After breakfast our journey was continued until the afternoon, when we halted until eight o'clock. Then we started off again, reaching a place called Ber Sheba, or Beersheba, about sixty miles from Jaffa, by the following morning. Here we were all separated, and I was taken to an Arab hut and given a straw mattress to lie on and a filthy blanket to cover me. The same meagre fare--native bread and a small piece of cheese--was again served out to me, and I was left alone. After spending two days and nights in this wretched shelter I was removed to another, which I fully made up my mind was to be the last ere I attempted my escape, which I was continually thinking about. The stretch of ground allotted to the prisoners-of-war camps was surrounded by a barbed-wire fence some twelve feet high, having only one gateway. The camp consisted of about twenty-five huts, the bulk of these being for the accommodation of the prisoners, and the remainder for the soldiers. Posted to every four of these buildings was a guard consisting of several sentries, stationed at a distance of from twenty to thirty yards from the buildings. Every Friday it was the custom for the soldiers--who were, of course, Mohammedans--to attend the mosque, and on these occasions but few sentries were left to guard the camp; the gate was also allowed to stand open. I therefore decided that, when I had worked out a plan of escape, I would choose a Friday on which to attempt it. In the camp I had the good fortune to come in contact with other prisoners of war, who generously gave me some of their money, of which I stood in great need, for I knew that money would be absolutely necessary to aid my escape. After a short time, having received various small amounts in this way, I accumulated quite a useful sum. Although the food was wretched and the accommodation miserable, I must state in fairness that I received much kindness from different Turkish officers, who, perceiving that I was sad and anxious, had compassion on me and tried to console me. When the German officers, however, with their renowned _kultur_, came to know this, they became enraged, and forbade the officers to have anything to do with me. There was much bad feeling, by the way, between the Turks and the Germans, because while the latter enjoyed plenty of luxuries, the former entirely lacked them, and received pay which was totally inadequate to their needs.