ay football and ride intermittently. I believe I could
mount a middle-sized English horse without serious inconvenience now.
I have begun to try to pick up a little Arabic from the functionary
known as the Interpreter.

* * * * *

AMARAH.

_October_ 18, 1915.

TO M.H.

I'm so glad the saris are what you wanted. If you pay L5 into my a/c
at Childs, it will be simplest.

Everyone--except I suppose the victims--seems to have regarded the
Zeppelin raid as a first-class entertainment. I think they do us
vastly more good than harm, but it would be a satisfaction to bag one.

So poor Charles Lister was killed after all. He is a tremendous loss.
And ----, who could have been spared much better, has been under fire
in Gallipoli for months without being touched.

I agree with Charlie's sentiments. What is so desperately trying about
the Army system is that mere efflux of time puts a man who may be, and
generally is, grossly stupid, in command of much more intelligent
people, whose lives are at his bungling mercy. If Napoleon, who won
his Italian campaign at 27, had been in the British Army he wouldn't
have become a Major till 1811. It is an insane system which no
business would dream of adopting. Yet it wouldn't do to abolish it, or
you destroy the careers of 4/5 of your Officers. The reform I should
like would be to make every third promotion in any regiment
compulsorily regardless of seniority.

I am having a few lessons in Arabic now, but it is a much more
difficult language than Hindustani, and the only available "Munshi" is
the regimental interpreter who can't read and speaks very broken
English, and the only available book deals with classical Egyptian and
Syrian Arabic, which are to the Arabic of to-day as Latin, French and
Italian are to Spanish. So my acquirements are likely to be limited.

There is absolutely no news here. Reinforcements are said to be coming
but have not arrived. The next show should come off about November
10th.

* * * * *

AMARAH.

_October_ 11, 1915.

TO R.K.

I have just seen in the _Times_ that Charles Lister died of his
wounds. It really is heart-breaking. All the men one had so fondly
hoped would make the world a little better to live in seem to be taken
away. And Charles was a spirit which no country can afford to lose. I
feel so sorry for you too: he must have been very dear to you
personally. How the world