern of the R.A.F., who had +been hauled into a room near mine, only he had some air and +a good view of the Bosphorus. Thus correspondence started. +I had had it ready, and when all the doors opened to see the +fun I shouted a word to him. We exchanged notes in this +way, although it took a long time for him to find the place. +We exchanged money and other things. + +The fight being over, our commandant came in. He +thought I had had a hand in it, but the guard was loyal. I +asked for a cell for myself. He was an inconsiderate beast, +so I quoted the privileges of officers in captivity, and objected +to being with an Arab and a Turk. The latter was eventually +removed. Life went on. The plot of the Arab proved very +subtle. He wanted an aeroplane to fly with gold into Turkey, +and his party would meet it at a certain place, and then +presto! up would go any building or bridge we liked. I +found out the two sides to the Arab movement, the _coterie_ +round Enver, the Armenian gambit, the German supervision, +and the extreme precariousness of Telaat's position as Grand +Vizier. The movement was quite widespread throughout +Turkey, but it all seemed so futile and nebulous. There was +no head, and corruption was on every hand. Three or four +days afterwards, I saw Gardiner's face around the passage +beckoning violently to me. With him here it was now apparent +what we were up for. + +I got in touch with him by notes, and a day or so afterwards +I was taken from my appalling room and put into his, a fine, +large room, along a side alley and overlooking a courtyard with +huge iron railings, but with a most magnificent view of Stamboul +beneath us. It was a distinct change from the terrible +place I had been in. + +Beneath us was another storey where the worst criminals +were confined. Their lot must have been terrible. The tops +only of their cell windows were above the ground. + +Gardiner had been hauled away from camp at Afion Kara +Hissar for "escaping." This was all he knew. He had come +to prison about ten days after I had, and had had a much +better time. He had made some arrangement for getting +food outside by sending out a posta and giving heavy backsheesh. + +Then, days later, we got the Kivas from the Dutch Embassy +to visit us. He brought Yarmouth bloaters and tea and clothes. +One day I bought a tin of cocoa, for which I paid £8 10s. +After a few more days the commandant sent for me, and said +an officer, who was interested in me, would like to talk. + +I found a very polite Turk in naval uniform, who was +evidently out for news. I remembered having seen him with +Germans on occasions. What did I think of Stamboul, of +its beauties, of its buildings, of its future after the war? +He gave me news from the Western Front, and let me see the +papers, as the tide of war just then was much against us. +Had I seen Enver in Berlin? (They had evidently been reading +some of my letters, including some intended deliberately for +them.) Who was Earl Grey, was George Lloyd related to +Lloyd George, and was Fitzmaurice--a secretary to the British +Embassy before the war--in position in London? I merely +told him that I had only just commenced to get food, after being +neglected for some days, and if he would get me permission +to have a bath I would be glad and happy to help him waste +as little of his valuable time as possible. + +This he did, and I was allowed to a bath--not my old one, +worse luck!--close to the gaol. I also got a doctor to verify +my former report to Dr. König that I needed baths, and there +I hoped to begin planning again. On the promise of a consideration +of these things, we talked hard. I told him I +recognized he was out for news, of which I had none; but +that, in other words, I was certain that unless Turkey made a +separate peace she would have small say in any peace, as Germany +would decide that for her. If she was for a separate +peace, the time was now, before the counter-offensive began. +I found out a good deal about the German hold on Turkey. +With considerable cunning, the Commandant Djemal later +confirmed my suspicions that the Turks, with all the capacity +for intrigue for which they are famous, wanted to get in +direct touch with England just to verify German accounts, +and a strong party in the Turkish Cabinet was for this. Their +motives were less those of _rapprochement_, than suspicion of +their grasping ally. + +The bath I had every week, writing many letters about +it beforehand, or it was sure to be missed. We were allowed +to walk in the courtyard, a hundred yards long, every day or +two. Scanning the bars, I saw some British faces there, and +some Indian soldiers who had escaped. The R.A.F. officers +were brought to the prison just to be interrogated, and, after +a few days, went to a camp. + +Colonel Newcombe now arrived, and had the next room to +us. We got in touch with him. He had just been allowed +to go to Brusa with some other senior officers, and after three +or four days there was brought here. He was most lugubrious +about the French front, and said he feared Kemmel meant +the collapse of Ypres, etc. We cheered him up, and sent him +_yarhut_, the Turkish sour cream. He was most generous with +the stores he had. We began communicating at our windows +as we had postas on our doors. I now heard that Lieut. +Sweet, who was to have escaped with me from Kastamuni, +had died in Yozgad. He had been wounded in his escape. + +Fearing we might be separated, we arranged that the +defence of the case should be left to me, as it seemed still +uncertain whether we were up for trial of the letter--_i.e._, intent +to escape--or whether they knew anything about the actual +attempt. + +Some days later I was sent for to the Taki-ki (Court of +Inquiry), some quarter of a mile off. They wanted to know +whether the fourth officer--referred to in _the_ letter--was +present. It seemed not. They then mixed up Galloway, +who had given his parole, with another officer who had wanted +to escape early in December, when the Black Sea affair was +on, but not later, for the Dardanelles attempt. Galloway it +was who had had a cheque stolen. My last memory of him +from his former visit was that he complained of leaving +Stamboul, which he liked. He had been sent for spectacles, +but the Turks had sent him to bed in hospital, saying his +eyes must be bad. + +I answered nothing. Lieutenant Galloway turned up +weeks later, very indignant. He thought the prison much +inferior to the almost absolute freedom at Gedhos, where +those who had given their parole walked about practically +free for miles. + +We others didn't sympathize much with his grief, but got +ready another plan for escaping while in town. + +To our great amusement the parole wallas--those who +have given their word of honour to the Turks not to escape--are +infinitely touchy on this question, and prefer to call themselves +Jurors, as distinguished from non-Jurors. We ragged +them by pointing out that even a Bolshevik was only a non-conformist, +and we re-named them the Abjurors, as distinguishing +them from the Endurers. We heard that the Abjurors +(parole wallas) on leaving Changri had been persuaded to +"abjure" by promises of "palatial dwellings in Smyrna." +These turned out to be huts at Gedos. + +Then the trial started. The other two were had up +separately. They said I wrote the letter, that it was entirely +my plan, although they were coming, and how only I had +managed to get the information it contained, and that the +whole plans were left with me. + +I went the next day, realizing I could postpone the trial +if I wanted to. A colonel and four or five other officers were +assembled around a table, and a very decent Turk, Ali Bey, +who spoke excellent English--was a graduate of Edinburgh--talked +to me. They were all most deferential, and I seemed +rather a character to them. Many of my letters sent back +from the Censor lay on the table. I explained that I could +quickly tell them all they wanted to know, but wouldn't say +a word until they realized I was a British officer, and before +trial wanted some fair play. I wanted baths and massage +for my spine. There were my medical certificates to prove +this. I wanted food. + +The therapeutic baths lay in Pera, far-famed Pera, which +included the church, the Embassy, the baths. The latter +gave me rest, and also chances of getting a _bandobast_ for +escaping, if necessary, alone. I actually got the court's leave +to go here, after refusing to say a word. An hour or two +afterwards I was striding along Pera with a military policeman +at my heels. It was such an exceptional thing in these days +to be allowed out from the gaol that my guard was impressed. +We found a bath the other end of Pera, a poor enough establishment, +but one of the few places where one could get hot +water. From here one managed to send out a note or two, +although at first my guard wouldn't allow me to speak to +any one alone. The bath people were awfully afraid, but I +paid them well, and little privileges like a note to the Embassy +meant cheques cashed and food available. The Germans +were now nearly at La Fére, and the public grew more timid +accordingly. + +On my way back I was stopped at Galata Bridge by a tall +figure in mufti. The voice sounded strangely familiar. It +was Forkheimer, an intimate acquaintance of mine at Cambridge +before the war. We had often canoed up and down +the Cam, and had played some keen tennis together. I +had missed keeping an appointment with him in Leipzig in +1914, and had been invited to visit him in Vienna. Had he +been fighting? Yes! being a German-Austrian, _natürlich_, a +captain of cavalry, he had had his portion of it all on the +Russian-Austrian front. There was no time to say anything +else but give me his phone number. + +On returning to the prison I found our room had been +changed, and of all people in the world I met there, Vicomte +D'Arici, my Italian friend from Kastamuni. He had been +brought to gaol for trial. He was a brave man, well read, an +excellent linguist, and had done foreign secret service for +Rome for years. He knew of people I had known in Germany. +In fact, it was the most exquisite good fortune that brought +us together in prison when the one aim of the commandant at +Kastamuni had been to separate us. We talked German day +and night. He was up for being in possession of plans of the +Dardanelles forts, and of all kinds of intelligence which he had +gathered at Adalia, where, being free for many months after the +outbreak of hostilities, he had been in a position to do this. +He had, I understood, got quite a lot through to the Italian +Foreign Office. + +Nothing but the barest reference to the adventures and +intrigues that now followed is possible in this diary. He was +still carrying excellent information of the internal state of +Turkey, the army and navy, the inner politics, the German +supervision. Through him I got acquainted with one De Nari, +an Italian engineer of great influence and power and ability, +a prominent man in the Committee of Union and Progress, +and a close friend to Turkey. By dint of much work I continued +to pay bogus visits to a doctor's apartments beneath +de Nari's, and the posta believed this was my dentist. We +discussed politics, and de Nari, who was most hospitable and +kind, gave me information over coffee and smokes. + +He was an intimate friend of Midhat Chukri Bey, the +secretary of the Union and Progress, and of Telaat Pasha, the +Grand Vizier. The latter was, it appears, quite interested in +Newcombe and me, and had some idea of getting in touch with +England direct. I had several offers made to me, and only +too glad would I have been to take any offer direct through +to our Foreign Office, especially as Telaat wouldn't trust any +ordinary envoy from Turkey. As the Germans had all the +codes, to begin _pourparlers_ by means of a prisoner would be +the most secretive. I became quickly _au courant_ with politics +there. I was told that when peace was in sight I was to be +sent home with an offer. I did not, however, like the great +influence that De Nari had in the councils of things, and it +seemed that the whole cabinet was a mass of infidelity and +intrigue. A few decided and definite men could have persuaded +Turkey out of the war, and, personally, I think it a great pity +we didn't bomb fortified Stamboul years before. + +D'Arici's wife had been stranded in Panderma, where all +her goods were searched. I managed to get through to her +some letters from d'Arici, and to effect her transfer to Stamboul. +Moreover, d'Arici, sport that he was, had still with +him some valuable plans of mines, and much secret information +about politics with reference to Bulgaria. These he wanted +to get rid of to his wife, and not to destroy. Having satisfied +myself with his outline of defence in case things went wrong, +I hunted and found his wife, after many adventures, in the +heart of Pera. The guard followed, believing her the proprietress +of a therapeutic bath. We had arranged a rendezvous +in the waiting-room. I had to bring the packet back, as no +chance offered for giving it, and it was, of course, certain +death for her and for him, if not for me, to have been in possession +of such interesting documents. I felt my weight of +responsibility, but resolved to try again. The second time +she was dressed quite differently. I found her flat, and racing +up the stairs ahead of the posta, burst in and gave her the +packet. She pushed this down her blouse, and the next +second the posta very angrily forced the door open. While he +was suspiciously looking around I bolted off again, and, of +course, he had to follow me. My excuse that I was hungry +was fairly feeble. Anyway he was appeased with a good meal, +and I intended not to have him again if I could help. D'Arici +was delighted, and I, on the other hand, now relied on getting +away politically without escaping. The next day I got a +private message from Ismid Bey, a tall, smart, and very +modernized Turk doing A.D.C. to Djemal Pasha. He was +very occupied with keeping up the importance of his chief, +whose influence on the Triumvirate wavered at times. He +had just returned from a voyage on the Black Sea, and in his +cute Turkish way was most interesting as well as eager for +news. He was half French. On entering he barked at my +posta, who, startled and terrified beyond words at my claiming +acquaintance with so august a person, literally cowed down, +and waited outside. + +We were in the Florence Restaurant, and had more or less +privacy. There I learned for the first time of the outer expression +of Bolshevism. Everywhere around the Black Sea where +he had been, murders had just taken place on a wholesale +scale. He told me a story of his difficulty in getting an interview +with people in the southern ports. They were invariably +killed just before, the reason, he was told, being that any one +who wanted to interview a man wearing a collar must be anti-Bolshevik. +Ismid showed me excellent and recent photos of +the French front, and assured me that from personal inspection, +he thought the German _bandobast_ so gigantic and their defences +so colossal that we could never get through. It was, however, +all to an end. He wanted me to interpret to him the British +official attitude to Turkey, and gave me to understand that +for himself he wanted peace; in fact, he had just come from a +peace meeting, but Enver was against all this. We had as +yet no big victory in the West that might justify a Turkish +_bouleversement_. He spoke of financial difficulties, and how +much depended on a new arrangement of parties immediately. +Djemal had quarrelled with the German commander +in Palestine, and wanted Turkey to seize the whole of the +Adrianople _vilayet_. In fact, against German orders he had +insisted on a full Turkish Army Corps being stationed there, +and he disliked the German military preponderance in the +capital. + +As for the Russian Fleet, Ismid indignantly denied that +they were German, and said the Turks had seized them on +threat of engagement, as the Germans had hoisted the German +flag on the fleet after putting German crews aboard. He +despised the German as being too stolid to understand Turkish +mentality. This bore out what he had told Newcombe, that +the Germans imposed tactics of too high a tactical standard +on the Turkish forces after Gaza. I got a good deal more +information, which I hoped Newcombe and I might turn to +account. + +D'Arici was amused at all this. We played bridge and +plotted for more news. In the meantime I had visited Forkheimer's +home, and persuaded the posta to remain downstairs. +My life now was as different as possible from what it had been +during all the preceding years. + +I cashed £50 in cheques a month, and got out twice or +three times a week. Turks began to know me in the street. +Forkheimer and I, seated on his balcony overlooking the +Bosphorus, sometimes snatched a few short minutes from +captivity. We both wondered what our mutual acquaintance, +Goodhart, an American we knew at Cambridge, was now +doing. His people gave me most excellent tea. I was much +interested in the pertinacity of these good people in believing +Germany was absolutely right in the war, and we quite wrong. +One avoided