ed the river with the monitors _Severn_ and _Mersey_ and
opened fire.

The crew of the _Koenigsberg_ had been active in fortifying their
position during the time the cruiser had been sheltering in the river.
They had established shore batteries with German thoroughness that
commanded all the turnings of the river, and there were observation
towers from which they could get the range of any vessel attacking.
The British could not get a clear view of the enemy because of the
dense jungle, but their aeroplanes were of great service in directing
the action of the guns. There was never any doubt of what the ultimate
fate of the _Koenigsberg_ would be.

On July 4, 1915, the British bombarded the cruiser for six hours, when
she was seen to be on fire. The attack for some reason was not renewed
until July 11, 1915, when the cruiser was found to be completely
destroyed, whether as the result of the British shells or because she
was blown up by her own crew was not discovered at the time. The
annals of naval warfare offer no more curious story than this of the
German cruiser, which lay for so many months helpless in a jungle
river, surrounded by steaming swamps, while far beyond lay the
longed-for open sea.

PART XII--WAR IN ARABIA, MESOPOTAMIA AND EGYPT

CHAPTER LXXX

MESOPOTAMIA AND ARABIA

The flames of war were sweeping across Mesopotamia and Arabia. In the
last days of January, 1915, Lord Hardinge, Viceroy and Governor
General of India, made a tour of the conquered territory around the
Persian Gulf, and at Basra was received by the native community with
an address of welcome, which expressed the hope of permanent British
occupation.

Owing to the overflow of the Tigris and Euphrates in February and
March, when the surrounding country is flooded, there was little
fighting in those regions. But on March 3 the enemy appeared near
Ahwaz, on the Karun River, where the British had a small garrison to
protect the Anglo-Persian Oil Company's pipe line.

A contingent sent out from the town to discover the strength of the
Turkish force, located them at Ghadir. The enemy was found to be about
12,000 strong, having been joined by a body of tribesmen from Arabia
and Persia. As the British troops only numbered 1,000 men, there was
imminent danger of them being cut off, and a hurried retreat was
ordered. The Turks seemed determined that their enemy should not
escape them, and used every effort to prevent a successf