The magnitude of the work accomplished in the desert may be estimated by the following figures— Railways 360 miles Pipe lines 300 ” Roads 220 ” Timber Hurdles 800 ” Timber for hutting 2,000,000 square feet Wire netting 50,000 rolls Barbed wire 7,000 tons Cement 2,000 tons Sandbags used 30,000,000 The defence of the Suez Canal had now been made secure. The revolt against Ottoman rule in the Hedjaz had broken out, and the Turk was in no mood for further adventurous enterprise. Henceforward he would confine his energies to defensive operations, and would ask nothing more than to hold his own. The infantry entrained for Kantara, _en route_ for Moascar, during the first days of February, and though the hundred-mile railway journey was far from luxurious the troops were glad enough to be spared the weary march back to “th’ Cut.” They had watched the railway grow mile by mile, and their interest in it was almost that of a proprietor, but this was the first time they had ridden upon it for any distance.[9] Most of the units halted for a day or two at Kantara, a station with which they were familiar enough. Here the only subject for comment seems to have been the remarkable number of gulls that swarmed overhead at meal times. The mention of these birds will remind many officers and men that the 42nd Division made very useful contributions both to the knowledge of the fauna of the Sinai Peninsula and to the supply of animals to the Cairo Zoo. Many desert mice and rats, lizards and tortoises reached the Zoo alive, and one rat was so exalted by the prospect of introduction to Cairo society that it gave birth to a healthy litter while in the parcel post. Insects of great interest and rarity, and of peculiarly local distribution, were sent to the Ministry of Agriculture at Cairo twice a week for six months; and species entirely new to science were discovered. A battalion of the Lancashire Fusiliers, from the R.S.M. and the Cook-Sergeant down to the sanitary men, took to collecting and nature study with great ardour and much success. [Sidenote: _From East to West_]