as much politics as possible, but they were +rather keen. + +About this time Colonel Newcombe and I formulated a +scheme by which the British Government and our brother +officers might be saved a considerable amount of money. The +exchange at this time with the Dutch Embassy was 130, and +in the bazaar privately as much as 200 could be got. These +cheques could be exchanged again at a huge profit in Switzerland, +and a great deal went into the pockets of foreign changers. +Our plan was to get a loan of 10,000 liras a month, or 50,000 +in a lump sum from the Ottoman Bank on the security of +British officers and approved of by the senior British officer, +at the rate of 250. + +[Illustration: DJEMAL PACHA, ONE OF THE TRIUMVIRATE WHOSE A.D.C., +ISMID BEY, MET ME SECRETLY IN STAMBOUL] + +The _Chef de Renseignement_ of the Ottoman Bank was +agreeable. In fact, the bank would have made largely on the +transaction, and, while helping us by ready money, and saving +the Home Government over 100 per cent. on the exchange, +have kept it out of Germany's hands, and would not have got +any meantime advantage, as repayment of the loan would +have been delayed until after the war. Every one was most +enthusiastic. Senior officers at Brusa were willing to support +the scheme, but the Turks wanted General Townshend's +signature. We drafted a letter from our prison asking for his +support and approval, and, if possible, to enlist the sympathies +of the Dutch Embassy where English cheques were paid only +at market rate, British officers getting about one-third to a +quarter value (exchange was 500 at the armistice). The general +frequently dined in Stamboul, and had a launch at his disposal, +so I was informed by a Turkish naval officer, who had been +with him for some time, and although no doubt considerably +watched, would have many more opportunities than +any one else. + +After considerable trouble I managed to get a letter +through to the general, with a covering one to be given to him +at a dinner in Pera. The reply was long in forthcoming, and +was most disappointing. + +General Townshend wrote through his A.D.C., pointing +out that the Turks weren't philanthropists, and if the scheme +had been thought practicable it would have been tried before. +Still, one must suppose the general knows best, as he dines out +frequently and sees quite an amount of Stamboul personages. + +I understand from de Nari, however, that General Townshend +is more stalked than stalking. In a small photo of the +general, with his A.D.C., Mrs. Forkheimer, and a young +Austrian lady, taken on the rocks at Principo, we saw the first +of our general for years. He looked extraordinarily fit and +well. Some weeks later I passed him in Galata with an officer, +and he looked exceptionally fit then. We envied him his +opportunities, even if he were closely watched. Of one thing +I was certain, that he either did not or could not know of the +appalling sufferings and mortality of his division. + +About this time I received a kind letter from Lord Islington +in reply to the letter I had sent in the water-bottle. It contained, +to my joy, the signal I had asked him to put if the +letter was ever received and dealt with, and contained also +some personal inquiries about my health. This letter landed +me in for another inquiry, which I survived all right. In fact, +I pointed out that it was known in London I had been neglected, +and so I was allowed to visit Dr. König again and extend my +visit to the baths. The German doctor was now quite angry +with the Turks. I got my bi-weekly bath at Pera, and built +up a regular visit to certain places. De Nari and I were now +well acquainted. He was a very able and strenuous worker, +and although keen on Turkish affairs, and fond of Turks even +to the point of being hand in glove with the Union and Progress +party, he was a keen and loyal Italian from all I saw of him. + +Politics progressed rapidly. The second German offensive +was well under way. So successful was it that, according to +de Nari, my chance of going home on a special embassy grew +less. The Turk in victory does not do himself bare justice. +He revives instincts from his uplands in Central Asia. The +Germans would be in Paris in two weeks, and Turkey would +have back Egypt! etc., etc. + +This man, de Nari, was a type to admire. An adventurer, +brave, fearless, able, far-seeing, yet with much of the gambler +in his nature, he belonged to the strain of Italy's brightest +history. I remember one day having left the posta downstairs, +and I came up by another door. De Nari's tall figure entered +the room where a piano and 'cello lay amongst his papers and +plots. He pulled his small black beard, and said with an +anxious sigh, "Eh, bien! Un jour plus!" + +I noticed a revolver in his hip pocket. This man had just +been to a meeting with the chief spirits of the Union and +Progress Committee, and had had to talk around the big +heavy Telaat. + +Apart from our political moves I tried to the very best of +my powers to persuade him to get d'Arici out of prison. But +d'Arici's machiavellian spirit had so many ramifications that +I think he was commonly feared by all parties. I knew him, +however, as a brave and reliable man once one understood his +code. He was still within measurable distance of death, yet +he dared to give me written information to carry outside. +This would have completed the noose, and I was fully conscious +of it when I carried the packet around. In fact, the day I +took it I had resolved that at any cost I wouldn't allow the +posta to get it. + +[Illustration: GENERAL TOWNSHEND ON HIS ISLAND (PRINCIPO) +WITH VISITORS] + +Great days. De Nari brought me messages from this Turk +and that. I told nothing, but waited. I felt that with a very +little the Turks could be persuaded to give in, and said I was +ready to take their suggestions and to promise to return to +captivity if nothing happened. But against all that the set +Government party wanted, or that the Union and Progress +wanted, was the solid rebellious faction without a head, some +against the Germans, some against the cost of living, some for +the old regime, some for Bouharneddin, and some for the new +party. Turkey in faith and tradition is too disciplined to be +Bolshevik. Otherwise her rebellious factions would have +united and hurled out the war cabinet in twenty-four hours. +It was on one of these factions I had stumbled through the +old Arab in the prison. Their scheme had now grown to +blowing up Bilijik Viaduct, thus stopping the German offensive +against Baghdad, a wholesale slaughter in Stamboul (d'Arici +and I resolved how in this case we would floor postas and escape +in their kit), and the opening of the Dardanelles. The police +were seething with disaffection. The garrison at the Dardanelles +had quarrelled with the Germans there, and a hundred +or so of the latter had become casualties. This was confirmed +from several sources. We began to hope for a sortie of the +Dardanelles Turkish Garrison. But the success of the German +offensive nullified this. Then came more quarrelling about the +Black Sea Russian Fleet. The Turks insisted on taking it +from the Germans. The latter had long since altered their +cry from Berlin to Baghdad into Baku-Bokhara, and here +got at loggerheads with the Turkish advertised programme. +Turkish finance was in a deplorable state. Everything pointed +to peace. But the German management that had kept Turkey +in so long was efficient beyond words. A little opening, a +little altering of the disposition of troops, and Turkey was +out. Such was the state of Stamboul in May, 1918. I went +to tea on more than one occasion at my friend Forkheimer's +home. We talked Cambridge and the phenomenon of war as +if we had been back among the cloistral stillnesses beside the +Cam. He told me frankly what state Austria was in. + +In the middle of all this political welter I was suddenly +summoned to the court-martial. Arrived there one morning +with my guard, I was shown into a passage, and the first +person's head I saw among those peering around the corner +was Castell's. He was heavily guarded. The place swarmed +with sentries and spies. By making several requests in +English and French I soon found no one there understood +these languages. A little kitten had been playing in the room. +I enticed it to come and talked to it and played with it with a +piece of string. The Turks all became most interested, and +thus talking to the little kitten I informed Castell exactly as +to the stage of the case, and what was not known. I told +him that it was my opinion nothing was known of the actual +attempt, and that he must give guarded answers and evade +every question that might divulge this. Our procedure was +to avoid implicating the restaurant, who had had little or +nothing directly to do with us. This I had purposely arranged +beforehand. Also I wanted our stories to agree in evasion, +as it was useless for me to evade one question, if he +did not. + +He had, it appeared, been transported to Angora, and had +been kept under the closest confinement there, until one day, +when he was informed he was to go to the war prison at +Stamboul for court-martial for assisting British officers to +escape. He was thus dreadfully in the dark, and had an idea +the whole scheme was out. The other officer had kept inside +the margin of my statement, and I intended Castell to do +the same. + +While keeping strictly to the truth in any statement, I +intended to block and confuse their prosecution as much as +possible. I now ordered Castell to abandon a scheme for +hiding his identity which he had made months before. He +was from Smyrna, and very little proof of his identity seemed +forthcoming. He had intended taking the name of a British +officer who had died on the trek. This was to save his neck, +if imperilled, as he had some doubts whether, in spite of his +British nationality, the Turks would not hang him without +further ado as a Turkish subject. Much of Turkish justice +depended on the state of the German offensive, which now +seemed to have partly fizzled out. The Turks appeared to +know it was the last bolt. + +I was taken into a room with even more officials present +than before. The court arose and bowed, and I saluted them. +They gave me cigarettes, and inquired of my bath. I thanked +them, and pointed out that this happened to be a bath day. +An old judge smiled amusedly, as if I had already been ordered +to be shot and tendered a petition for reprieve on account of +its being my bath day. + +They took particulars, and, showing me the letter, asked +many questions at once. I informed the court, through Ali +Bey, that I would do my best not to waste these gentlemen's +time if they first allowed me to ask a question or two. After +some discussion they agreed. Pointing to the letter, I asked +if this, and this alone, was the only matter in issue, and if all +questions and answers were to be concerned with it, or did they +want to go into Gelal Bey's inquiry, and many other letters I +had written? They looked puzzled, and would not commit +themselves. However, after an hour of futile questioning +about something or other in the letter, I gave them all kinds +of contradictory statements and meetings with other persons, +and about a dozen plans of escape, as if I were keen on making +a clean breast of all my delinquencies. This they took down +letter by letter, and, of course, actually found out on cross-examining +me that these things related to other letters and +other individuals, and led us into most interesting sidelights +about our earlier letters to Bach Pacha, and Heaven knows +what, but did not advance the case in hand. At last, mopping +their brows--it was a hot day, and we had been at it over two +hours--they said very severely that the trial was only concerned +with the attempt to escape, and with the particular +letter. This eased my conscience, as it cut out the actual +attempt, and confined matters to the Black Sea affair. Except +when they grew tired (I sympathized with them), they were +quite pleasant, and my eyes pouring with water, an old colonel +examined them, and went into an account of how his eyes +had been similar once in the Caucasus. This I made lead to a +digression on the war in the Caucasus and German propaganda +there. (Germans were in hospital at Haida Pacha, with bad +eyes, had they come from there?) We got on to the French +Front, and the whole court crowded around to hear my opinion +of the situation there.... I quoted the generals from Brusa, +that they predicted an early dislocation of the German push. +We got on to politics, and, later in the afternoon, after a most +enjoyable day, marred only by the proximity of certain +questions to embarrassing ones, I had managed to explain that +the letter had been sent to Castell, c/o. the Embassy, as I +didn't know his address. I had first seen him in church holding +the plate. I didn't say where I had last seen him, which had +been in the boat. Also I managed to save Doust, who had +been a starter in the original scheme, although his name wasn't +mentioned, by not answering, saying it was not decided as to +who would go, but we had left a place for a spare passenger. +As a matter of fact, one officer had changed his mind at the +last moment. The Turks got to this point before at Psamatia, +but instead of sending for officers concerned, they sent for +Lieutenant Galloway, an officer who had given his parole, and +was sunning himself pleasantly at the parole camp at Gedos. +But as it was merely his travelling a few miles against a +chance of Doust's neck, we three in the know were inwardly +conscience easy. + +The Turks congratulated me on my statement and one +called me a _shaitan_ (devil) to his colleague. I was to return +to Brusa shortly, provided I answered the most important +question. What matter? said I. Having answered so many, +what was one extra for so great a boon? In fact, if they +offered to return me to England I wouldn't mind repeating +the whole performance. They clapped me on the shoulder, +and then, amid a deathly silence, asked me to explain how it +was the rope was actually seen down the wall. (They had +evidently mixed up the occasion.) I said if they would produce +the person who saw it I would endeavour to extract the reason +from him, the wisdom of putting down a rope to escape when +the plan had not only not been delivered, but, on the +contrary, discovered. + +This answer delighted the old judge, who said I was +_birinji_ (first-class), and wouldn't have me hectored further. +I have forgotten to record that early in the trial they had +admitted that Fauad, the interpreter, had played a most +villainous game, that the letter had never been to the censor, +that he had stamped it, taken it to a post-office to have a post-mark +put on it, and then, tearing it open, had reappeared with +it days later, saying it had cost him so many hundreds of +pounds, etc. I now congratulated myself on having been so +circumspective about the case, and that my opinions and +theory had been so extraordinarily correct. + +A door opened, and then, after some shuffling, question +two was put to some one: "Do you know who this is?" A +screen was suddenly moved, and there I saw Castell, looking +white and scared. They had got very little out of me as to +our meetings, etc., and I had said that he was the man who +took the plate round in church, and had been unknown to me +before, and that I had been informed that he was anxious +to escape. + +He looked helpless at being asked who I was, but the screen +was hardly removed, when _I_ said aloud for Castell to hear, +"Why, that's the man at the church; I didn't know him before +then." The court jumped up, and guards came over to seize me; +I hadn't been meant to speak, as they had intended asking +Castell who I was, etc. But the opportunity was too good to +be missed. Castell was much relieved at this satisfactory +announcement, showing how little the court-martial had +progressed with the escape proceedings. The old judge roared +with delight, and altogether we were quite entertained. + +The proceedings had not stated what offence had been +committed, although it seemed to embrace:-- + +(1) My intention to escape with news, general spying, and +"undermining the fidelity of Turkish guards" (?). + +(2) Castell's guilt in helping me to escape. He was +technically a civil prisoner himself. + +(3) Fauad's guilt as a Turkish posta. He was wearing +uniform. + +It began by my informing them these were not offences +for which an officer, who had refused his parole, could be +punished. It ended by my giving a general tirade on international +law as regards prisoners of war, and showing that +there were certain acts from which a prisoner of war could be +restrained from committing, but for which he could not legally +be punished. For instance, I might be much more useful to +my country as a prisoner propagandist, and that with a +sufficient audience of postas I might start a revolution. They +were amused at this, and asked me what, from my point of +view, would be a remedy for this? I suggested exchanging +me! + +I had been asked by Gelal Bey to pay for the replacement +of two of Fauad's teeth that I had knocked out. I agreed +willingly, and