o
be. We reached Amara in the darkness of the evening, and anchored near
the Rawal Pindi Hospital. Owing to a case of cholera that had developed
that day on the starboard barge, we were put in quarantine, so it was
necessary to unpack one's kit again and shake down for the night on
deck. One of the most refractory mules kicked itself loose of its
moorings and fell into the stream in the darkness. Several men risked
their lives in rescuing it. One would have thought, seeing that it had
been the noisiest and most vicious brute on the barge, that drowning was
scarcely good enough for it. And what is a wife to think of her husband
when she is told that he was drowned while gallantly attempting to
rescue from the swift current of the Tigris a mule that could swim far
better than he could? As no one was drowned, perhaps it is unnecessary
to ask the question.

[Illustration: ARAB BELUM ON TIGRIS.]

VIII

AMARA

We reached Amara about the middle of July. At that time there was
practically nothing happening at the front, but the sickness was great.
Amara, by reason of its openness, was a little fresher than Basra, but
the temperature was high. It was 125 degrees in the shade on the day
following our arrival.

The white low houses line along the river front on the left bank in a
more orderly fashion than at Ashar. A bridge of boats connects the two
banks. This bridge, which existed before the war, swings open from the
centre and lets traffic through. On the right bank a few houses were
scattered amongst thick groves of palms. There is somehow a more
oriental spirit at Amara than at Basra. The _belums_ are more
fantastically curved, the mystery of the town more apparent, and the
narrow-domed bazaar, full of dim light and vivid colour, is permeated
with the spirit of the Arabian Nights. There are some cunning craftsmen
in the bazaar, particularly the silver-and gold-smiths, who make
exquisite inlaid work. They do this after the manner of true artists, in
that they work seemingly more by a process of thought and feeling rather
than with the aid of tools. For they sit on the ground with a bowl of
water, a small charcoal fire, a strip of metal, and a deeply preoccupied
look, and after a time the article is finished. The overlaying of silver
by antimony is their particular craft. Owing to the orders they
received, they soon began to charge prohibitive prices. At certain times
it was possible to get egret feathers, and al