again. The Australians and New
Zealanders had fixed themselves into the crests of a series of high
sandy cliffs, covered, wherever they were not quite sheer, with box
scrub. These cliffs were not in the least like what they had seemed to
be through our glasses when we reconnoitred them at a distance of a mile
or more from the shore. Still less were they like what I had originally
imagined them to be from the map. Their features were tumbled, twisted,
scarred--unclimbable, one would have said, were it not that their faces
were now pock-marked with caves like large sand-martin holes, wherein
the men were resting or taking refuge from the sniping. From the
trenches that ran along the crest a hot fire was being kept up, and
swarms of bullets sang through the air, far overhead for the most part,
to drop into the sea that lay around us. Yet all the time there were
full five hundred men fooling about stark naked on the water's edge or
swimming, shouting and enjoying themselves as it might be at Margate.
Not a sign to show that they possess the things called nerves. While we
were looking, there was an alarm, and long, lean figures darted out of
the caves on the face of the cliffs and scooted into the firing line,
stooping low as they ran along the crest. The clatter of the musketry
was redoubled by the echoing cliffs, and I thought we had dropped in for
a scrap of some dimensions as we disembarked upon a fragile little
floating pier and were met by Birdie and Admiral Thursby. A full General
landing to inspect overseas is entitled to a salute of 17 guns--well, I
got my dues. But there is no crisis; things are quieter than they have
been since the landing, Birdie says, and the Turks for the time being
have been beat. He tells me several men have already been shot whilst
bathing but there is no use trying to stop it: they take the off chance.
So together we made our way up a steep spur, and in two hours had
traversed the first line trenches and taken in the lie of the land. Half
way we met Generals Bridges and Godley, and had a talk with them, my
first, with Bridges, since Duntroon days in Australia. From the heights
we could look down on to the strip of sand running Northwards from Ari
Burnu towards Suvla Bay. There were machine guns here which wiped out
the landing parties whenever they tried to get ashore North of the
present line. The New Zealanders took these with the bayonet, and we
held five or six hundred yards more coast l