now suggested that I would like him to carry +this souvenir of his treachery. The court, however, said they +would not require this, provided I did not regard him as a +Turkish soldier, although he was in uniform. + +They shook hands with me. I had much cause to be +thankful that the inquiry had been so unsuccessful in finding +out more. + +I now returned to prison pending trial of the others. Castell +was moved near me. This meant he was acquitted. A day +or two afterwards the state of our rooms was so unsanitary +that we feared an outbreak of fever. Castell left for hospital +with typhus, and another man died. The smell from the +drains and lavatories was overpowering. We were between +this and the stench from the prisoners in the cellars beneath +our window. + +Colonel Newcombe now went sick. His skin broke out +into a fiery rash, which increased, and he felt unwell. I tried +daily for three or four days to get some one to see him, but the +commandant took no notice. At last one doctor came and +said it was merely bug-bites. By dint of perseverance we got +another Turkish doctor who ordered him to hospital, it being +actually smallpox. The colonel went off very depressed at +our dividing, as we had all sorts of plans on foot for an escape +from Brusa. He hoped, however, to get to the hospital where +his lady friends might be permitted to visit him. + +D'Arici and I now got down to work. I collected a complete +compendium of news about the state of Turkey, statistics of +the army, shipping, transport, exchange, loans, and especially +inside politics. Dissensions between party and party were +increasing daily, and now that the offensive, wonderful as it +had been, was held up, the Turks on all sides were for peace. +Yet the official hold continued. + +By intelligence of this nature, carefully corroborated and +up to date, I hoped to be able to render some service to our +authorities when, as I fully believed, we should come to enter +Stamboul. As yet no Turk can believe this will happen. + +The others were sent to Afion. I continued on for a week +or two. D'Arici and I had made great progress with our +Intelligence. I loved to listen to his adventures and travels +and his light-hearted view of life, including as it had for him +great danger, varying discomfort, and uncertain rewards. +Yet whether on a duel or trying to raise the wind, the artist +was not far beneath, and he often treated us to selections +from grand opera. His voice was an excellent baritone of +great purity and power. + +With the other officers removed, I was now more free, and +got into touch with two well-known English Levantines, +Hadkinson, father and son, who were in the next room to ours. +The former was a fine type of manhood, white-haired, and +approaching seventy-five. They had been confined for over +eighteen months as suspects in spying at Smyrna for our +fleet. Young Hadkinson, the son, was much _au fait_, and helped +me gather many facts about the course of Turkish politics +during the war, and the many factions working secretly for +the overthrow of Enver. We hatched all kinds of plots, and +finally adopted a scheme fitting in with the old Arab's, by +which a certain Turk was to be sent to Brusa to act as our +messenger to and from Stamboul (it was only six hours' +journey). Thus we could perfect our scheme. There are +parts of these schemes and plots which it may be early to +publish, but one startling proposition was for a certain powerful +faction to open the Dardanelles to our fleet by a revolution +among the Fort garrisons. It was amusing to think of me, a +prisoner, carrying answers from and to Turkish generals at +the head of many thousands of Turks in all the services, for +a conspiracy to open the Dardanelles. Nor was this so unfeasible +as it appeared. The army of the Dardanelles was +anti-Enver. It was the Union and Progress Party alone that +prevented every move. The movement wanted money, and +was going to commence with a general massacre of the +Turkish Cabinet. At this stage I left for Brusa again, the +capital where many prominent Turks even then were in +hiding! + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +BRUSA AGAIN--CHANGE ON WESTERN FRONT--STAMBOUL +BEFORE THE END--POLITICAL MANOEUVRING--THE PRINCE +SUBAHEDDINE--THE UNION AND PROGRESS PARTY + + +Arrived I found my room next General Delamain +had been pounced upon, and I took up my quarters +with the other officers at a building known as the +American School, in a garden high up above the town. Here +some of the senior officers from other camps had arrived. +They included Colonel Lethbridge, Colonel Lodge, Colonel +Broke-Smith, who for a time had commanded the 10th Field +Artillery Brigade in Kut. He was just the same cheery good +fellow as when I had first seen him under fire, wearing a tam-o'-shanter +in his bivouac at Azizie, seated alongside his slowly +dwindling "peg." He grew more interesting as he got into +the night, and the more interesting he grew the nearer his +nose sank towards his glass resting always on the table. +About 4 a.m., towards the end of his anecdotes, his nose +generally peeped over the rim. + +I was severely watched, and not allowed much freedom. +We had less restrictions in some ways, and some officers were +actually allowed to fish. Most of us took to making rods and +lines and flies. General Smith, easily the best fisherman +there, made most beautiful flies, some of which he gave me. + +Major Hibbert and I shared a primitive rod I had brought +back from Stamboul. I was allowed to go fishing once by +mistake. Postas _shikared_ me so severely that I had little fishing, +but my brother officers were most sporting and kind in not +minding a little inconvenience. They, too, however, went not +to fish so much as to get a walk three miles outside the limits +tramped over for so long. + +We went to see the football twice a week, and on these +occasions General Delamain and I sometimes exchanged +political notes on Europe. The third offensive had begun, +but changed immediately into a counter-offensive. I shared +a room with a Major Julius, a staff officer of considerable +reputation in India. It is significant that from some meagre +news of cavalry and artillery movement on the French front, +he calmly and deliberately prophesied that the great day had +come, and an offensive would follow. It did. In a few days +we had got Peronne, and went on and on. + +Colonel Newcombe arrived two weeks after me, and now +came to my house. We worked letters to Stamboul, and I +kept privately in touch with de Nari. This was expensive, as +we paid a person's passage weekly, there and back, with a +reward. The colonel now proceeded to lose his heart to the +young lady who had nursed him in hospital. + +Communication to Stamboul from Brusa remained difficult, +owing to the risk. Forkheimer had kindly written a note to +the Consul at Brusa, and through this channel I managed, once +or twice, to get communication through to de Nari about +money and news, although I did not send any intelligence +matter through this channel, as being unfair to the other side; +and in fact I promised to that effect. The Consul's daughters +were most sporting and kind. We met them, on occasion, in +the bazaar, and Greenwood, who had now turned up at Brusa, +and who had made much progress as a disciple, frequently +did sleight of hand tricks over a basket of apples in some one's +stall with one of them, thus getting a note through about +Embassy money or something. I managed to get letters +through to Forkheimer to recover for me a medical certificate +which Dr. König had formerly written me, but which had gone +astray, except one piece perfectly undecipherable. + +A Committee of Prisoners' Exchange now arrived, and +we all fortified ourselves with statements of our cases. I +knew they would prevent my going for political reasons, +unless and until de Nari's schemes were ready. + +More and more I saw only too clearly how all other schemes +and policies came back to the U. & P.'s programme. That +notorious party, bad as it was, remained the one strong faction +with anything like a programme or that knew what it wanted. +It retained the reins of government merely because everything +outside it was vacillating, indefinite, inarticulate; because the +policy of parties that revolved around it was either tyrannized +by intrigue or hampered by personal jealousies. And so these +parties made no progress towards translating their general +ideals into realities, but vaporized over their respective +watchwords. For instance, the Itihad or Union faction was +for bridging the artificial distinction of Young and Old Turk. +They wanted a Turkey for all Turks. Another faction, rather +a lesser circle enclosed by the last, was the Peace and Salvation +Society which was for immediate cessation of hostilities, +abandoning the scimitar for the wheels of industry and general +social development. These dreamed of the Prince Subaheddine +and wanted his recall. The Prince had had to leave Turkey +at the peril of his life, and after doing useful work for +us in Greece went to Switzerland. He seems an idealist of +good intentions, and with a love of his country, but, unless +under the shelter of our guns, to lack both the vigour, nerve +and determination necessary to cope with such as Enver a soldier +of fortune, Telaat a promoted telegraph clerk, Djemal a throwback +to the primitive Tartar, all enjoying a snatched executive +authority at the point of a revolver. There had been with me +in the prison in Stamboul a Turkish major brought up for +appropriating goods. From him I learned something of the +appalling nature of the corruption in Turkey. Take Giahid +Bey, for example, who was appointed to stop profiteering. He +merely steered profits into his own pocket and that of Enver +& Co. I heard from a first-hand source that on the second +sack of Erzerum, property worth three million liras was +divided between the triumvirate and remains invested in +various countries against an international finance débacle +later on. + +Take Jemal, the Governor of Stamboul (Commandant de la +Place), formerly Enver's A.D.C., a man in whose hands rested +the lives of practically all the political prisoners of Turkey. +Not one spark of justice remains to such. Not only had he +to fulfil the mandates of the triumvirate, but, outside that, he +utilized every opportunity for his own advancement. That +is possible in Stamboul probably more than anywhere in +Europe, not even excepting Russia. To seek advancement at +the expense of the public weal and justice, it is only necessary +to enter the arena of intrigue boldly, and, armed with the +possession of as many facts as possible of other intrigues, by +a general compromise of blackmail, to retain this advancement. +Added to which there is the difficulty of foreign policy, left as +a most tangled legacy of personal intrigue by Abdul Hamid. +The problem of Russia, Turkey's external fear both for Constantinople +and her eastern flank, of the Balkans with their +vulture propensities awaiting the fall of Turkey, and the +necessity of Turkey having at least one friend in Europe, +are a sufficient handful without the increased embarrassment +she gets from internal questions like that of the Armenians +and the Arabs. And over all these problems, without and +within, mined like high explosives around every important +structure of the State, there is usually flung the shadow of +some daring ambassador presiding by intrigue and threat of +application of the match. Wangenheim was such a one. + +One heard it said on every hand that our ambassadorial +representation before the war was so weak that it flung Turkey +into the arms of Germany. There must be some truth in this +from the universality of its utterance, and yet imagine to what +state a country, as seething with intrigue and corruption as is +Turkey, must be reduced by being bombarded with the courtship +of the leading Powers? + +The third German offensive now became our offensive, and +once more the tide of battle ended in our favour. Once more +on the French front we redug our trenches among the earlier +dead. We seemed still far from getting back to England. +The exchange that should have happened two years before +has been held up partly by the instigation of Germany, and +partly by the weakness of our own delegates on the Prisoner +of War Committee in Switzerland, two or three years before. +Eighteen months after Turkish prisoners in Egypt had got +their treatment agreed upon, we were left _in statu quo_, and +when we saw for the first time the regulations to which both +England and Turkey were bound, there were outbursts of +indignation on every hand. If our representatives on the +Prisoner of War Committee had included some efficient +soldier, who had known, by practical dealings, the methods and +delays and subterfuges of the Turks, we would have had some +safeguards, and it would not have been possible to keep +British officers in underground typhus cells for nine months, +awaiting trial for an offence of escaping, the penalty of which +was only two weeks, and the inspection of camps would +not have been a farce. For instance, a list was allowed to be +presented by the Turks saying all camps had no complaints, +when we had not even been visited up to date (July, 1918). + +At times I have imagined that the lot of imprisonment, +such as ours, must have a purifying influence and help one to +see beneath the surface of the passing show into the deeper, +eternal currents that flow along translucently below. + +Sometimes, if rarely, I had managed to entice my posta +above Brusa town and from a hill beheld the rising beauty of +Olympus. Going to my bath on one occasion in the hot +month of August, I was too tired and seedy to get there in +time, and so, sitting down by the roadside where the more +fortunate were allowed to walk daily, I wrote these lines-- + + SONNET + + CAPTIVITY + + One day I sought a tree beside the road + Sad, dusty road, well known of captive feet-- + My mind obedient but my heart with heat + Rebelled pulsating 'gainst the captor's goad. + So my tired eyes closed on the 'foreign field' + That reached around me to the starlight's verge, + One brief respite from weary years to urge + Me to forget--and see some good concealed. + But skyward then scarred deep with ages long + I saw Olympus and his shoulders strong + Rise o'er the patterned destinies of all the years + Marked with God's finger by the will of Heaven-- + Tracks men shall tread, with only Time for leaven-- + That we might see with eyes keen after tears. + + _Brusa, July 16th, 1918._ + +But these moments were few, and the pressure of existence +and shikar for food and money, and general bandobast of +plots and plans and pots and pans engrossed much attention. +The Austrian Consul's house I visited for a few seconds through +the posta confusing it with the council offices. I usually +arranged not to go to the house, but after I had built up a +system Colonel Newcombe over used it. His young lady +friend, who had nursed him in Stamboul, came on a visit to +Brusa, and rendezvoused him once too often here. They +confused him with me and I got punishment for both. This +left Colonel Newcombe free still to carry on our plans, although +he was very averse to letting me pay his penalty. Any other +proceeding was, of course, futile for both of us. + +We had several plans, all of which failed. Then we +decided to get back to Stamboul once again. So changed was +the political outlook for Turkey that escape from there was now +much easier, and to live in hiding was possible. He arranged +to get there by the help of this young lady. + +The exchange selections of officers were made and remade, +and finally all kinds of people were put down including one +colonel who was hard of hearing, which he described as +gun deafness. He managed to be deaf while his examination +was on, but forgot not to hear when they said +he was to go. We all did this more or less. However, I +realized the board was all a hoax and insisted on going back +to Stamboul for treatment to my spine, as there was no +specialist in Brusa. By dint of great persistence I managed +this. An interpreter, Zia Effendi, from the American College, +Smyrna, I found deeply versed in politics, and although he +was not reliable, was undoubtedly in touch with some movements +and was useful to a degree. + +It was now August, 1918. The faster the Germans went +back, the more the German alliance was criticized and the +Government openly attacked. A financial panic occurred in +Stamboul. Jealousies raged over the Doubrouja, half of +which Germany gave to Bulgaria leaving the rest in abeyance. +And Turkey wanted the Maritza even if Bulgaria had the half +of the Doubrouja. Germany used this fact as a bribe. Then +trouble commenced over Batum. Germany, in seizing Odessa, +indicated her independence of Turkey on her way to the East. +Popular feeling, that had only wanted a leading motive, now +became articulate over this. Feeling ran high. Telaat went +to Berlin, collecting souvenirs and welcomes from Bulgaria +and Austria _en route_. There, as had been expected, Turkish +claims were admitted after a theatrical tussle put up by Germany, +on the condition that Turkey remained in the war. + +In the