such food as had to be cooked could only be boiled or stewed, and even then the results were not always satisfactory. The cooks themselves were untrained and often had to be changed. They lacked the knowledge and experience necessary to secure the best results and avoid waste. They were also handicapped for want of proper fuel and plant. The fuel was wood. What kind of wood it was, or where it came from, nobody knew. It had the appearance and endurance of that stray log which sometimes arrives in loads from Australian woodyards and which the self-respecting householder absolutely declines to tackle except in the last extremity. It played havoc with the temper of the cooks' fatigues and also with their tools. Clothing was an important factor. The heavy woollen material of the Australian uniforms was unsuitable in a climate where rain was almost unknown and where the daily temperature averaged over 90 deg. in the shade during the whole time of the Battalion's stay. Furthermore, a number of hats had been lost overboard during the voyage from Fremantle. There were no present means of replacing these; meanwhile, men were in daily danger of heat stroke. It was decided, therefore, to clothe all the troops in khaki cotton shorts (trousers reaching only to the knees), linen shirts, and pith helmets. These they wore with the ordinary underclothing and with boots and puttees. This issue was completed within ten days of arrival. It added considerably to the comfort of the individual and the dress in itself was not unattractive. One individual of French extraction refused for some unknown reason to wear the shorts. He was proof against persuasion and eventually had to be removed from the Battalion and given an opportunity for fuller reflection. Perhaps it was inevitable that the drastic change from the Australian to the Egyptian climate, soil, and conditions of life, should adversely affect the health of the individual. At any rate such turned out to be the case, and for the first ten days after arrival at Abbasia there were some 130 to 150 men out of action each day. The principal causes were an acute form of diarrhoea and tonsilitis. Amongst others were severe colds, septic hands, knees, and feet, ophthalmia, and two or three slight cases of heat stroke. Measles did not re-appear after the landing at Suez, although the camp was placed in quarantine for 14 days and visits to the neighbouring towns were forbidden. After the tenth day the number of cases reporting to the medical officer began to decrease and by the 20th July had dropped to 50, about which figure it remained during the following few weeks. One death occurred--that of Lance-Corporal J. K. Quick, of "B" Company, who succumbed to pneumonia on the 14th August whilst a patient in No. 1 Australian General Hospital.