d his once elegant waxed moustache drooping,
saying in a chant: "The man who gets me out to this ---- country again
isn't born yet." That was when the bullock tongas, after travelling
over the surface of this cradle of the earth all day in search of
certain supplies, returned empty. Chickens and eggs were local produce.
The natives put fancy prices on things. What we paid was supposed to be
a controlled price. It must be remembered that we introduced a lot of
money into the country, and entirely changed the financial standards of
the Arabs. Arab coolies got tenpence a day--that is, their pay was not
far short of the European Tommy. Sometimes they struck for higher wages.
It did not breed a good spirit, but it may have been the best spirit
under the circumstances. It was, at times, necessary to use violence to
_belumchis_, who insolently demanded absurd charges, and a certain padre
gained respect by administering a severe thrashing to one of these
rascals. When the Russians came down, one of them was obstructed for a
moment by an Arab on the river bank. The Russian officer--a big
fellow--picked him up and threw him into the river.

The chickens were poor. Three might weigh in the aggregate a pound and a
half. The supply of eggs was limited when procured through contractors,
but it was possible to obtain a few from other sources. As regards
fruit, there was practically none. Potatoes were procurable in this
part, but not higher up the river. Owing to the intense heat and lack of
storage accommodation, vast quantities of food perished. Piles of boxes
containing cigarettes, that had lain in the sun, were found to contain
nothing but fine dust on being opened. It was the same way with
biscuits. Potatoes rotted in millions. The whole problem was one of
immense difficulty. The milk that was used was almost wholly tinned. The
use of fresh milk which was tried later at Amara was not a very
successful experiment. It required careful boiling, and often curdled
in mass. It was then boiled in a large number of small vessels, with
better results, but the supply drawn from outlying villages, and brought
down by river, was never adequate, and boiled milk is not very pleasant.
Bread was baked in the neighbourhood by army bakers, and eventually,
when proper ovens were made, was good. Sugar was plentiful, sandy in
colour, and full of extraneous matter, but quite adequate. There was no
shortage in tea. Fresh meat was a ration in Basra, but