meantime Bulgaria began to plot to be the first +rat from the sinking ship. The first rat has the best chance. + +Meanwhile Newcombe's plan to escape to Stamboul was +difficult owing to the extra posta in the garden. This was due +to the Consular affair. He disguised himself as an Arab, and, +except that he walked as if in Regent Street, did not make a +bad one. The plans he left largely to me. On my suggestion +he kept to his bed for some days beforehand on pretence of +being ill. Then, on the night, I rushed down to one posta and +sent him off with a letter to the commandant. The other was +suspicious, but after some scene I managed to cajole this +fellow, Abdul Khadir by name, whom we all detested, and +made my peace with him. Sincere acting was necessary as +we heard the cracks of a tile, and I knew Newcombe would be +caught if Abdul went another yard. I shook him by both +hands and prevented him from going, telling him that now I +had forgiven him. This was true. The man was a sneak in +many ways and I took delight in thinking how I was enabling +Newcombe to get away even as we spoke, and that it was this +posta of all who should be on guard. Then Greenwood and I +decoyed with several drinks of mastik, the curious people, +including a colonel, who wanted to see Newcombe. I lay in +Colonel Newcombe's bed at night. The next day I told the +old Turkish officer in charge of the place that Newcombe did +not want to see any one, which was probably true. (He was +by this time well on his way to Stamboul.) I then got into +his bed knowing the Turk, being suspicious, would come. +Greenwood made me look like Newcombe's figure. Meals, +half-eaten, lay by the bedside. I had eaten them so as not +to let even the orderlies know. I heard the door open and the +Turk peep in. A few groans sent him out again. + +The next night we had much to do with keeping abreast +of the general curiosity. But it was essential to give him a +good start. Then, the following morning, I took in to Colonel +Lethbridge, our C.O., a letter of explanation that Colonel +Newcombe had left with me for the purpose. + +Of all people it was I who was delegated to tell the Turk. +In as many words I merely said the Colonel had fled. The old +Turk screamed with rage and terror, seized his sword, put on +his fez and jacket, and, forgetting his trousers, rushed outside +screaming to his postas and looking under every bush. + +This continued at intervals all day. We all were locked +up, but this only lasted a day or two. A few days later I got +permission to go to Haida Pasha Hospital in Constantinople, +and heard privately that Newcombe had arrived in Stamboul, +and was in hiding through the assistance of his lady friend. +Meeting General Delamain on the football ground, I said that +I believed this was my _Heimkehr_, or in other words, that in +any case hostilities were near an end. He thought so too. I +listened to him on the military situation in France and Bulgaria +and we discussed the emergence of new political formations +in Europe, the new distribution of the balance of power +necessitated by the hiatus of Russia, of the Balkans, possibly +of Austria. + +We talked of the tendency of small movements to merge +into large, of the awakening of similar thought in all men, of +chaos revolving around chaos that could not become cosmos +before the centre of political gravity were ascertained, and +equilibrium adjusted once more. Looking back on captivity +one felt that the change in one had become spiritual even more +than physical. The pattern of destiny stood out very plainly +for us all. + +We said "Good-bye," and that night my brother officers +gave me an awfully good send off, and Colonel Broke-Smith +produced an extra bottle of mastik. I had a long talk with +our senior officer, Colonel Lethbridge of the Oxfords, whose +quiet, restful attitude was still undisturbed. I left before the +dawn in an arabana, some of my friends coming to the wagon. +I felt certain this was the last occasion of my departing from +Brusa. + +Except for one old Jew and a very pretty daughter on +board the boat, the voyage was without incident. She sat by +me, and after waiting an hour I managed to put a letter into +her pocket when the posta turned away. She was to deliver +it to Colonel Newcombe. Much depended on this. + +We arrived at Galata Bridge, and this time, different from +the last, excited crowds were reading news of the victorious +arms of the Entente. _Le Journal d'Orient_ spoke out plainly +and bitterly against Germany, and was for a separate peace +at once. Everything had changed. + +I was hustled to Haida Pasha Hospital and went through +the same performance as of old, having my clothes taken from +me with all my kit and food I had brought with me, and +spending the first night in a bathroom. The noise was +maddening and I could not sleep. + +The whole hospital talked of one, Jones, an officer of the +Volunteer Battery whose guns I had brought back from the +front line in Kut, at night, on a momentous occasion. I had +heard before that he had pretended he was mad so enthusiastically, +that he had gone mad in fact. He was now here +hating Englishmen hard, and in fact it was dangerous for him +to meet them. Most of the Turks said he was mad. I woke +after a troubled sleep to the startling announcement by a +Turk, from an adjoining bed, that during my sleep Jones had +been standing over me silently for a long time. The repetition +of this got on my nerves. He wouldn't sleep in the same room +with an Englishman, so I moved to a large ward, where I was +quite alone. + +In the middle of the night I saw a ghoulish figure, wearing a +large, black mantle and with stark, staring eyes, stalking me +from bed to bed. With all the uncanny anticipation of one's +every movement that usually happens only in a nightmare +he divined my every move, for I also tried to get to the door. +Then I started to talk German. At this an attendant came +for him. I breathed freely as he left. I thought what a pity +it was after all my experiences to meet my end from a mad +fellow-prisoner. After this he fled on seeing me, although I +kept up the German identity. Then I got a note written to +me from him, a veritable mad document assuring me he +hated the English and that he feared I was going to kill him. +This arrived just after I had met him in daylight. He wore a +black overall, a yard of which he had picked into threads, +which his busy fingers did incessantly. His hair was long, he +wore a beard, and his white, sunken cheeks gave him a ghastly +appearance. + +I had wished him a polite "Good evening" in Turkish, and +then the note had arrived. I replied to it in German, and he +replied again that he didn't know German, and if I didn't +promise not to kill him he would kill himself. We met alone, +and, in an extraordinary way, with some postas looking on, I +discovered Jones to be quite sane. + +It is a wonderful story. I refer only casually to it here. +From this moment we acted consistently when together, he +pretending he hated all of us except me, and at periods even +me, if postas were difficult. He had had a most lonely time +for months. The strain had been awful. He had heard of +my adventures and regretted, he said, that we had not been +together in a camp to try some escape. He told me of his +long story, commencing with spiritualistic séances at Yozgad, +which the commandant attended, and how he had almost +persuaded the commandant to take him to the Black Sea in +search of treasure, the whereabouts the spook had revealed to +Jones. The fate of the Turk before the treasure was found +seemed to have promised to be a watery grave or bondage. +That fizzled out, and then he and another subaltern named +Hill, also pretending he was mad, acted with such persistence +that they were finally sent for medical treatment to Stamboul. +On the way they were spied on and Jones, besides pulling out +all his teeth, had, with Hill, pretended to hang himself, kicking +off from a table as they heard the guard entering. This, he +explained, was necessary to convince the Turk. They had +arrived in Stamboul a few months before. On the preceding +Monday Hill had left on exchange and Jones, who had had +to act he didn't want to go to England as he was a Turk, had +either overdone it or else one or two Turkish doctors believed +him more or less sane. There can be little doubt that more +than one medical officer and possibly the commandant of the +hospital, saw through Jones' pretence, excellent as it was. + +Some Turk suggested to me, with a most confiding smile, that +Jones, in pretending for so long he was mad, was actually +going mad, and by the armistice would be so mad then that +he would have to be exchanged!! The _Chef d'Hôpital_, a +very decent fellow, discussed Jones at great length with me. +Jones, he said, would not return because he feared a court-martial, +as one mule had had a grudge against him for getting +his guns in a mess at Kut, and that as I had rescued him I was +the only Englishman Jones would tolerate. The commandant +was quite baffled about the mule, which, on inquiry, turned +out to be Colonel Maule. On the plea that I was also down +for exchange, in fact had passed both examinations for this +in the hospital, and that I believed I could get Jones along +with me if I said I would defend him and get him off at the +court martial, the commandant asked permission from headquarters +for us to go. Jones continued to make himself so +troublesome through the whole hospital, knocking people into +wells and doing and undoing jobs, that they allowed us +together on the plea that we were to concoct a defence. Jones +had already purposely written about twenty volumes of +rubbish on this. He was a daring actor but not quite finished, +and more than once I thought just overdid it before the +commandant. Once alone over our law books, with a huge +kettle of tea and some food from parcels that now were +arriving, we talked of our plans and of his great loneliness for +months. I knew more than he did of local politics, but he was +very useful and altogether a first-rate companion. + +Mademoiselle X, Colonel Newcombe's friend, now visited +me in hospital with another lady who had been kind on +occasion. She showed me her engagement ring, and told me +how the Colonel had turned up with a basket of fish after +getting across the Marmora in a fishing boat, and had gone +into hiding there. He seems to have had a sporting time of +it and displayed considerable daring. I had posted him pretty +well up to date with news for de Nari, and I now heard he had +more or less supplanted me as to going home, owing to my +disinclination to support any party programme of Turks or +any one else. + +The next day I got out to Pera for my baths. To accomplish +this takes hours of patient waiting for a chance to remind +the commandant, and heavy bribery inside the hospital. I +found that the city was seething with intrigue, that I was +watched, that Enver and Telaat were preparing to flee, that +Rahmi Bey, a clever but notorious Albanian at Smyrna, was +trying to commence _pourparlers_. General Townshend who +had, so the papers said, become Turcophile, and had frequently +acknowledged his good treatment by the Turks, was now +rumoured to be enthusiastic to go out with the terms of peace. +His agent, the lady who had visited me in hospital, had now +got more or less in touch with de Nari, _i.e._ my line of communications. +I was sorry so many things did not seem understood +by well-meaning senior officers in captivity. After some +hours with my friend de Nari, the posta being outside, and +reading between the lines, it appeared that certain parties were +stalking Enver and Telaat, who now resigned. That these +parties were stalked by General Townshend, and he, in turn, was +stalked by de Nari representing the U. and P. and Italy. +Some one was required to stalk him. + +The U. and P. were most immensely unpopular. Marshal +Izzet Pasha, a soldier of standing, became Grand Vizier after +Tewfiq Pasha, the friend of England and ambassador in +London before the war, had refused. But while the U. and P. +was supposed to be definitely ousted from the war cabinet +that has brought and kept Turkey in the war, I found that +their elaborate spy system had definitely obscured the political +identity of certain politicians until then. These, wearing no +outward badge but secretly U. and P., now had a preponderance +in the cabinet, although not a heavy one. The _Journal +d'Orient_ (run by Carossa, the millionaire) and the _Ak Sham_ +spoke out strongly for peace. + +We were now on the Somme and the Bulgarians were +being hammered back. The dying cries of the _Osmanisher +Lloyd_, a blatant Prussian paper that had crowed over Stamboul +all the war, were very humorous. + +I went into town day after day. Regulations were relaxed, +and although I had a posta, I was more free. The universal +ruin that threatened seemed to invite every one to make a +little backsheesh first. Day after day I saw Forkheimer, who +was as kind and sporting as ever. He seemed to have no idea +of the extent of the calamity that must threaten his country +and Germany if, as it seemed, this was the end. He was +disgusted at the state of Turkish policy and put me _au courant_ +with much news that helped me and could not damage them. +They had seen a lot. + +It is now October 20th. Exchange is panicking, politics +in a frightful tangle. The exchange of prisoners is hung up. +Marshal d'Esperey, with British and French forces, is still +thrashing the Bulgarians, who are reported likely to make +peace at any moment. Other political parties here want to +forestall them. Zia Bey, the interpreter from Brusa, has +helped me to get in touch with the Prince Subaheddine's party, +whose chief virtue is that it is opposing political profiteers. + +_October 21st._--I have seen Newcombe with his _fiancée_, and +de Nari in the Petit Champs in Pera. The colonel came out +of hiding and walks about free. I have seen a note in the +_Journal d'Orient_ describing him as a Turcophile (at which he +would be most annoyed) and saying that he had escaped to +Stamboul from Brusa, and would follow General Townshend +on a political mission. I now saw de Nari every day and +realized one thing very surely, viz. that he stood to represent +the interests of the U. and P. and particularly Italy. I saw +most of his private communications from Shefkut Pasha and +Midhat Chukri Bey (the able secretary of the U. and P.). He +was more than ever concerned lest the _pourparlers_ should get +out of his hand. He engaged the ear of the U. and P. in the +cabinet, yet as an Entente subject resident in Turkey during +the war, his path was more or less difficult. It seemed +to me he was sending Colonel Newcombe with his, de Nari's, +wishes, put as representing the Turkish Cabinet. He was +largely interested in Adalia, the Italian settlement, and wanted +at all costs to get that for Italy. We crossed swords in a +friendly way over methods, and he realized I wouldn't carry +his representation, which seemed to me unofficial and unauthorized. +Nevertheless, Colonel Newcombe has an excellent +understanding of the position here, and he does know what +few British officers know, what is in the mind of the Turks. + +Turkey is outflanked. The Chatalja lines that held up the +Bulgarian forces are useless against the concentration of +modern artillery fire, and most Turks realize this. I knew +from d'Arici who was there on the occasion of that battle, how +easily the Bulgarians could have entered behind a heavy +moving barrage. + +_October 23rd._--Townshend left a few days ago for Smyrna. +De Nari assured me the public wanted to know what chance +his terms had, and questioned me about the possibility of my +taking other terms through after Newcombe had left on his +errand. I pointed out for his sense of humour that in this way +the whole remnant of the prisoners might ultimately get out +of Turkey. He was a delightful man, and, with all his arduous +schemings, had a large margin for laughter. I informed him +that I had no desire to take through his suggestions without +adding my own notes. I had now got in touch with the +Prince Subaheddine's Party. They were sending a delegate +to the fleet to try and get permission to send him to Switzerland +for the Prince. I assured them that all their influential +following would avail them nothing, but that on one condition +I would get his embassy put before the fleet, and possibly +take their delegate to London. Also that I was the only one +who could do it. The delegate was to meet me in Smyrna in +case I left first for there, which I expected to do any day with +Jones. + +My condition was that complete intelligence on all matters +financial, economical, political, naval and military be collected +on the heads I gave them. The English governess of the Prince's +daughter, Fatteh, unfortunately, I did not meet through +posta difficulties. De Nari knew I was in touch, and +hurried Colonel Newcombe off. I tried to put the latter +_au courant_, but he was too much elated at his embassy to +think of what it contained, and, after all, as he said, de Nari's +party was a very real one, and a factor to be reckoned with. + +_October 26th._--I have omitted to note an excellent