territory. His headquarters were at Khanikin,
twenty-five miles from Kizil Robat and but a short distance from the
Persian frontier. One morning during the time that I was stationed in that
district I motored over to see him. It was a glorious day. The cloud
effects were most beautiful, towering in billows of white above the snow
peaks, against a background of deepest blue. The road wound in and out
among the barren foot-hills until suddenly as I topped a rise I saw right
below a great clump of palm-trees, with houses showing through here and
there--the whole divided by a lovely river bestridden by an old seven-arch
bridge. I picked my way through the narrow streets, scattering ragged
Kurds right and left; past part of the covered bazaar, until I came to a
house with a large courtyard, thronged with a motley array of Kurdish
irregulars, armed with every sort of weapon. It was there that Soane
administered his stern but practical justice, for he thoroughly understood
how to handle these men.

The district had suffered fearfully, for it had been occupied in turn by
Turk and Russian, and then Turk again, before we took it over, and the
unfortunate natives had been pillaged and robbed mercilessly. Thousands
starved to death. When I was at Deli Abbas ghastly bands of ragged
skeletons would come through to us begging food and work. Soane turned a
large khan on the outskirts of the town into a poorhouse, and here he
lodged the starving women and children that drifted in from all over
Kurdistan. It was a fearful assemblage of scarecrows. As they got better
he selected women from among them to whom he turned over the
administration of the khan. They divided the unfortunates in gangs, and
supervised the issue of dates on which they were fed. Such as were
physically able were employed in cleaning the town. The Kurds are a fine,
self-respecting race and it was easy to understand Soane's enthusiasm for
them.

* * * * *

In Baghdad you lived either in the cellars or on the housetops. The former
were called serdabs. A large chimney, cowled to face the prevailing wind,
served for ventilation, and on the hottest days one was cool and
comfortable. We slept on the roofs, and often dined there, too. Since the
town was the General Headquarters of the Expeditionary Force, one was
always sure to meet many friends. A comfortable and well-run officers'
club was installed, as well as warrant officers' and enliste