into the Holy Land of the Christian invaders.

On our arrival at Ana we were told that orders had come through that the
town be evacuated on the following morning. Preparations were made to
blow up the ammunition dump, which was fortunately concentrated in a
series of buildings that joined each other. We warned the inhabitants and
advised them to hide in the caves along the hillsides. We ourselves went
back to the camp which we had occupied near the bridge the night before
entering Ana. During the afternoon Major Edye, a political officer, turned
up, travelling alone with an Arab attendant. He pitched his camp,
consisting of a saddle and blanket, close beside us. He was an
extraordinarily interesting man, with a great gift for languages. In the
course of a year or so's wandering in Abyssinia he had learned both
ancient and modern Abyssinian. There was a famous German Orientalist with
whom he corresponded in the pre-war days. He had mailed him a letter just
at the outbreak, which, written in ancient Abyssinian, must have been a
good deal of a puzzle to the censors.

The main explosion, taking place at the appointed time, was succeeded by
smaller ones, which continued at gradually lengthening intervals
throughout the night. General Cassels, who had commanded the cavalry
brigade so ably throughout the advance, wished to return to Ana on the
following morning in order to check up the thoroughness with which the
dump had been destroyed. He took an escort of armored cars, and as I was
the only one in the batteries who could speak Arabic, my services were
requisitioned. As we approached the town the rattle of the small-arms
ammunition sounded like a Fourth of July celebration. The general noticed
that I had a kodak and asked me to go out into the dump and take some
photographs. There was nothing to do but put on a bold front, but I have
spent happier moments than those in which I edged my way gingerly over the
smoking heaps to a ruined wall from which I could get a good view for my
camera. As I came back a large shell exploded and we hastily moved the
cars farther away.

I went to the mayor's house to find out how the town had fared. He was a
solemn old Arab, and showed me the damage done by the shells with an
absolutely expressionless face. The houses within a fair radius had been
riddled, but the natives had taken our warning and no one had been killed.
After a cup of coffee in a lovely garden on the river-bank, I came bac