mer regard the
three caliphs who followed Mohammed as his legitimate successors,
whereas the latter hold them to be usurpers, and believe that his
cousin and son-in-law, Ali, husband of Fatimah, together with their sons
Husein and Hasan, are the prophet's true inheritors. Ali was assassinated
near Nejef, which city is sacred to his memory, and his son Husein was
killed at Kerbela; so these two cities are the greatest of the Shiah
shrines. The Turks belong almost without exception to the Sunni sect,
whereas the Persians and a large percentage of the Arabs inhabiting
Mesopotamia are Shiahs.

The country around Samarra is not unlike in character the southern part of
Arizona and northern Sonora. There are the same barren hills and the same
glaring heat. The soil is not sand, but a fine dust which permeates
everything, even the steel uniform-cases which I had always regarded as
proof against all conditions. The parching effect was so great that it was
not only necessary to keep all leather objects thoroughly oiled but the
covers of my books cracked and curled up until I hit upon the plan of
greasing them well also. In the alluvial lowlands trench-digging was a
simple affair, but along the hills we found a pebbly conglomerate that
gave much trouble.

Opinion was divided as to whether the Turk would attempt to advance down
the Tigris. Things had gone badly with our forces in Palestine at the
first battle of Gaza; but here we had an exceedingly strong position, and
the consensus of opinion seemed to be that the enemy would think twice
before he stormed it. Their base was at Tekrit, almost thirty miles away.
However, about ten miles distant stood a small village called Daur, which
the Turks held in considerable force. Between Daur and Samarra there was
nothing but desert, with gazelles and jackals the only permanent
inhabitants. Into this no man's land both sides sent patrols, who met in
occasional skirmishes. For reconnaissance work we used light-armored
motor-cars, known throughout the army as Lam cars, a name formed by the
initial letters of their titles. These cars were Rolls-Royces, and with
their armor-plate weighed between three and three-quarters and four tons.
They were proof against the ordinary bullet but not against the
armor-piercing. When I came out to Mesopotamia I intended to lay my plans
for a transfer to the cavalry, but after I had seen the cars at work I
changed about and asked to be seconded to that branch