of two hundred and fifty
miles, a feat which for endurance alone on the part of men and horses has
not been equalled in this War.

In that time they had cleared the greater part of Syria of the enemy, and
had captured or driven into the hands of the more slowly advancing infantry
over eighty thousand prisoners, with practically all the guns and transport
in the Turkish Army. Virtually the fighting was over, since almost the
entire enemy force had been accounted for, the few thousands still at large
being a disorganised rabble, incapable of further resistance.

But news of a greater peril than War reached Haifa. Famine stalked naked
through the land of Lebanon; and it was urgently necessary to send help to
the starving inhabitants of Beyrout and the surrounding country. Political
reasons, too, demanded that we should occupy as much territory as possible.
On October 3rd, therefore, we marched out of Haifa and began the long
journey north.

CHAPTER XXI

OVER THE LADDER OF TYRE

Behold us, then, once more on the high road--or, to be more accurate, the
broad firm sands leading to Acre. We were all mighty pleased to be on the
move again, partly because Haifa was not a deliriously exciting place to be
in, but chiefly because the neighbourhood of the famous river Kishon was
singularly uninviting, and when the rains came, would be a veritable
plague-spot of malaria and blackwater fever.

We did not need the history books to tell us that Acre was, and is, a
fortress; for the great battlements are still standing, and the massive
walls show little signs of decay. Magnificently situated on a promontory at
the northern end of the bay, it rears its head proudly, as becomes a city
that in twelve hundred years has withstood more sieges than almost any city
in Palestine. It is, too, essentially English in its associations: from the
time of the Crusaders, whose chief stronghold it was, down to within
hailing distance of our own day.

Except for an itinerant stone-merchant the country around has few
attractions; and as we proceeded it grew rougher and more difficult to
negotiate, until it reached a point where all progress seemed likely to
come to an abrupt end. A huge spur of rock, jutting far out into the sea
and shutting off the beach, completely blocked the way; it was as though we
had come to the limits of one country with this great sentinel to bar our
entrance into another. It was the Ladder of Tyre, the geographical