le to vary the landscape.

B takes one through the little ground, the four cemeteries, and the
deserted brick-kilns: by the time one is through these it is generally
time to go home: and even beyond it is market gardens and one can only
ride on foot-paths: and there are only two foot-paths through the
barbed wire defences.

C is good soft-surfaced desert, much the best riding ground though its
virtues are negative. But to reach it one has to cross the Tigris by
the boat-bridge, and this is apt to be cut at any moment for the
passage of boats, which means a delay of half an hour, not to be
lightly risked before breakfast: and in the afternoons the interval
between excessive sun and darkness is very brief. It is too hot to
ride with pleasure before 4.30 and the sun sets at 5.30: and the dusty
wind is at its worst till about 5.

* * * * *

AMARAH.

_October_ 7, 1915.

TO HIS BROTHER.

Thanks awfully for your letter. It was one of the best I've had for a
long time. And many congratulations on the birth of a daughter. I'm
delighted it went off so well, and only hope she and Grace are both
flourishing.

I am sorry to hear about Benison. I suppose he was in some unit or
other. You saw of course that Stolley was killed some time ago.

At present, at any rate, we're a very comfortable distance behind the
firing line. This has been the advanced base for the Kut show. By river
we are 130 miles above Basra and about the same below Kut. The action
there on the 27th and 28th was a great success, but the pursuit was
unfortunately hung up and prevented our reaping quite the full fruits.
This was partly due to a raid on our L. of C. scuppering some
barge-loads of fuel, but chiefly to the boats getting stuck on mud
banks. This river is devilish hard to navigate just now. It winds like a
corkscrew, and though it looks 150 yards wide, the navigable channel is
quite narrow, and only 4ft. to 6ft. deep at that. So all the river boats
have to be flat bottomed, and the strong current and violent N.W. wind
keeps pushing them on the mud banks at every bend.

[Illustration]

The Turks had, they think, 15,000 men and 32 guns. Their position was
twelve miles long and most elaborately entrenched and wired with all
the German devices, and rested on a marsh at either end.

We had about 10,000 men of all arms and 25 or 27 guns, seven of them
on river boats, I think. Townshend's attack was as follows. He m