cted by rail without change of
carriage being necessary. The future prospects of this railway seem
unbounded. It will undoubtedly be continued through to Damascus and
Aleppo, where it will connect with railways to Constantinople and to
Baghdad and the Persian Gulf. Thus it will form part of a grand trunk
railway system along the old caravan routes connecting the three
continents of Europe, Asia, and Africa. In its conception, it was just a
military railway, laid, with but little preparation, across the sands of
the desert. To this railway, however, was largely due the success of the
campaign that we are about to consider.

We have already seen that the Sinaitic Desert is almost waterless.
Although it has often been crossed by invading armies in both
directions, the provision of water has always presented the greatest
difficulty. The carriage of water in tanks upon the backs of camels, a
method used by us for locally supplying troops between water dumps and
the headquarters of units, proved successful here thousands of years
ago. The plan adopted by the Turks of dragging water-holding pontoons
across the desert was not to be despised. Further progress was made when
supplies of water were transported in tank-trucks along the railway. But
a bolder adaptation of modern science to desert fighting was reached,
when it was decided to lay on a piped supply of water from the Nile.

We have seen that the western bank of the Suez Canal was already
provided with a plentiful supply of fresh water by the Sweet Water
Canal. Plant was now installed for making this water available for the
troops. Purity had to be considered as well as adequacy of supply. A
peculiar danger had to be guarded against. There is a disease prevalent
in Egypt, of a particularly unpleasant character and persistent type,
called by the medical profession Bilhaziosis, but better known to our
men as "Bill Harris." This disease is conveyed by a parasitic worm found
in the waters of the Nile, and affects not only those who drink the
water, but also those who bathe in it or merely wash. Consequently,
orders were stringent against even touching Nile water which had not
previously been treated. This necessitated the troops east of the Canal
being put upon a very restricted supply, and they were accordingly
rationed at the rate of a gallon of water per head per day for all
purposes, including washing, cooking and drinking. At the Kantara
waterworks water was drawn in fr