Early on the morning of the 18th our batteries and gun-boats began bombarding the Turkish trenches. The artillery of the enemy replied, but the marksmanship was bad, though General Barrett had a narrow escape from a shrapnel shell which buried itself in the ground at his feet. The Turkish infantry, however, made excellent practice, and their bullets swept the front with a withering fire. Nevertheless, our men advanced with admirable steadiness. The honours of the day went to the 2nd Dorsets, who, without a moment's wavering, crept nearer and nearer to the enemy, until they were near enough for the final bayonet charge. When they leaped to their feet and dashed forward the Turks broke from their trenches, and, flinging away their arms, ammunition, and even their clothes, fled to the rear. Owing to the soggy nature of the ground and to a mirage which screened the flight of the enemy, pursuit was well-nigh impossible. About 4 p.m. the little battle was practically over--the trenches, two guns, and the camp of the enemy were in our possession. The Dorsets lost 130 men in this engagement out of a total casualty list of 353, which included three officers and thirty-five men killed. More than 1,500 Turks were dead or wounded. [Illustration: Hoisting the Union Jack at Basra. _Photo, Illustrated London News._] On the 21st news arrived that the Turks had abandoned Basra, and that Arabs were looting the place. A British force was at once embarked on river steamers, while other troops were sent forward across the desert on foot. About eight miles beyond Sahil the Turks had attempted to impede the navigation of the river by sinking ships in the fairway; but the business had been badly done, and our gunboats, after silencing a battery of Krupp guns on the bank, got past the obstruction. About ten on the morning of the 22nd the river force entered Basra without opposition. Later in the day the desert column arrived; the German flag was hauled down, and the Union Jack was hoisted in its stead. During the remainder of the month the British prepared a base camp a few miles up the river. At the beginning of December news arrived that the Turks had reassembled at Kurna, some forty-nine miles above Basra, and were about to put their fortunes to the test once more. The sketch map on page 277 shows you the position of Kurna, the highest point on the river to which ocean-going steamers can ascend. You will notice that the old and now partly-blocked-up channel of the Euphrates unites with the Tigris at Kurna, and that the town occupies a strong position in the angle between the rivers, with broad waters on two sides of it. Some people tell us that Kurna stands on the site of the garden of Eden, though others say that the abode of our first parents lay to the north-west of Bagdad.