4 lb. rail, was
replaced by that of two ft. gauge, with 14 lb. and 19 lb. rails. There
were quite as great difficulties as in the Turcoman campaign, and the
country to be crossed was entirely unknown. The observations made before
the war spoke of a flat and sandy country. In reality a more uneven
country could not be imagined; alternating slopes of about 1 in 10
continually succeeded each other; and before reaching Kairouan 71/2 miles
of swamp had to be crossed. Nevertheless the horses harnessed to the
railway carriages did on an average twelve to seventeen times the work
of those working ordinary carriages. In that campaign also, on account
of the steep ascents, the use of locomotives had to be given up. The
track served not only for the conveying of victuals, war material, and
cannon, but also of the wounded; and a large number of the survivors of
this campaign owe their lives to this railway, which supplied the means
of their speedy removal without great suffering from the temporary
hospitals, and of carrying the wounded to places where more care could
be bestowed upon them.

The carriages which did duty in this campaign are wagons with a platform
entirely of metal, resting upon eight wheels. The platform is 13 ft. 1
in. in length, and 3 ft. 11 in. in width. The total length with buffers
is 14 ft. 9 in. This carriage may be at will turned into a goods wagon
or a passenger carriage for sixteen persons, with seats back to back, or
an ambulance wagon for eight wounded persons.

For the transport of cannon the French military engineers have adopted
small trucks. A complete equipage, capable of carrying guns weighing
from 3 to 9 tons, is composed of trucks with two or three axles, each
being fitted with a pivot support, by means of which it is made possible
to turn the trucks, with the heaviest pieces of ordnance, on turntables,
and to push them forward without going off the rails at the curves.

The trucks which have been adopted for the service of the new forts in
Paris are drawn by six men, three of whom are stationed at each end of
the gun, and these are capable of moving with the greatest ease guns
weighing 9 tons.

The narrow-gauge railway was tested during the war in Tunis more than in
any preceding campaign, and the military authorities decided, after
peace had been restored in that country, to continue maintaining the
narrow-gauge railways permanently; this is a satisfactory proof of their
having rendered goo