e he seemed to be, like policemen in general, a strong lover
of domestic life. Six wives may have contributed a little towards
overcoming the extreme monotony of life in the place.

Above Ezra's tomb begin the Narrows. The Tigris becomes very narrow,
pouring its filthy yellow water at a great speed between the sharply cut
banks. The turns are so sharp, being at times much more acute than a
right angle, that the only way to get round is to charge the bank, bump
off with a great churning of paddles and creaking of lashings and
clanging of the telegraph from the bridge, and work the steamer's nose
into the centre of the stream again. The banks, at these spots, are
perfectly smooth and polished owing to the constant impacts. By
themselves the river steamers could get round more skilfully, but with
their clumsy barges on each side it was impossible. The S-boats--the
stern wheelers--of which there are only a few, do not carry barges, and
therefore their handiness and speed are much greater. They can run from
Basra to Sheik Saad, close to the front, within three days, and can
travel by night if necessary.

At three in the afternoon as we bumped and scraped and panted up the
tortuous river, we came on the familiar sight of a convoy stuck,
broadside on, across the river in front of us. A little smoke came from
her funnel. The sun beat savagely down on her apparently deserted decks.
Behind her there was nothing but shimmering plain and the occasional
flash of water. Our engine-room telegraph rang. The engines stopped and
we slewed into the bank and dropped anchor. Then the skipper and his
navigating lieutenants withdrew to their cabins and the engine-room
staff, composed of an Englishman who had run boats up to Baghdad for ten
years, and a few Christian Baghdadies--powerful dark men, who seemed to
speak a kind of French--disposed themselves for rest on the lower deck,
and a great peace descended on the scene. Away over the horizon, north
and south, some columns of smoke were visible coming from other convoys
that were converging on the Narrows. It was necessary to wait for the
tide, as well as for a tug. There was nothing to do but to watch the
plain. At first sight it appeared lifeless, an expanse of golden browns,
reds and yellows, with a sharp purple rim on the skyline. But closer
observation showed long lines of cattle, mere dots in the distance,
moving slowly in search of pasture. In the shadow of a hummock an Arab
boy and