sands of animals and the bodies of dead
Turks and Germans."

On the 22nd, our cavalry moved up the Jordan Valley and seized the ford
at Jisr-ed-Damieh, thus cutting off the last possible means of escape.
Prisoners were surrendering in thousands. They looked weak and
exhausted; in many cases they had fled over a parched country and
beneath a burning sun for three or four days, without touching a drop of
water. Their plight was pitiable. By that evening, the Turkish armies
west of the Jordan had ceased to exist.

There still remained the Turkish 4th army in Eastern Palestine. An
expedition, consisting largely of cavalry, was sent against them. These
crossed the Jordan Valley, and, moving up the eastern slopes, on the
23rd September captured Es Salt, and, on the 26th, Amman. A day or two
later, the Turkish force south of Amman, about 10,000 strong,
surrendered. The remainder of the Turkish 4th army tried to withdraw.
They were closely pursued by our cavalry and airmen, and, to some
extent, cut off by the Arab forces of the King of the Hejaz. Many
prisoners were taken from this army, while, such as could do so, made
their escape to Damascus.

The whole of Palestine, south of, and including the Plain of Esdraelon,
was now in the hands of the British and their Arab allies. But there was
still work to be done in a sweep forward towards Damascus. The Turks had
some reserves at Damascus, and with these, and the remnants of their 4th
army, they attempted to check our advance against that city.
Accordingly, they sent a small force down to the Upper Jordan, that is,
to the river north of the Sea of Galilee. This force, which consisted of
Germans, Turks and Circassians, was rushed down from Damascus in
motor-lorries, in order to deny the crossing at Jisr Benat Yakub. They
blew up the bridge and covered the crossing with machine guns. On the
27th our cavalry, pushing north from Tiberias, swam the river both to
the south and to the north of this crossing, and surprised and captured
many of the enemy. They then, with armoured cars, pushed forward along
the main Tiberias-Damascus road.

On the same day, other cavalry joined hands with the Arab army at Deraa.
From this point, also, cavalry and armoured cars pushed northward. It
seemed a question whether this force or that from Jisr Benat Yakub would
be the first to reach Damascus, as both forces were rapidly approaching
the city from the south and south-west respectively. The advance