strength but also will-power to drag one’s legs along. In the depressions between the ridges there was not a breath of air. The sun grew more and more malignant, and the men became more and more dejected and taciturn. Hundreds collapsed from sunstroke, or because every ounce of energy they had possessed had been expended. The instructions to husband the meagre allowance of water had been explicit, and every one knew that the bottles could not be replenished until Katia should be reached. It was forbidden to drink without first obtaining the permission of the platoon or unit commander, and the best results were obtained where the officers insisted firmly on exact obedience to this order. The men behaved splendidly, and even when their powers of endurance seemed to have reached the limit, they forced themselves heavily and listlessly onward, stedfastly resisting the ever-increasing temptation to drink. A regimental Medical Officer described their appearance as “that of men being gradually suffocated, their faces turning a dusky blue; they were panting for breath and falling unconscious on the track. All that could be done was to try to collect them in groups and place their heads under any low scrub that could be found.” At one spot the torture was most cruelly augmented by an unfulfilled hope of relief. The sight of great quantities of attractive fruit, outwardly resembling oranges, was hailed with hoarse cries of delight. The “oranges” were seized upon ravenously, and in a few cases bitten into—and thrown away with curses. It was that most bitter of fruits, calumba—bitter as the disappointment it had caused, for the prospect of allaying the agonizing thirst intensified the anguish. Then it was that the officers, who were in no better case than their men but were upheld by their sense of responsibility, silently blessed him whom they had so often found occasion to curse, the “funny man” of the platoon or company. Luckily these men are to be found in every British unit, and when things are at their worst they extract humour from hardship until even the most despondent begin to feel less depressed. [Illustration: KATIA.] [Illustration: KATIA. BIVOUACS.] [Illustration: CAMEL CARRYING WATER TANKS.] [Illustration: CAMELS CARRYING FANATIS WAITING AT THE WATER POINT.] [Illustration: ROMANI. WATER TRUCKS ON THE BROAD-GAUGE RAILWAY.] [Illustration: ROMANI. EAST LANCASHIRE ARTILLERY.]