ting and were well supported by the British
and French warships and by the Egyptian troops. The Turks fought bravely
and their artillery shot well if unluckily, but the intentions of the
higher command are still a puzzle to British officers.

Did Djemal Pasha intend to try to break through our position under cover
of demonstrations along a front over ninety miles in length with a total
force, perhaps, of 25,000 men, or was he attempting a reconnoissance in
force? If the former is the case, he must have had a low idea of British
leadership or an amazing belief in the readiness and ability of
sympathizers in Egypt to support the Turk. Certainly he was misinformed
as to our positions, and on the 4th we buried on the eastern bank the
bodies of two men, apparently Syrians or Egyptians, who were found with
their hands tied and their eyes bandaged. Probably they were guides who
had been summarily killed, having unwittingly led the enemy astray. If,
on the other hand, Djemal Pasha was attempting a reconnoissance, it was
a costly business and gave General Wilson a very handsome victory.

Till the last week of January there had been some doubt as to the road
by which the Ottoman Commander in Chief in Syria intended to advance on
the canal. Before the end of the month it was quite clear that what was
then believed to be the Turkish advanced guard, having marched with
admirable rapidity from Beersheba via El Auja, Djebel Libni, and
Djifjaffa, was concentrating in the valleys just east of
Kataib-el-Kheil, a group of hills lying about ten miles east of the
canal, where it enters Lake Timsah. A smaller column detached from this
force was sighted in the hills east of Ismailia Ferry. Smaller bodies
had appeared in the neighborhood of El Kantara and between Suez and the
Bitter Lakes.

The attacks on our advanced posts at El Kantara on the night of Jan. 26
and 27, and at Kubri, near Suez, on the following night, were beaten
off. Hostile guns fired occasional shells, while our warships returned
the compliment at any hostile column that seemed to offer a good target,
and our aeroplanes dropped bombs when they had the chance; but in
general the enemy kept a long distance off and was tantalizing. Our
launches and boats, which were constantly patrolling the canal, could
see him methodically intrenching just out of range of the naval guns.

By the night of Feb. 1 the enemy had prepared his plan of attack. To
judge both from his movements dur