The population of the whole of the peninsula at the time was estimated as below 40,000 persons, including the settled inhabitants of El Arish, the Gebeliyeh (400-500), and the rest of the Bedawyn. From a military point of view these were looked upon as of small importance, except as possible secret agents and scouts, and no effort was apparently made to organise them. Although Sinai was politically an Egyptian dependency, with the frontier line between Rafa and Akaba, the Suez Canal was chosen as the means of defending Egypt, and bridgeheads were constructed along it, chief of which was the one at Kantara. The peninsula was therefore open to the Turks, who advanced across it along three routes, _i.e._ along the coast, along the pilgrim road from Akaba by way of Nakhl, and by a route half-way between the pilgrim route and the Mediterranean. Nakhl became a Turkish military centre. The attacks made at different points along the canal were defeated. The Turk, from the first, engaged the help of the Bedawyn of the eastern desert, but he failed to raise much enthusiasm among them. Only the Terabin, the Ayayme, and some of the sub-tribes of the Howeitat supplied irregular lines, the Ruala and the Anazeh promised to defend Syria, other tribes failed altogether. When a raiding party of Turks advanced from Nakhl on Tur, they were joined by some Bedawyn from Midian and Sinai, who were tempted by the promise of loot. On the way, they requisitioned food at the convent, but they found Egyptian troops in occupation of Tur and were repulsed. The advance along the shore of the Mediterranean, and expeditions from the bridgeheads and secured posts, engaged the Allied forces in 1916. Ayun Musa was fortified and connected with Suez by means of a light railway, and a railway was constructed along the Mediterranean. In the course of this progress the walls and water cisterns on which the enemy depended were naturally destroyed, and one does not wonder to find the Bedawyn acting in concert with the Turk in their defence. It was not till January, 1917, that Rafa was captured, and the Turk swept out of northern Sinai. Along the eastern frontier the Arabs were prepared to side with the Allies. As early as 1916 Prince Hussein of Mecca organised his forces to resist the Turk, but his progress was indifferent, when he was sought out by Capt. Lawrence, who urged him to advance and persuaded Auda Ibn Tayyi, the great sheykh of the Howeitat, to act in concert with him. The result was a camel charge on the fort of Akaba, which wiped out the Turkish battalion stationed there, and freed the Arab and the Allies from a centre of enemy plotting. By their action the Arabs made a further step in realising themselves as a nation.[310] [Illustration: Fig. 23.—Map of the Peninsula.] In the light of these recent events, one is set wondering how they will affect the chances of well-being of the men of the Sinai desert, and what future may be in store for the convent.