ing above and praying to Providence that none would land
on my sail cloth roof. In about half an hour the bombardment ceased
and one wondered what damage had been done and how many lives lost. I
then slept. At breakfast the next morning remarking on the bombardment
I was asked "which"? "Which?" I replied, "why last night's of course,"
"Yes, but the first or second?" "Well, I only heard one," I said. "Oh!
another took place at midnight," I was informed. I had slept through
it and had not heard a sound. So trench life must tire one out
somewhat to enable one to sleep so soundly as to be unaware of a
bombardment. On still nights when possible the very perfection of the
night made men less inclined to fire rifles at each other's trenches.
I used to hear a Turk singing. He had a deep rich voice and I often
stood in the front line or in a communication trench listening to him
as his voice carried across "No Man's Land" from the Turkish line 120
yards away. It used to fascinate me quite a lot and one felt that
under the eastern sky, in the land of Sinbad the Sailor and Omar
Khayyam that war had not quite killed romance. I wonder what happened
to that singer. I wonder if in the great push to Baghdad and beyond he
was killed or if he is now singing to his fellow-prisoners in
captivity in India, or if he is still cheering on his comrades in the
front line further up the Tigris. I don't suppose one will ever know,
but if he should ever read these lines I would like him to know he not
only cheered his own side but gave pleasure to at least one of his
enemies.

[Illustration: The Ship Of The Desert Plays An Important Part In
Mesopotamia.]

[Illustration: Ruins Of "Old Bassorah."]

We used to have three Officers' Messes when in the trenches. The
Headquarters Mess presided over by the Colonel and two Company Messes,
presided over by their respective Company Commanders. The Headquarters
Mess was a very comfortable affair, a big dug-out, and made in such a
way that ground formed the table in the middle and seats all around,
the sides were well banked up with sand bags and outside a small ante
room where one could sit and smoke in the evening, and the roof was
the sky and a very wonderful sky during those long rainless cloudless
months. Round about the Headquarters, the Colonel, the Adjutant, the
Doctor, the Sergeant-Major, had their dug-outs, and the Mess did for
Orderly Room also. The Company Messes were not so elaborate, and were