air-raid +over Stamboul, the second of two attacks in the same week. +About 2 p.m. from the hospital I heard the sound of explosions +in Stamboul. People were running on all sides to get a good +view of the attack, and the Turkish officers of the hospital, +many of whom had not seen a shot fired during the war, +rushed down below to their basement floors. They came on, +a flight of seven very fast machines, and were met by a steady +barrage, which began at San Stephano, and continued across +Stamboul. + +Their bombing could be located by the white bursts. To +my delight they seemed quite close to the Ministry of War. +As they swept towards Pera, they bombed Galata Bridge, +and the German Embassy. The sky was thick with artillery +bursts, but the machines were very fast. As they circled +around, keeping a beautiful line, and came towards Haida +Pasha, heavy German guns opened on them vigorously. This +hospital, the largest in Turkey, has a big white crescent +painted on the roof, but as German artillery was close by, a +mitrailleuse alongside in the Crimean Veterans' garden, and +the Haida Pasha Station yard about two hundred yards off +our boundary, we saw quite an amount of bombing. The +hospital was spared, but a bomb got the barracks close by. +The Turks in the hospital pointed with pride to a Turkish +aeroplane which got up to attack our planes. It was a +glorious opportunity for a spectacular event such as the Turks +love. + +Above the silver sea there appeared seven shivering planes, +flying in formation like sand-grouse across a blue sky dotted +by the white puffs of artillery fire. As the Turk arose the +fire ceased. Two of our fellows detached themselves to beat +him off. He came down wounded a few moments later. + +A good deal of propaganda has been dropped, showing +the precise position of the Entente and Allied Armies. From +all reports the bombing was not good. They got very few +soldiers. One colonel was killed. But as Stamboul is +heavily armed and protected, according to the development +in practice of modern war it seems justifiable. + +The moral effect was the most wonderful imaginable. The +_Chef d'Hôpital_ asked our advice. For the first time in its +history the sacred city of Stamboul, sheltering with all its +intrigue behind the locked gates of the Bosphorus and Dardanelles, +is no longer inviolate, but assailable from the skies. +It is ten thousand pities we did not resort to this a year before. +When one realizes how slender was the official hold that kept +Turkey in the war over many crises, how indifferent provincial +Turkey was about entering, and how averse to continuing +for the sake of Germany, one can realize how air propaganda +and attacks would have brought before them the meaning of +this war. + +I pointed out that they had to thank the Germans for the +bombing, firstly, in that she had commenced to break the +rules of war, and secondly, that she was their ally. To bomb +Germany it was necessary to risk hitting the Turks. The +Germans--not the Turks--had used this warfare from the +first. This I circulated to the Press, and it reached a good +many channels, besides some prominent members of Parliament. +The passions of the Turks came uppermost. The +next morning I was in Pera. Many Germans had been +assaulted, and more than one Turkish woman had flourished +her knife at German officers. + +I saw instances of sharp expression of feeling myself. The +planes came again, dropping propaganda this time, and not +bombing. The propaganda notified that German armies +are surrendering wholesale, and we have more than reached +the original point whence the great German offensive started, +and are still thrusting them back; that Bulgarian armies are +broken, and communication between Germany and Turkey +cut; and that, unless all Germans have orders to move out +of Stamboul at once, bombing will continue. I had ascertained +the extreme importance and likelihood of advantage +in this propaganda, and had asked a captured R.A.F. officer +with me in prison months before to get it through at once. +He had a code, and the first letters of new prisoners were now +expedited. He sent it. This time public rage and dissatisfaction +was more intensified than ever, and the Press was +outspoken. + +General Townshend's offers of mediator, as advertised by +certain political parties, no one takes seriously who is +acquainted with the political manoeuvring of Turkish parties +for position. They are prepared to use his "good graces," as +they put it, just so far and no more as he can recommend +leniency for them, or rather, give to the fortunate parties, +successful in manoeuvring for the privilege of commencing +_pourparlers_, the chance of having first word. + +Moreover, the Turks refer in the Press to their excellent +treatment of the General as giving them a sort of right to +expect his "good graces." One is tempted to ask, like the +soldier in _L'Aiglon_, what about the rank and file? + +It is the Entente thrust towards Nish, the rumour that +we have flying columns near Lala Burgas, and that, failing +a surrender, a landing will be made at Dedogatch, that is +making up the Turkish mind. It is the collapse of Germany +on the western front, the decision in the main theatre of war, +that has crumpled up Turkey. In other words, there can +be no mediation here any more than there was when Kut +fell. + +_October 31st._--I have been too busy to write my notes. +Jones and I have worked very hard for hours a day with an +inexhaustible patience to try to prove his insanity. It is +now admitted that he is insane and believes he is to go home +to be court-martialled for some offence, and I am to take him +away on the pretext of defending him. It would take many +hundreds of pages to write down the history of these four +weeks. I have the offer of living freely with de Nari, but I +do not care to accept a semi-freedom. Nor do I want to stay +here until the fleet enters, as it must. I want to get down to +Smyrna. By then, if the delegate from the Prince's party +arrives, I can take him to the fleet, or otherwise go alone. +I became acquainted the other day with de Nari's terms and +suggestions carried by Newcombe, who is to have direct +communication with Turkey, but only through de Nari by a +code. I have a letter from de Nari to Newcombe, saying I +am also to use the code and to have access to his channel of +communication, if necessary. After Colonel Newcombe had +gone, de Nari's scheme did not appear to him so rosy, and he +realized how the situation was getting out of his hand. + +The Germans have been pouring into Stamboul from +Anatolia and Syria. I have heard of their stand alone against +Allenby's forces when the Turks were demoralized and the +Arabs attacked them as anti-Islam. + +Conflicts are frequent between the Germans and Turks in +Stamboul. The German troops are ransacking the houses, +and removing everything, from locks, windows and telephones, +to motor-cars and vehicles. They move about in bodies. A +number of German privates besieged by some Turks near here, +put up an excellent defence, fought their way to a ship, captured +her, and steamed out to the Black Sea. + +We were to have left to-day, but final receipts and passports +were overlooked until the last moment, and Jones' was +a difficult case. I wouldn't go without him. He thanked +me again and again, and assured me, "Mousley, but for you +I should be left here possibly weeks after the fleet enters." + +Everything is excitement and disorder. Centuries of captivity +are falling from me every second. I am outwardly +calm, and too busy to psychologize much on the great end of +this awful eternity. This may be because I am busy. But +in odd moments I realize that vision in Mosul, seemingly so +many millions of years ago, was true, and that given enough +patience, the stream of Time must carry us away past even +the most terrible moment. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +I LEAVE STAMBOUL ON A MISSION EN ROUTE FOR THE FLEET--MEET +THE PRINCE'S DELEGATE AT SMYRNA--FREE!--WITH +THE ENTENTE FLEET AT MUDROS BEFORE ENTERING THE +DARDANELLES + + +_Smyrna, November 4th._--Thank God! After colossal +trouble and planning to bring Jones along, we were +allowed to go on the evening of November 3rd, having +been delayed just enough to miss the boat of several days +earlier--I believe purposely. + +Exquisite joy and suspense of that last night! I had +seen Gelal Bey recently in Stamboul, and he spoke kindly to +me. It brought my terrible Psamatia days back, and I fled. +Jones and I arrived at the quay by Galata Bridge in the afternoon +with a guard. I got leave to take farewell of de Nari. +Before the boat left I was overjoyed to see aboard d'Arici, who +had been freed a few days before, and had sought me everywhere. +With all his delightful light-heartedness he expressed +his profound gratitude for the services I had done him. He +gave me advice, very useful, about Rahmi Bey, the prominent +ex-Governor of Smyrna, to whom I had a letter from de Nari, +and who was leaving by the same boat. A sharp and polished +Oriental, he appeared to me, but well equipped with cunning +and Eastern dalliance. Ali Bey, who had been sympathetic +at my court-martial, was there also to say farewell, and bid +me back to Stamboul as soon as possible. We all drank +German beer obtained in the saloon at a lira a bottle. + +I met Hadkinson the son, of prison memories, having heard +much news about his plans from d'Arici. He was also +travelling to Smyrna. I procured for Jones and myself a +tiny double-berth cabin, where he was permitted to cease +playing he was mad, poor fellow! and we had a glorious meal +of tinned meats, and cake and tea. + +We saw the last of Stamboul from the deck after our +affectionate farewells were over, when we had got under way. +As the blanket of Night wrapped Stamboul from our view, we +saw disappear first the outlines of the great mosques, and then +the minarets. It was still too close to watch.... We adjourned +to our cabin with a pipe each and a brandy, luxury of luxuries! +Jones and I sat side by side on the bunk, listening to the +splash of waves outside the porthole. We went on deck. Far +away in our wake a few lights flickered upon the waves. It +was Stamboul: the City of the Eternities, the Beautiful, the +Terrible. + +Jones was a philosopher. We were silent, or swore beneath +our breath. + +I left him to see Rahmi, who had sent me a message. We +had a long conversation in French. For some reason he did +not want to talk English. He believed Turkey would do best +if given great chances. He admitted they were finished. All +depended on England. He would assist me in getting away +if he could. + +Hadkinson and I then made some plans. He was a man of +forty, had lived in Smyrna all his life, would also help me to +get away, and, in fact, contribute himself to the information +I had. He had also got in touch with Satvet Lutfi, the friend +and confidential adviser of the Prince Subaheddine, the patron +of the Peace and Salvation Society, who was to leave Stamboul +in two days' time, and had not already left, as I had heard. + +We planned deep into the night, then Jones and I slept. + +We awoke lying alongside the jetty among the rocky hills +of Panderma. I took Jones on to a train for which we waited +an hour or two. He still acted all he could that he was mad, +and would, until he got on board, so he said. We got into a +crowded carriage, and after a journey lasting all day, reached +Smyrna the next morning without mishap from bandits, +who had been stopping many trains and holding prominent +citizens to ransom. The country was uncultivated, and had +been left to run wild. The people remaining were Turks and +Greeks. At Smyrna the Dutch Consulate assisted and gave +us money. One batch of prisoners had left that morning, +and another would leave in two or three days. + +Jones and I found apartments along the bay where General +Melliss had been. The generals had come straight from Brusa +here, and some already had departed. I had got the local +operator to repair the wireless station that had been closed +down for years. We got into touch with one Commander +Heathcote-Smith, formerly Consul at Smyrna, now at Mytilene, +and through him we got into communication with the fleet +at Mudros. For permission to use this wireless I found de +Nari's letter very useful. Mr. Whitall offered me a launch, +which, however, would have meant getting to Mytilene, and +no further. + +The moments of waiting for the reply to our wireless were +exquisite. At last, in direct touch with the outside world! +Newcombe had been hung up for days here, and had left a +few hours only before we arrived. Our wireless answer said +that a gunboat was to arrive, and I would then be enabled +to get in touch with naval circles direct. That day, Hadkinson +invited us out to his father's suburban villa perched high on +a hill overlooking a wonderful harbour. One or two officers +were here I had known in Kut. They had found their way +to Smyrna unassisted in the general chaos. + +That afternoon the Monitor 29 entered Smyrna. The once +familiar grey of England's Navy--for us a very strange sight +indeed--filled us with feelings indescribable. Her two 6-inch +guns were elevated. She was spick and span. As the blue +uniforms appeared we beheld our first sight as free men. We +went on board for a moment. I learned that the captain had +very strict instructions that no one was to leave Smyrna +without orders. He was there to stand by. He would go to +the vacant British Consulate. + +I returned at a more leisurely moment, hours later, and +in the wardroom had my first respectable whisky. The +officers were inordinately kind to all of us, told us news for the +twentieth time, and gave us of their best. One of them, a +Mr. Underwood, I found knew some friends of mine. He came +to dine with Jones and me in the town. + +That night a telegram reached us from Constantinople that +Satvet Lutfi Bey--the personal friend and secretary of the +Prince Subaheddine before the war, during most of which he +had been in various prisons, and now hoped to rejoin the +Prince and to bring him back as the light of Turkey--would +arrive at dawn. Satvet had collected first-rate matters of +intelligence from the actual sources, and owing to the +duplicity of the police, had got first-hand information of all +descriptions. + +Before the dawn Hadkinson and I went together to see +Lutfi. Our postas we had now shaken off for good. We +refused to recognize them. Satvet was a well-bred, well-dressed +Turk. His quietness and pale face impressed me. +He was a serious and earnest man. We took him along +to the Military Governor, who turned out to be Nureddin +Pasha, the general who had unsuccessfully tried to take +Kut early in the siege. He was delighted to meet me, +and delayed a whole queue of Turks and Greeks who were +waiting to see him while he described to me what happened +on December 25th, 1915. I got his permission to leave the +harbour with Satvet. Armed with this I saw Commander +Dixon of the Monitor 29 at the Consulate. Dixon was a +typical naval officer, physically and mentally robust. He +literally pulled me to pieces and my intentions, or as much as +he could get out of me, and finally allowed me to send some +wireless messages to Mudros, and, if satisfactory replies were +forthcoming, to send us there himself. He came to tea with +us that night, and told us the reply had come, and that it +was fixed that we should leave at dawn in a captured Turkish +gunboat manned by officers and crew off the M. 29. + +Commander Dixon was a most entertaining and entertainable +person. He was delighted to get away from Mudros, +which he described as "Fleet, fleet, fleet, with bare hills all +around." I was very elated as this was my last night in +Turkey. We crowded around the piano and sang glees and +songs. I drove back with Dixon to the Consulate to get some +directions. As we went along, the town stood at attention, +so great was the prestige of the fleet even through this diminutive +representative, the monitor. + +The scene when the M. 29 entered was one of the greatest +enthusiasm imaginable. Crowds jammed the quays and waited +there hours. All around the ship the sea was black with boats +loaded with people anxious for a glimpse. The Greeks, however, +seized the opportunity of getting their own back on the +Turk, and made attacks largely unprovoked. They hoisted +huge Greek flags over many public buildings, including the +hotel where Commander Dixon was staying. This led to +blows, and it looked like a general riot. + +[Illustration: THE FIRST WARSHIP IN TURKISH WATERS. H.M.S. MONITOR 29, +WHICH DESPATCHED PRINCE'S DELEGATE WITH AUTHOR TO THE FLEET] + +Dixon, however, with commendable promptness, had a +manifesto printed in about six languages, and posted up by +daybreak, warning any one against making any demonstrations +whatever. + +That night Jones assumed partial sanity among some +British officers. This was necessary, as some recent prisoners +seemed in a hurry to supplant those of long standing. I had +tried to take him with me, but this was not permitted. But it +was agreed at the Consulate he was to go with the first batch. +On this condition I felt my convoy of him was at an end, +especially as I was travelling on duty. We had a cheerful +last evening, and on our way to the town met some of the +officers we had known in Kut, separated from us by years of +captivity. Major Harvey, our adjutant, was among them. + +Prisoners now began to flock into the town every hour. I +was under orders of secrecy, and managed to slip away quietly +with Satvet Lutfi. A party of prominent Turkish supporters +with him, Hadkinson and I, all lunched together. + +Further delay was necessary, as the heavily-mined harbour +had been only partially swept, and a few mines had got loose. + +We waited on the gunboat till about 4 p.m. Commander +Dixon came and wished us good luck, and that I might be found +useful to the Staff at Mudros. A brisk and simple good-bye, +and we got on board. The officer accompanying us saluted +his commander, the engines started, a rope fell, we were under +way. I gazed with the intoxication of a mysterious ecstasy +at the widening strip of green water between us and the quay, +where, in white uniforms, Commander Dixon and his officers +and one or two officials of Smyrna waved us good-bye. + + * * * * * + +The Lieut.