Part 1 (2/2)
[Ill.u.s.tration: G. J. ANDERSON. H. W. BRUCE, CAPT. A. M. GRIEVE, S. F.
G. ALEXANDER, D. H. ANDERSON.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: C. J. McCONAGHY.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: C. J. McCONAGHY, Capt. A. M. GRIEVE, S. F. G.
ALEXANDER, H. W. BRUCE.]
At Suez a short stay is made. The water is a wonderful opal colour; the great Desert on our left, the barren rocks, sunburnt and bare on our right, help to make a fascinating picture. One remembers the first time one had pa.s.sed through the Ca.n.a.l, years before in time of peace, and how one had been filled with admiration for the Medical Officer who came out to the Mail Boat to give it a clean bill of health to pa.s.s through the Ca.n.a.l, because she was a woman, and standing month after month of Suez summer weather, which proves too much for many men, leave alone women. But the stay is short and so as the Sun sets, making wonderful colouring over the Desert and sea, the journey down the Red Sea is commenced. The Red Sea in December is shorn of its terrors and can be quite enjoyable. Aden is pa.s.sed, two or three days steaming along the inhospitable coast of Southern Arabia and the entrance of the Persian Gulf is reached. The Straits of Ormuz have the reputation of being one of the hottest places on earth. The rocky, and wild Arabian coast looks very beautiful in the suns.h.i.+ne with its innumerable islands, and the sea is a dead calm. For some hours the sh.o.r.es on our left are visible, then we steam, up along the Persian sh.o.r.e and get a good view of the barren, rocky mountain range running parallel with the coast. Those who have good gla.s.ses make out villages on the sh.o.r.e. The Captain is pestered with questions about the date and time of arrival at Basrah. Excitement is being felt again; one wonders what the news will be, and what has happened to General Townshend; and so at last anchor is dropped at the mouth of the Shatt-el-Arab at the head of the Persian Gulf. The two rivers Tigris and Euphrates join at a place called Kurnah, and from there to the sea the river is called 'Shatt-el-Arab.' Everyone is disappointed that there are no signs of land anywhere, and one wonders in which direction land lies. But what a relief it will be to get off the s.h.i.+p, how delightful to stretch one's legs ash.o.r.e, as in spite of the good food, the sports and the usual joys of a trooper, it is impossible not to feel cramped and so once again everyone was rejoicing that the sea voyage was at an end. The sh.o.r.e is so low-lying that nothing could be seen of it as the transport had to anchor some miles off the mouth of the river. We had to transs.h.i.+p to smaller boats to proceed to Basrah, about eighty miles inland. Transs.h.i.+pping is a long and tedious business but at last it is completed and we say farewell with a cheer to our transport, and the smaller boat steams towards the sh.o.r.e. In about half an hour we make out some palm trees and everyone is on the lookout for their first view of Mesopotamia. Slowly we approach the wide mouth of the river, successfully pa.s.s over the bar, and the new campaign for us has begun, and it is the last day of the year--31st December 1915.
CHAPTER II.
