rge. But if this eternal chant made one yearn
to throw something large and heavy at the performers, their work compelled
profound admiration. They must have beaten all previous records in laying
the line from Sheikh Zowaid to Rafa and were preparing to carry it forward
at the same pace. It was a characteristic of the railway now and later, to
appear in all sorts of unlikely places, and it was quite a common
experience to be awakened two or three days after our arrival in some
remote spot, by the shrill whistle of a locomotive.

The most striking thing at Rafa, however, was the organisation of the
water-supply. The great tanks that had done duty farther down the line were
brought up and long rows of them stood by the side of the railway. There
were fanatis literally by the thousand, ready to be filled and carried
forward when the time came. This apparently liberal provision was very
necessary, for except at Khan Yunus, six miles away to the north-east, Rafa
represented the only place for twenty miles whence to obtain water.

Though we could see the Promised Land, we were not there yet, nor did we
know much about the state of the wells after the Turks had finished with
them. Until we had advanced into and consolidated the country near to Gaza,
therefore, we had to carry every drop of water with us, sufficient,
moreover, to last for several days.

What the infantry would have done without the camels, one shudders to
contemplate, for they were practically the only means of water-transport.
Right into the firing line they would come at sundown, drop their fanatis
and fade away again. Nobody bothered to find out whence the camels came or
whither they went, but they were always there when wanted. It is no
exaggeration to say that the desert and subsequent campaigns would have
been impossible without the camels, both in their carrying and fighting
capacity. The mounted units for the most part used water-carts, though
these in turn were filled from fanatis brought up as far as possible by
camels.

By the time headquarters arrived at Rafa on the 20th, preparations had
about reached their zenith, and on the 23rd we moved out, with six days'
marching rations for men and horses loaded on to the limbers, which looked
uncommonly like business.

Our destination we did not of course know, and we were content at the
moment to be crossing the border into the Holy Land. Before us lay the
gently undulating plain, in the midst of which n