-Commander clapped me on the back and asked +me to have a drink as a free man on board a British ship. I +drank deep and prayerfully! + +Later, we went on deck. It was a wintry evening, but the +sky was very clear and the harbour magnificent. We followed +the golden path westward towards the setting sun. Here and +there we saw some sunken ships that had been mined, and +others that had been used to block the channels. A small +detail was the discovery by our skipper that this old Turkish +gunboat had been wrongly described. We drew eight feet +instead of six, and mines lay at nine! + +Who cared? One would have been free! And that drink! + +Satvet Lutfi, immersed in gloom, sat in a heap in the tiny +cabin eyeing the coast. I spoke to him. He replied to me +very sadly. Pointing to the sunset, he said the sun was setting +on Turkey, and he believed one hope only remained. That +was his Prince. From politics we passed to his experiences. +He located, far away to the south-west, an old stone prison +quite alone on the rocks. There he had been a prisoner for +years before the war and years during the war. + +He told me how he had been intended to die there. They +had no water, only a central pool in a dungeon collected from +the rain, thick with slime and teeming with insects and worms. +There he had got his pale cheeks and left his constitution. +And yet, after all his sufferings, he never had hesitated to +pronounce what he believed was for the good of Turkey, +regardless of cost. I know enough of his history to know he +spoke the bare truth. However, his eloquence about ideals +for Turkey grew less as, on emerging from the entrance, we +entered an increasing swell. A few moments before he had +declaimed passionately about the sea, its freedom and beauty. +He now became silent, and, like many a better man, evidently +felt seasick. + +The naval lieutenant and I talked long. The night +swallowed us up. I slept on the floor of the cabin. It grew +more rough and the wind increased to a steady roar. + +At about midnight we reached a point where an armed +"Drifter" was waiting to take us further on; but the sea was so +rough that we had to stand by until the dawn before we could +tranship our small cargo or come alongside. + +As it grew light I discovered us to be alongside a North Sea +whaler, with a great, rising bow, fast engines, besides mast and +sails, and armed with 3-inch guns, anti-aircraft guns, and +loaded up with deep-sea charges. The skipper was a very +rough but efficient and kind man from North Scotland, who +swore lustily at all things. He related interesting experiences +about submarines he had got rid of with his last depth +charge. The sea grew worse. It was impossible to tranship +the cargo, so we proceeded to Mytilene, where we arrived +about 8 a.m., and immediately went on board another monitor. +Her commander and officers had heard of our coming, and had +everything ready--a bath and breakfast. Sweet nectar of +the gods this to me! Privilege to meet freely again cheerful +and free men, to move about the polished decks, handle +a knife and fork once more. I had breakfast on deck. The +wardroom amused me. These lonely officers had cut out from +home papers various pictures of the _Stage_ and the _Field_. +These they had shaved down to the actual figures and pasted +on the walls in all kinds of glorious dresses and attitudes. +It seemed as if they were all alive and just arrested midway +in some pose or movement. My naval friends saw me regarding +them in silence. + +"Well, what do you think of them?" + +"I wasn't thinking, but wishing they were all alive." + +Heathcote-Smith, wearing a commander's uniform of the +R.N.V.R., came to see me. We had a long talk. He was _au +courant_ with local affairs, but much in the dark as regards +Stamboul. I answered a good many inquiries of his, and told +him a good deal that surprised him. He took a few notes, and +thought I should push on at once to the Admiral, which I was +under orders to do. Hadkinson stayed here, as he had some +important local business to settle, and the delegate and I left +in the armed drifter about nine-thirty. + + * * * * * + +_Mudros, Nov. 15th._--We left the island bay with the +monitor scintillating in the wintry sun, and got at once into +a heavy swell. I was still among the realities of a dream. As +we headed for the open sea, now full of strange, new knowledge +of the great things that had been away from us so long, one fact +impressed itself in my mind. It was that there was no precise +outside information of facts political and otherwise in Turkey, +and particularly in Constantinople. + +In other words, in my first contact with the outside world +I had not known for so long, I began to realize that this world +was totally out of touch with the inside (Turkey) from which +I had just emerged. I was making for the fleet with a +Turkish delegate of good standing, straight and loyal, who had +suffered severe imprisonment for his opinions and fidelity to +England. This fleet, for the first time for ages, was now unlocking +the Middle East, and when it entered the Dardanelles +would enter a sea of problems and difficulties--some existing +since Islam, some invented and concocted for the occasion. +I hoped Satvet and I would be able to be of use. Lutfi +became more discursive as we went on, and gave me his files +to read and his papers to see. He offered to do all I wanted. + +It was terrible weather, and we were both seedy. About +dark, however, we reached the entrance of the great harbour +of Mudros, heavily boomed and mined. We sped by a lightship, +the drifter having only one dim glim at her masthead. +One heard submarines were still on the look-out. + +It was too dark to see anything except here and there red +or green lights at intervals. We went dead slow. The lights +grew thicker. Suddenly, on rounding a bend we saw before +us thousands of lights, many of them twinkling with the Morse +code, messages from ship to ship. They were the lights of +the Entente fleet. We were swept by a searchlight, and got +into touch with H.M.S. _Europa_, the depôt ship that had +called up our wireless at sea, and ordered us to report there. +We were taken on board, where we met Captain Pearce, R.N., +Commandant of the Base. After some inquiries he communicated +with the flagship. + +The admiral (Sir Arthur Calthorpe) wanted to see us. We +went, accordingly, to H.M.S. _Superb_, a spick and span battleship +of the _Temeraire_ class, carrying 12-inch guns. We were taken +down to the wardroom to wait a few moments, as Admiral +Calthorpe had just got into wireless communication with +London on some urgent matters. Here officers swarmed +around us. Some asked for news of their friends, a few of +whom had been captured in flights from Mudros to Stamboul, +or who had been taken down the coast years before. They +gave us news of home, and all seemed very keen on getting +into Stamboul and rounding up the Turk, as they put it. The +while we drank whiskies and soda. They liked Satvet Lutfi, +who was quiet and collected in the face of what he called +"_Quelle destinée!_" + +The admiral sent his flag-lieutenant, saying he was +suddenly urgently engaged. I was to go to Admiral Seymour +and Captain Burmester, R.N., Chief of Staff. I presented +Satvet and his embassy, as I had promised. He spoke indifferent +French, which was indifferently understood. I +assisted in indifferent French and Turkish. The admiral +supplemented his French with English, and Satvet his Turkish +with French. He produced letters from many Turks, including +the Grand Vizier and from the ex-Ambassador Tewfik Pasha. +He wanted permission to go to Switzerland to bring the Prince +Subaheddine back, or failing that, to be allowed to meet him +in London on the approval of our Foreign Office, or, failing +that, permission to make communication to our Foreign Office +for transmission to the Prince. Permission for this was +necessary from our Foreign Office. Having heard his +credentials, the admiral agreed to wire. + +Among letters for the Prince Subaheddine is the following +from Marshal Izzet Pasha, the last Grand Vizier of Turkey +before the fleet entered. It fell to the lot of this patriot and +renowned soldier, after the flight of Telaat and Enver, to +survey the ruins of the Ottoman Empire. + + * * * * * + + _Translation._--Letter from the Grand Vizier, Ahmed Izzet + Pasha, to Prince Sabah-ed-Din Bey. + + Respectfully submitted: + + Under physical and moral suffering, I write to your + Highness from the bed to which I am confined by sickness. + I have obeyed the desire of his Imperial Majesty by accepting + the offer of the Grand Vizierate, in the hope that I may be + able to render some service, however small, to my country, in + the appalling straits into which it has fallen, and to relieve + the painful trials now come upon us. At this time, the + assurance of future existence depends upon whether every + man will labour for the common cause in a spirit of patriotism + and self-sacrifice, with one mind and purpose, and divesting + himself of all personal feeling. Most earnestly I beg for the + favour and support of your Highness, who has so great a + share in the welfare of the country. As for a long while past + you have been in political relations with the statesmen of the + Great Powers of Europe, I trust that you may be able to + render valuable services in that direction. A communication + on this subject will be sent to the Minister at Berne. + + The moment that the state of the country is somewhat + more normal, steps will be taken to carry out perfectly + independent elections, and it is hoped that, under God's + favour, we may be successful in forming a Government--no + matter who may be its head--on right lines and of a natural + character. + + Again assuring your Highness of my entire devotion and + loyal friendship, I have, etc. + + (_Signed_) AHMED IZZET. + 4th November, 1918. + +On being asked why it was so necessary that the Prince +should return, the Turk became most illuminative. The +admiral and his Chief of Staff were most interested, and heard +some startling information. Satvet told them of the hopeless +chaos politically, and how the Prince would unite enough +parties to form a strong, reconstructive Government. He +explained such a Government would be most useful to the +Allies, that unless Stamboul politics were rescued from the +adventurers who had manoeuvred themselves even into the +new Cabinet, the Allies would find that nothing short of a +great army would keep Stamboul. Captain Burmester, R.N., +a most penetrating questioner, cross-examined Satvet, and +made some notes. The admiral promised to wire London. + +Useful as was the information that was forthcoming, I do +not think half the available use was made of Satvet's possibilities. +Matters of intelligence concerning plots, flooding of +mines, issue of false notes, and German spies were really much +less important than the gambits of political tricksters. Afterwards, +I had a talk with Captain Burmester, and gave him +some details of the intelligence I had collected, and of some +which had been added by Satvet. It included the circulation +of false issues of notes, the plot to deposit fresh mines in the +Dardanelles and Bosphorus from vessels, the intended flooding +of the Aregli coal mine and others near the Black Sea, the +removal of property by the Germans still in Stamboul, above +all, the secret machinations of the U. and P. for a pan-Islam +propaganda in Egypt, Palestine, India, Mesopotamia, Persia, +and their machinations with Bolshevism. The latter, incredible +as it may seem, was quite true, and could be located in +various committees and agencies of U. and P. + +Russia, it is true, has always been, and is still, the eternal +_bête noir_ and dread of the Ottomans; but certain of their +political tricksters hope, by a spread of the Bolshevik contagion, +to undo the victory of the Allies. The world is tired. If +Russia and Central Europe and the Ottomans require not +only to be beaten in the field, but to be conquered and +subdued, is there the wherewithal to do it in the Entente? +Whether the success of Russia would mean the annexation of +Turkey the Turks would, they say, ignore, for Turkey is very +deep in the mud; just as Enver, Midhat and Co. ignored the +fact that the success of Germany meant the ultimate erasion +of Turkey. + +The gambit of Italy in requiring the Adalia coast without +much justification, the gambit of forcing the issue about +Smyrna and the Levant by Greece, the so-called competition +between England, France, and America for the economic +control of the Dardanelles, make the situation ripe with +possibilities of intrigue. To solve the Turkish problem, in my +opinion, it would be necessary to give first place to it, to treat +it as a single issue. It is a situation that cannot admit of +compromise. America is rumoured as being out to capture the +trade resources of the Black Sea empires, in so far as it leaves +her Monroe doctrine intact, which seems to mean privileges +without duties. The French are not so popular as they were, +although French traditional popularity is reviving in Constantinople +just now. And most Turks are convinced that +an international policy of Stamboul would be impracticable. +It would go to the nation with most trade, the biggest fleet of +warships and mercantile marine, _i.e._ England or America. If +_not_ internationalized, the financial basis, which is mostly +French, would give France the lead. But while this process +of "becoming" goes on, Turkey will be left to her own devices +with direful results to the world. + +The admiral and his Chief of Staff were most kind to me, +and, busy as they were, found time to inquire about our +captivity. General Townshend had been through just before. +I was asked to see the Director of Naval Intelligence, Colonel +Temple, on shore, whither I went with Satvet, after enjoying +some conversation and drinks provided for us by the "Flag," +whom the admiral ordered to take us to the wardroom for +some refreshment, of which mine was chiefly whisky, and +Satvet's port. He kept looking around at the excellent +furnishings, and saying "_quelle destinée!