had nothing but English money,
and, though we had been given lectures before disembarking on the
values of Egyptian money, we had to pay liberal exchange to these
train-side merchants. Oranges cost us about two cents apiece, though
later on with Egyptian money we bought them three for a half piastre
(three cents). The only station I remember on this trip was because of
its curious-sounding name, Zagizig, where we had a stroll along the
platform and met some of our lordly Sikhs from India, who were all
smiles when they discovered we were Australians. In the early dawn we
disentrained at Koubbeh and after straightening ourselves out from
having been cramped up in those horse-boxes, we started our march of
about ten miles, carrying full pack, to the camp at Zeitoun. But here
there was no arrangement for our breakfast. The New Zealanders and
Australians already camped there had only their own day's rations, and
we had consumed ours on the train. How we cursed the powers that be!
We had humped our eighty-pound packs those weary miles and when we
thought we had arrived--no tucker! There might have been some trouble;
grumbling might have led to action in a raid on somebody's stores, but
for the Y. M. C. A. hut. They served out hot tea and in a few moments
grumbling gave place to "chiaching"; criticism that a few moments ago
had been edged was now good-humored. Give an Australian soldier hot
tea and it will pick him up quicker than any other drink on earth.

CHAPTER VIII

HELIOPOLIS

Our camp was just outside the new city of Heliopolis, which was built
at the cost of about $40,000,000 by a Belgian syndicate to rival Monte
Carlo, but it was a fiasco as a money-making concern. Nevertheless,
there were some gorgeous buildings, and it was a source of constant
interest to us. The Palace Hotel was the most magnificent building I
have ever seen; used by us as a hospital. There was no lack of marble,
and the mosaics were marvellous. The lamp-stands were of a unique and
exquisite design. The contract provided that the pattern should be
destroyed after they were made, so they would not be copied. It was
rather incongruous to see nothing but rows and rows of army cots, and
the white-robed nurses flitting about in rooms that were manifestly
intended for luxurious divans and the evening dress of fashion. Lying
in those cots, one had but to gaze ceilingward, and forget that one was
in a hospital. It required little