net, which weapon in the hands of the Scotsmen the enemy disliked
exceedingly, and not until shortly after dawn did the firing begin upon
those who had not already been killed or captured.

By this excellently stage-managed operation the British line on this part
of the front was secured against attack and the important work in
connection with the transport could be carried out in safety. The railway
was first continued from Gaza to Ludd, after which it swung eastwards to
Artuf, where the old Turkish line was utilised as far as Jerusalem; and
early in 1918 it was possible to leave Cairo at 6.15 p.m. and be in the
Holy City by a quarter to twelve the next morning, the whole journey, with
the exception of the ninety-eight miles between Cairo and Kantara, being
made on the military railway.

By this fine feat and by their incessant labours on the roads round about
Jerusalem the engineers made it possible for an attempt to be made to
improve our position on the right. The operations here were of a curiously
similar character to those on the left just described, for in each case a
swollen and turbulent river loomed large amongst the obstacles to be
overcome, and the object--to secure strong flank positions--was in each
case the same. But in the second attempt the geographical difficulties
alone were enormous. Eastwards from Jerusalem ran what was euphemistically
called a road, surely the worst in all Palestine, which led to Jericho and
the Jordan valley. From a height of two thousand feet above sea level it
descended in a series of jerks, sometimes abruptly, sometimes across a
short plateau; it wound round innumerable and execrable corners, it was
crossed by wadis and streams from all directions, through nearly twenty
miles of unimaginable desolation, and finally, after passing the awful
travesty that once was Jericho, it reached the river. This road was the
main artery in our communications on the right flank.

El Ghor, which comprises the whole of the Jordan Valley, lies thirteen
hundred feet below the level of the sea and is without parallel in the
universe.

Even in March the atmosphere is like that of a Turkish bath and between the
river and the mountains of Moab stretches a vast expanse of mud and
slippery rocks; a country less suitable for military operations could
scarcely be imagined. Thirty miles east of Jericho was the Turkish
stronghold Amman, a town on the Hedjaz railway and the objective of the
attack, which