_" + +Every one was busy, and the fleet was evidently sailing very +soon. We went ashore to some naval officers' quarters, where +a most excellent mess, full of all good fellows and good things, +entertained us. I had very little kit, and was short of blankets. +My tiny room was very cold, but we borrowed what we wanted. +Officers crowded around us in the mess, and asked us questions. +It was, however, very late, but I didn't go to bed until I had +arranged a room for Satvet. My room I shared with a war +correspondent from London, who was much on the _qui vive_ +for news. I told him very little, and ordered Satvet not to +speak to him except in my presence. This correspondent was +very grateful for such news as we had to give, and by permission +I drafted for him the first cable concerning Stamboul, +for the Associated Press, which duly passed the censor. He +gave me much news of home, and wanted my experiences, +which I didn't care to say much about just then. I remember +that my first night on shore, outside Turkey, was so cold that +I couldn't sleep very well in my tiny bunk. The next day +I inspected the harbour and surrounding hills, where circular +marks left on the black hillsides showed the site of the great +camp of New Zealanders and Australians for the Gallipoli +operations. + +The giant fleet, including over forty first-class fighting +ships alone, lay silent and still below me. One distinguished +the peculiar turrets of the American ships, the line of the +Italian, and two big clumsy Greek cruisers. One's feelings +of thankfulness of release were overwhelming. The vast +assembly of ships stood for victory; but they were also +invested to a great degree with a fascinating political significance +that only one versed in Stamboul intrigue during the +war could appreciate. Here was I with a long pilgrimage of +loneliness, forced inaction, suffering, and sickness behind me, +at last free. Yet, instead of rushing away home by the first +boat, I found myself content to wait here at the door of the +Dardanelles, fascinated with the phenomenon of the Iron Key +about to open the gate of Constantine. Released from the +perpetual convoy of postas, and paralysis, mental and physical, +that is consequent on captivity, one might imagine I would +be eager to look only forward. And yet, even before being +re-introduced to the old world, I found myself taking an all-absorbing +interest in the problem that I had just left behind. + +That morning I made another long report to Colonel +Temple, who was supervising Naval Intelligence, and I gave +him the piecemeal information he sought, to the best of my +ability. Enver and Telaat had left for Germany. A double of +the former had cleverly put quite a number off the scent. +Many Turkish officials who were to meet the fleet and +accuse the U. and P. as the source of the downfall of Turkey, +were themselves sleeping partners of the U. and P. opposition +to the Entente that had continued the murder of Armenians, +sheltering of spies, even refusal to say who and where were the +chief delinquents. This was all proceeding apace, _sub rosa_. +From what I had seen in Stamboul just before leaving, I +thought the Turks there preparing for the arrival of the fleet +much like a very naughty lower fourth form at school, hatching +all kinds of devilries for the arrival of their new master. + +Satvet and I had lunch in H.M.S. _Europa_ with Captain +Pearce, who was exceedingly kind to us, and very sympathetic +with Satvet's impatience in awaiting the reply cable from +the Foreign Office. It was a very cheerful meal, and even +Satvet bucked up, and eventually said he would hand over +to me his embassy and all his papers if it would help the +fleet to find out who was who. + +Colonel Temple sent for me that night and afterwards had +another interview with Satvet for Intelligence. He then +kindly wrote me a letter saying I was proceeding home on +urgent political matters, and immediate passage was requested. +He asked with a smile if I would care to return to Stamboul +with the fleet. I found that prospect, however, rather too +exacting, and, besides, I seemed to promise more usefulness by +going home at once. He informed me confidentially that the +fleet would sail that night for Constantinople, and was very +anxious to know what was the feeling there about the Greeks. +At Smyrna the Greeks had certainly sought to make trouble, +what with their gigantic Greek flags and public demonstration. + +That night the gigantic fleet prepared to move. In the +early dawn of the 12th one heard answering signals. Their +lights moved out to sea. When we awoke not a sign was to +be seen of them. Only H.M.S. _Europa_ and a few dozen +gunboats, with a cruiser or two, and some old ships remained. +The next day there was still no reply. I went out to dine +with the officers of the Air Force, which was very strongly +represented there. They were very eager to hear an account +of their recent bombing raids on Stamboul. All the machines +had flown from here. Afterwards I saw some of the wonderful +developments in the plane of modern war. That evening +some ships arrived from Dedogatch, and I heard much of the +preparations for landing here in case the Turks further delayed +surrender. And heavily as the place is fortified there is no +doubt but that we could easily land and, with a march or two, +cut off the Gallipoli peninsula, so depleted are the Turkish +forces. + +On the 13th Satvet went sick and was removed to a +hospital boat. He sent in a short letter in French to the +Grand Vizier, explaining how he had been held up. The next +day he was better and got discharged. He was chafing about +the delay of his embassy to the Prince. I now got a room +for us both. There had been a tremendous amount of influenza +in the fleet and I was not certain I hadn't got it myself. + +I got permission for him to wire the Commander-in-Chief +of the fleet in Stamboul for immediate leave, either to come +to London or to return to Stamboul. In the meantime we +made ourselves useful to Captain Pearce, now S.N.O.A., who +requested us to visit a large camp of Turkish prisoners. Their +work was to paint and clean the fleet with a host of other +minor fatigues. They wanted to return to Turkey, as English +prisoners, they said, were returning home. They wouldn't +work, so we harangued them, and Satvet told them plainly +what a state their country was in, how short of food the +capital was, and what was more, how they had been betrayed. +They were sullen but ultimately agreed to work for a time. +They certainly looked fighting fit and fat, and well-clothed. +I couldn't help comparing their lot with that of our own poor +fellows. Satvet then communicated with Tewfik Pasha, who +now replaced Izzet Pasha as Grand Vizier, informing him that +he had handed over to me the letters from Izzet Pasha for our +Foreign Office, and for the Prince, and letters from a score or +so of leading men in Stamboul to the Prince with other matters +for the perusal of our Foreign Office and wrote that he would +return to Stamboul. A telegram from the Foreign Office +confirmed this. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +I LEAVE MUDROS WITH DESPATCHES FOR ROME, PARIS, +AND LONDON--ENGLAND! + + +_Mudros, Nov. 20th, 1918._--Two days ago we lunched +again with the Commandant of the Base on board the +_Europa_. The commander of the _Sikh_, one of the +fastest T.B.D.'s in the fleet, was there also. He left Portsmouth +the evening of the armistice and declared how England +had gone quite mad on armistice night. It was wonderful +to meet some one so fresh from home. He had now been to +the fleet and returned. The entry had been magnificent. In +battle line ahead it had passed through the Dardanelles, +sweepers in front, without mishap through the mine-fields, +although two or three sweepers had been blown up previously +in sweeping and the survivors of the crew of one had just +before reached Mudros. The fleet passed on to Stamboul in +a solemn procession of battleships, cruisers, and light craft in +line ahead reaching 16-1/8 miles. First came the British, then +the French, the Italian, and Greek. The Greeks had most +tactlessly hoisted huge flags but were promptly dealt with. +Then a detachment went to the Bosphorus while the main +fleet went to their prepared anchorage at Ismid some miles off. +They are now preparing to enter the Black Sea. + +I equipped Satvet with a few local luxuries and he went +on board a steam yacht. At the last moment, however, +owing to mines breaking away, he could not sail, and lay in +harbour when Heathcote-Smith came from Mytilene _en route_ +for Stamboul to assist the Commander-in-Chief. By this time +it was beginning to be realized in Stamboul what were the +difficulties, and Heathcote-Smith was glad to find out all he +could about partisans there, and how few people were sincere. +The first Press reports were certainly misleading. Fitzmaurice, +whose name was more than a terror to the Turks, ought +to have been sent back at once. He had been First +Secretary to the Embassy preceding hostilities, and knew a +good deal of Turkish under-currents. On our entry, there +was too much disposition to listen to Turks on the spot instead +of sorting them out. Turkish exchange, so far from +falling, is rising, and although we have landed a heavy force +at the Dardanelles, the Turks seem all out for a "try-on." +Heathcote-Smith left that night, but Satvet's small yacht was +still weather-bound. I have definitely taken over his mission +and said "Good-bye" to him. + + * * * * * + +_RETURN_--On the 23rd I boarded H.M.S. _Rowan_, an armed +charge-layer captained by the ex-chief officer of the _Mauretania_. +We were weather-bound for two days further. Then the +weather suddenly cleared, although the seas were still heavy. +We arrived at Malta, where I had to report to General Temple, +Director Intelligence Mediterranean Naval Squadron. He +gave me a through pass to press on urgently to Rome and +Paris, then on to the Admiralty and Foreign Office with a +letter saying I was carrying urgent despatches and required +urgent passage. I took some despatches for him also. I +dined that night with an officer of the Intelligence Department +named Latouche, who afterwards played the piano to me +in his rooms above the moonlight waters of Valetta, dotted +with lights of warships. Then we saw part of La Traviata, +made a final report to General Temple, and I slept in the +Orontes with my despatches from Mudros and Malta, besides +all Satvet's affair. A number of kind invitations reached +me but I regretted I had no time to stay. One was from an +old friend of Newcombe's who wanted news. I wrote to the +colonel, who had evidently abandoned his mission at Mudros +and gone to Egypt. I was extremely lucky in getting my +passage at once, as the gunboat to have taken us had to go +elsewhere. We left at dawn. It was a stormy passage. We +arrived at Taranto across the barrage on the 30th, where +an exceedingly kind letter and telegram from Lord Islington +awaited me, congratulating me on being free and hoping to +see me in a few days. At Taranto I found heavy blockage +of officials, troops, and ex-prisoners of war, arriving from all +quarters, all held up here in camps. Some had been here weeks. + +I went on board H.M.S. _Queen_, where Admiral Hannay, +having considered my papers, told me that he with his Staff +was leaving that night for Rome direct and Paris. He offered +to make room for me. We left that night about eight o'clock. +A great crowd of naval and military people, both British and +Italian, came to say good-bye to the admiral. I was fortunate +to secure half the compartment of the King's Naval Messenger, +who proved a most useful companion. His frequent journeys +had acquainted him with all the stopping places and cafés. +That night Admiral Hannay and several of his officers came +into our coupé. We made a most excellent meal from various +baskets and bottles, and they asked me an account of my +travels in Turkey. I found it impossible to talk of any but +the humorous side of it all, the serious history of these long, +shadowy years being like night-mists over tideless marshes, +silent, lifeless and secret. The admiral laughed gaily at the +idea of generals getting C.B. (confined to barracks), and said +I had had a most unique experience. We had quite a night +of it. At dawn we were running through that delightful +country of Southern Italy, of pleasant semi-wooded plains, +dotted every now and then with abrupt little hills on the top +of each of which stands a village crowned by an ancient castle, +walled and steepled. The sight of these hilltop villages, +familiar to every traveller in Italy, catching the rays of the +morning sun I thought most wonderful. We ran past them +for hours, dazzling like bright coins on a green carpet. + +About 10 a.m. we arrived at Rome. The hotel accommodation +was overcrowded. I had a bath and meal at the +Continental Hotel near the station, for which I paid the best +part of a sovereign. Then I visited the Excelsior Hotel with +my papers, and later went to the British Embassy with some +papers for Commander de Grey of the English Mission there. +He had just left for England, but I enjoyed a most pleasant +hour or so there in conversation with some English ladies +from the mission. Rome was delightful. I drove and drove +and drove to feel myself free once again. I had tea at an +extraordinary little cake-shop, where pretty women like +butterflies came and went. I smoked from my cab in the +gardens. In the early moonlight I drove past the Coliseum, +but quickly. It stood for history. I didn't want history +just then. In a freakish moment I visited the Forum again. +That was history to be sure. But more so it was philosophy. +It invited one to peer into the Future. This spot that once +ruled the world. This world now at sixes and sevens, that +owned no dominion.... + +So far as Rome went, I quickly noticed a Bolshevist element +in the Press, in the street, at the station. The nation was +strung up and some were getting out of hand. In one quarter +a fire appeared to be proceeding and some people obstructing +the firemen, although I didn't verify what was the real cause +of the violent rioting in so prominent a street. + +I was now beginning to shake off the coma that had +undoubtedly settled upon me. Of one thing I am sure. +Rip van Winkle, after his twenty years of sleep, felt much less +strange than I after my two and a half years. + +The station porters were all on strike, so Major Molson +and I wheeled our barrows ourselves. He also was an old +Emmanuel man and going home to stand for Parliament. +We travelled together on the same train as the admiral's suite. +At Genoa and Turin we got in touch with soldiers returning +from other fronts. The latter place was feet deep in snow, +and icicles hung from the verandahs. At Modan we had to +change, and in the restaurant I found myself sitting opposite +a face I knew well, and was very troubled at not knowing who +it was. I had forgotten much. It was a Major Murray, +from one of the batteries at Hyderabad, who had been with +me before leaving India. I learned from him that a good +many of my friends were casualties, the survivors all over the +world, and that few had counted me as alive. He had been +badly knocked about by a shell himself. + +We arrived at Paris in early morning and again wheeled our +kit. I learned here that General Cox, to whom also I was to +report, had been accidentally drowned just before. He was one +of the most brilliant Intelligence Officers of the Entente, and +every one was deploring his loss. He had been a close friend +of Colonel Newcombe, and apart from my intelligence duties, +I had looked forward to giving him an account of the colonel, +who had asked me to do so the first moment possible. This +was only the prelude to many rude shocks I was to get. One +might say that for me the casualties had happened in one +night, for I heard news now for the first time of casualties +that had happened in early 1915, and casualties had been +going on ever since. The first thing I saw in _Le Temps_ was +that Rostand, the great French writer, had died. Like +Cyrano, he had left, so he said, to carry word of victory to the +great French dead. + +I finished my duties at Paris and left that evening. For +a meal at the Café Amercain I paid a gold sovereign. The +place was full of Americans, and all other places were also +crowded. France was tired. Since I had left there in +November, 1914, she had aged and the last of her pretty frocks +had been put away. + +As I was travelling on a naval pass they read me for +Captain, R.N., instead of R.F.A., the former ranking as a +brigadier in the army. This meant a seat in a packed train. +Molson and I left for Boulogne that night and arrived at dawn. +Other politicians were _en route_. The magic word was to be +"Coalition." We had a long discussion as to the merits of +coalition, I holding that in time of war it was good, as in +home politics there was only the question of union. But when +peace comes the international or foreign policy becomes +constructive, and criticism in the ascertainment of the centre +of political gravity is necessary. To me it seems true that +many of the ideals of the war already have to be exchanged +for the hard fact of compromise. Compromise is always bad +and weak and muddlesome beyond a certain point. But the +problems of the world I have recently left can admit of no +compromise! The Turkish problem must be solved or left! + +Boulogne also has changed a great deal. Hotels have +become hospitals and it seems very English. + +We left by boat in the fogs at early dawn, a number of +senior officers returning on short leave being on board. I was +astonished at the youth of many of them. It told me of the +drainage of the war. + +About ten o'clock I saw again the thin line of white cliffs--England. +A few quick moments and I stood on the quay at +Folkestone. An hour later in a refreshment car! It was a +carriage for the most part of silent men from all fronts. Out +of the window, hedges, fields, crows, trees, England flew by. +I had a desire to get out and walk every yard. I had an +impulse. No, it is too private to record. + +I was free. England, England, England. + + + + +EPILOGUE + + +_Oxford and Cambridge Club, March, 1921._--The publication +of the foregoing, which awaited the recovery of +some of the manuscript from Turkey, has been still +further delayed owing to my having been cut off from communications +in Persia last year. + +Several months after the Armistice I married, and with my +wife returned to Baghdad, where I took up the post of Chief +Legislative Draftsman to the Judicial Department. To have +returned to the past scene of the events of my captivity is an +odd experience, and my friends have asked me for a recent +impression. This, however, might lead to controversial +matters, and for such there is here neither place nor room. + +However! On our return in November last year we +stopped at Kut for two days. I add a last note from my diary. + +_P.O.'s Quarters, Kut, November 8th, 1920._--We left Baghdad +by train about 7 a.m. on November 6th, day travelling being +necessary