It takes about seven hours from the mouth of the river to Basrah. The journey up is of interest as none have been here before, and everything is new. Both sides of the river the banks are covered with palm trees, stretching inland for distances varying from 500 yards to three miles, and after that all is desert. We pa.s.s Abadan on our right where the pipes of the oil fields belonging to the Anglo-Persian Oil Coy. reach the river from Ahwaz. It has been said that the Mesopotamian Campaign was started in the first place to protect these oil-fields. One wonders now if it would have been advisable to protect them and hold Basrah only, and not push forward further inland. But it is easy to be wise after the event, and high politics, tactics and strategy do not form part of an account of the doings of the 2nd Battalion--so I must not be led astray. The river is very broad and is navigable for hundreds of miles. Mohammerah, the Persian town at the junction of the Shatt-el-Arab and Karun rivers, looked an interesting place. It is; as many months later I was fortunate enough to be able to spend some time there. The Sheikh of Mohammerah has proved a good friend to the British, and almost opposite his palace one can see the remains of the three steamers in the river which the Turks sunk in a vain endeavour to block the pa.s.sage as they retreated; as good fortune or Providence would have it, one boat in sinking swung round and left the pa.s.sage open. At Mohammerah is a big Convalescent Hospital for white as well as Indian troops. We noticed some large barrack looking houses on our left, one in particular, 'Beit Naama', attracting attention; but more about that later on as this establishment has now been turned into an hospital for officers. And so at last anchor is dropped off Basrah, as 'Ashar' is usually referred to as 'Basrah' by everyone out of the actual place. Was this the romantic spot from which Sinbad the Sailor started on his wonderful voyages?--was this the spot that so many have imagined must be one of the wonderful places of the East?--when they are thousands of miles away from it. A famous traveller has said, ”that its European inhabitants only remain alive during the day through a perception of the humour of their situation, and by night through the agency of the prayers of their despairing relatives.” For Basrah has the most malarial air, the most choleraic water, and the most infernal climate of any spot in the world outside 'Tophet.'
[Ill.u.s.tration: The Padre.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: The Quarter-master.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: Everyday Scenes In Ashar.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: Ashar Barracks.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: Street Scenes In Ashar.]
One Company of the Regiment had travelled out on a different transport--with another Highland unit and arrived a day or so in advance and were awaiting the arrival of the main body at Basrah. They were very interested in the place and were full of their adventures and of rumours. One thing was evident, one thing alone mattered, troops were needed, urgently needed, at the front; and we were at once ordered to proceed up river. The Regiment transs.h.i.+pped in midstream, not even having time to land, and were taken up by two river boats, with barges attached on either side.
Not a man who made that journey and is still alive will ever forget the ”P-7” or the ”Salimi.” The time since leaving France had not been wasted; everything that could possibly be done to keep the men fit and their minds active was done. Physical drill every morning, sports were got up, concerts,--the Colonel himself taking a big interest and share in everything that tended to the comfort of his men. At the best of times, life on a Troops.h.i.+p is a cramped existence, but in comparison to the up river voyages, it is a life of luxury. The world has been scoured for river boats for this campaign; steamers from the Nile, the Irrawady and the Thames are doing excellent work in carrying troops and supplies to the fighting line. Part of the river is so narrow that it is dangerous for paddle boats to attempt the journey without lighters attached as b.u.mping into the sides of the bank the paddle boxes would be smashed. The trip up the river in January is by no means a pleasure one. It is not now! and it was much less so in January 1916. The nights are cold and in the early morning the river is lost in mist. At nights it is usually necessary to tie up at the side of the bank or to anchor in midstream. Only on bright moonlight nights, and not always then, can progress be made. The flood season on the Tigris is at its height about May and continues so till about the end of June. The river gradually falls in July and August and is at its lowest level during the months of September, October and November.
It rises during the rains in December and January, sometimes as much as four or five feet, and this keeps the river fairly high during the following two months. In April the river rises still higher owing to the melting of the snow on the mountains in the north. These are the normal changes that come as regularly as winter follows autumn.
There may be slight variations such as more rain one winter season than another, for instance, January 1916 was far wetter than January 1917. There are occasional high floods owing to the rain, and in January 1896 the river rose eight feet in one night at Baghdad.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Capt. MACQUEEN, R.A.M.C., On His Way To Europe.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: Entrance To Ashar Barracks.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: Basrah Barracks.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: Arabs Enjoy An Al Fresco Meal Of Dates.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: The Sheik Of Zobeir And His Son.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: Arab Bazaar.]
The men crowded on to the barges attached to the side of the paddle boats and of course everything was of interest, everything was new in this, the oldest country in the world. Because Kurnah at the junction of the Tigris and the Euphrates has the reputation of being the site of the Garden of Eden, many and various are the jokes which have been made against this most unfortunate of places by members of the Expeditionary Force, but all amount to the one thing--that Adam and Eve had very little to lose in being driven out, if it is unchanged since those days.
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