on account of the recent revolt. The whole line is +heavily blockhoused. It lies along the route of our historic +retreat after Ctesiphon back to Kut. Somewhere beneath the +desert dust is the double trail of bones; bones of the men +who fell in the retreat, and bones of the men who fell or +crawled six months later in the captive columns. + +We are staying with the Political Officer, a tremendously +kind and interesting fellow. My wife was most curious to +behold first hand the precincts of our doings in the siege, some +of which I had described to her from my captivity. The +foreshore has quite changed. My artillery observation posts +of sandbags, that once, tattered and battered with shell fire, +defied the Turkish marksmanship to the end, has given +place to a fine street, and this house stands where the garrison +gunners kept a similar vigil, and where our flag, shot into +ribbons, was hauled down on the fateful day. I had no +difficulty, however, in locating many familiar scenes. We +visited General Townshend's house, where, as the Jewish +occupant explained, "the General issued his communiqués!" +It suffered from our own guns after the Turks entered, and the +minaret also was damaged by some accidental shot. + +My wife knew several of our garrison when her father's +regiment, the 24th S.W.B.'s, was in India years ago. I entertained +her with stories of the amusing side of Kut. She was +highly delighted at the little Arab boy's question as to whether +she also had been in the siege! + +We climbed the roof. The pattern of the shell burst that +killed poor Colonel Courtenay and Garnett and Begg is still +there. Then we visited the horse lines and took a car over +the crumbling trenches to the Brick Kilns, where General +Smith and I had our first dug-out. It seemed strange, indeed, +to go along "on top" in a car where for so long to show even +a _topee_ was to offer a dead mark to the Turks over the river. + +The Brick Kilns most of all retain and impart to one again +the spirit of Kut. The dug-out is still dug out, and bits of +blown-up guns all round about. The position of Colonel +Broke-Smith's Battery (63rd R.F.A.) I located near by. One +seemed to hear his genial voice as he stumped along these very +trenches to see if his guns were on their night lines. He was a +magnificent gunner, and neither the siege nor captivity sapped +far into his joyous indifference. I remember delivering a +message to him under a sharp fire in the action of Um-al-Tabul, +glorious to Townshend's memory. Shells were bursting +all around as he sat up his limber pole. I should think it +impossible for any voice to sound more gleeful and exhilarating, +and at the same time with more whip in it than his. He had +got the precise range of that glorious target of crowded Turks, +surprised at 1000 yards. Under each burst of his shrapnel I +saw the running figures suddenly changed to flat black patches. +In fact, we could distinguish bursts by gaps suddenly appearing +in the black horde. He came to lunch at my club on our +meeting in the War Office after the Armistice, and admitted that +when the Turks were particularly troublesome in his captivity, +he used to recall with much satisfaction that glorious target. + +As we walked to position after position, incidents long +forgotten came up to the surface of my mind. Here was +where we made the ramp for the debouch, there where poor +Bombardier X was sniped. This was where the floods burst +in over the bank and flooded us out. That where we made +our last line. We came across a patch on the _maidan_, thick +with shell cases and pieces of segment. This to my delight I +located as the position of my old battery, the 76th R.F.A. +The six gun emplacements are clearly discernible, and my +dug-out, in which I had spent so many weird hours, gaped +eloquently before me. Grass grew on the walls. + +The picturesque position of 86th R.F.A. in the palms is +overgrown, but the smashed trees and shell-pierced wall and +dug-outs gave me my bearings. The fort has been erased. + +Last of all I succeeded in finding in the town the billet of +the Sixth Divisional Ammunition Column, which later on I +had shared with Tudway and Mellor. The upper story that +had been partly demolished by the shell which occasioned +the bruise to my back has now been cut away. The front +door was barred and the billet vacant. By entering through +an adjoining house, and scaling the wall on top over which +the Turks had swarmed, I got down and forced the door for +my wife and Major Jeffery to enter. The cupboard which I +had filled with bricks was still there, as also the room in which +the shells had entered four and a half years before. Only +four and a half years, and yet how far had I walked and seen +since then! The back wall over which we used to peep at +the Tigris is smashed down by bombardment, and the whole +place bespattered with bullet marks. + +The last glimpse I had had here was of my poor Don Juan's +black tail on the verandah post, and of triumphant Turks +kicking our orderly. To stand here once again, but as a free +man accompanied by my wife and a Political Officer in that +fire-changed scene, in that spot of long-enforced soliloquy, was +surely more wonderful than coincidence. Cocky would have +called it Destiny, and Tudway, "Outside chance." + +While we were talking, an Arab from next door burst in, +greatly excited. "Sahib chunet hina fil mahassere?" ("Was +Sahib here in the siege?") I answered him: "Naam. Kasr +mali fil mahassere." ("Yes--my palace of the siege.") He +laughed. Kasr means palace. We remembered each other +perfectly. He continued to salaam at my feet as something +too wonderful. He said he remembered selling us some date +juice (at an enormous figure, by the way). + +He was surprised I had learned to speak to him in Arabic, +and we had a long talk on old days. He recounted their +troubles and persecutions after the Turks entered. A small +Arab boy here at the P.O.'s house remembers me up in my +observation post. An excellent little fellow, he has followed +me about everywhere, or waited at my door--"Arid ashuf +Sahib. Ma'arid backsheesh." "I want to see Sahib. I do +not want backsheesh." + +_10 p.m._--An hour ago I was about to go to bed, but the +moon was floating on the Tigris. Two moons; one in the +sky, one in the water, just as of old. It was irresistible, so I +went forth with a pipe. + +Once again Kut is asleep. Over the river Woolpress +throws its familiar shadow, only a little more dilapidated and +shattered. Beyond that, beyond the palms and the town, all +around, skirting the desert, encircling--the trenches are falling. +History fades. The desert encroaches once more. + +Since last here I have lived centuries of time, at no moment +very far from, and in some precious moments very close to, the +silent Heart of the East. Silent yet not inaudible its murmurs +can reach a patient and humble listener. And into two or +three years of captivity "from within" may be crowded the +revelation of the experience of many years. In these precious +moments the whisperings remain largely inarticulate, and then +in our difficulty we mistakenly identify the desert with its +effect on us. Robert Hichens clothes it with mystery, and +Chu Chin Chow with the transmutability of bright colours. + +Here in this very spot, the first British army of history to +do so, its dauntless heroism and sacrifice unavailing, succumbed +to the finiteness of mortals. From this spot the survivors +were trailed in dying columns across the ancient routes of the +East, an object-lesson of the assailability of our prestige. It +will take more than a successful campaign to erase that +memory. The moral is we should not attempt what we are +not prepared to carry through. + +To-night, then, in this moment of a complete cycle in my +history, I would like to think the advancement we have made +in this country is consolidated and permanent. Is it? Apart +from the fact that the arrangements for this country exist +under the Treaty of Versailles, a treaty largely inoperative +on account of divergence in the Entente, do we yet realize +that a good deal of the recent rebellion is a national movement +in a country extraordinarily hard to contain with a depleted +army? Is it yet fully realized that for the first time in the +history of an Empire we have in this country--mandate though +it be--a nursling territory with every flank, except a mile or +two of sea, politically open? + +On one side awakened Russia, adjoining Persia of grandee +or gentleman bandit government; on the north, the hornet's +nest of the Highlands of Kurdistan; on the west, the illimitable +eternity of the Arab's desert. + +Adequate garrisoning is out of the question for financial +reasons, and we are just realizing here, as in Ireland, that to +conquer a country is one thing and to police it another. +General Townshend's advance represented the high-water +mark of his conquest--until he was cut off! But now "they +are all about us." To impose any programme on these people--as +is the case also with the Turks--which they do not +absolutely endorse, must involve policing. How earnestly did +people at the Armistice, who knew Turkey and Turkish +intrigues, urge this fact on our advisers at home! And +now, two years afterwards, I see that the Treaty of +Sèvres is to be modified in favour of the Turks. How very +clearly this was foreseen as inevitable by some of us! The +desert and Mohammedan question must be examined _ab initio_. +It should not be contingent on or sequential to other matters +of European politics--because it is of a different world. + +The fact is that, in the desert, nature is at a minimum. +There is no mountain ravine, no forest to determine the path +of man. Here are the Great Silence, the Great Solitude, +Illimitable Space, and a Sea of Time. Here introspection is +at a premium, the mind is unfettered and chainless. Perhaps +it is free. And in this world of Stillness and Emptiness man +moves as a considerable object. From the desert came all +the prophets. Cities and customs arise and disappear into the +sand. Dynasty succeeds dynasty, as conquest succeeds conquest. +In the end you have the sand and the horizon as at first. + +Can it be wondered at, therefore, that in such soil a transplanted +mushroom of civilization cannot be expected to +flourish? In 1914 Mesopotamia was much as two thousand +years ago. An advanced civilization with elaborate impedimenta +is deposited on to it. This civilization, then, must either +have an army adequate to protect it or it must conform to +whatever standard of efficiency, to whatever degree of perfection, +the local inhabitant will tolerate. + +This cardinal fact has been obscured by a mass of controversy +and interesting side issues, _e.g._ to what extent the +possibilities of this country can ever be realized unless we +enter on a gigantic irrigation scheme and plug up the hills +at the source of these rivers. But the farther afield and the +more elaborate our development, the more this cardinal fact +holds good. + +Goethe tells us to take the duty nearest to us. But this +is precisely what the hard-working officials of the Civil Administration +have done. We went from commitment to commitment, +and this duty led to that, this problem to the one +adjoining. Which may make for good progress in war, but +for a programme of peace it overlooks the cardinal principle. +Nor do I think that the Arab can be expected to appreciate +the fact that pending the arrival of a definite Treaty with +Turkey, the spirit of government and development must be +expected to be arbitrary--for we declared otherwise in our +proclamation to them. Greater clairvoyance and experience +in the direction of policy might have borne steadily in view +this cardinal fact instead of relentlessly pursuing the god +Efficiency. The god Efficiency was invented by Prussia, and +with all its completeness and perfection the war found it to +be only a machine. It overlooked human factors; it missed +cardinal facts. + +Yet, coming back to Kut once more! None of our beleaguered +garrison on this Babylonian plain could have believed +it humanly possible to effect such a metamorphosis in this +land in so short a space of time. Wharves, shipping, and +railway systems, electric light and fans, Courts of Justice, +Revenue, Agricultural and Finance Departments, Government +Press, British and Arab daily papers--it has been built +up by great and unsparing effort, and so far as earnestness +and will to succeed went, the officers of the Civil Administration +have worked tremendously hard. My own chief, Sir +Edgar Bonham-Carter, I have known work continuously all +through the heat from early morning until late into the night. + + * * * * * + +It was from this bank in December, 1915, that, previous +to his arrival recently as a High Commissioner, I last saw +Sir Percy Cox, then Chief Political Officer, as he left by +the last boat for downstream. I talked with him this +week before leaving Baghdad, and found him much older. +He must have had a long spell of work without leave. The +Persian Treaty which he made for us at Teheran is, I hear, +moribund, and this must have been a great disappointment to +him. + +Nevertheless, he has undertaken the enormous responsibility +and difficulties here most courageously. The Arab +welcome to him on his arrival the other day was little short +of homage to a king. It has changed the situation a good deal. + +To-morrow we go from here by paddle-boat to Basra, en +route for home on leave. + +Bacon tells us that writing maketh an exact man. Perhaps +to know when one has said enough is to be exact. + +Let us then away from Kut at once and for ever. + + * * * * * + +_London, March, 1921_ (_continued_).--Kuttavi!--I have cut. +Or rather, Kuttaverunt, the doctors have, as they think I +should not return to the climate of Mesopotamia. + +I am back in this dear sweet land, beautiful even in all +her sorrows. Back, round the pivot of palm trees to where I +was before the war, behind me the eloquent vacuum through +which the world has rolled. It is almost a complete vacuum, +as _Punch_ might say, a host of flitting, fading shadows. + +But at times I see a long, wide river winding over endless +plains, with here and there a solitary palm. And I hear the +long cry proceeding from the dark figure crouching in the bows +as he takes the soundings, "Bahout pa-a-ni!"--the long, lone +cry that ever and anon by day and night floats intermittently +to the ears of the traveller in that ancient land. + +It, too, has borrowed from the desert something that is +deterministic and ineffaceable. + +Back to this window. And so, "Another cycle is +complete!" + + + THE END + + + + +FOOTNOTES: + + +[1] Lieut. Matthews, R.E., and Lieut. Sweet, 2 7 Gurkhas. + +[2] Col. Newcombe, Captain Gardiner and I received mention in the +post-war despatch "for gallantry in escaping or attempting to escape +while prisoners of war" (5.5.19). + + + + +[Illustration: MAP OF TREK +(including plan of escapes) +CONSTANTINOPLE +and the Bosphorus] + + + + +Transcriber's Notes + +Obvious errors of punctuation and diacritics repaired. + +The following alternate spelling appear and have not been changed: +"arabanchi" / "arabunchi", "camphoradine" / "camphoradyne", "Chupattis" +/ "Chupatties", "d'Arici" / "D'Arici", "Erzerum" / "Erzeroum", "juls" / +"juals", "Kut-el-Amara" / "Kut-el-Amarah", "Modarnia" / "Modernia", +"Pasha" / "Pascha", "Rumanian" / "Roumanian", "Shalmanaser" / +"Shalmaneser", "Sunaiyat" / "Sunnaiyat", "Teufik" / "Tewfik". + +Hyphen removed: "sandbags" (p. 77), "foothills" (p. 189), "upstream" (p. +6). + +Hyphen added: "dust-storms" (p. 175), "far-away" (p. 146), "re-named" +(p. 97), "saw-mill" (p. 277), "water-falls" (p. 278). + +The following words appear both with and without hyphens and have not +been changed: "cliff-side", "lime-stone", "mid-stream", "nick-named", +"out-distanced", "rail-head", "sea-sick", "war-path". + +P. 23: "Um-ul-Tabul" changed to "Um-al-Tabul". + +P. 34: duplicate "in" removed (to where I was in the trenches). + +Pp. 46, 53: "Essinn" and "Es-sin" changed to "Essin". + +P. 57: "packal" might be a typo for the old word "packald" or the word +"pack" but has been left unchanged. + +P. 93: added "a" (in a successful operation). + +P. 98: "blurr" changed to "blur" (the only blur on the silvery +brightness). + +P. 99: "entritis" changed to "enteritis" (the increasing cases of +enteritis). + +P. 172: "abominally" changed to "abominably (treated our men +abominably). + +P. 189: "Hammerbug" changed to "Hummerbug". + +P. 199: "clink" changed to "chink" (through a chink in the door). + +P. 222-3: space removed (La illaha, illa la). + +P. 241: "to" added (who sits next to King A.). + +P. 274: "companion" changed to "companions" (to my former companions). + +P. 314: "satantic" changed to "satanic" (a satanic beast). + +Caption of illustration facing p. 326: "CAPITIVITY" changed to +"CAPTIVITY". + +P. 357: "saw" changed to "was" (The noise was maddening). + +P. 379: "oppositon" changed to "opposition" (the U. and P. opposition). + +P. 381: "CHAPTER XVIII" changed to "CHAPTER XVII". + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Secrets of a Kuttite, by Edward O. Mousley + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41213 *** |