though curious tasting
water, and canteens were soon being let down into it at the end of
puttees in a hopeless effort to cope with our thirst, after which the
bolder spirits went so far as to nibble a ration biscuit. But one cannot
help reflecting on what might have been the consequences for us if the
Turks had adopted the German policy of well-poisoning.

We afterwards heard that the Turks, evacuating Abu Hamrah on our
approach, had taken up a strong rear guard position at Katia, and had
beaten off the cavalry, who had retired behind us to water their horses
and get a much needed night's rest. The Turks had seized their
opportunity and slipped away during the night. As far as we were
concerned they were welcome to slip.

The story of the Battle of Romani can be read elsewhere. It was not an
infantry show--at any rate on our side--though elements of the 52nd
Division saw some fighting. No praise can be too high for the endurance
and fine fighting quality of our cavalry, both Anzac and English. And it
is reckoned that the Turks lost a good half of their force, either
killed or captured, before they outdistanced the mounted pursuit.

The Battalion remained at Katia until August 14th. The oasis consisted
of a broad crescent of palm trees running for two or three miles round a
sabkhet. Great clusters of dates hung from most of the trees--but they
were still unripe, not sour or bitter but very hard and with a curious
stringent taste. The Turks had plainly considered them a valuable
addition to their rations--for in every Turkish trench and sniper's hole
we found their stones and sticks; and while we were free of the
well-water we found that we could make them quite palatable by boiling
them in a canteen. In the middle of the circle of palms stood a little
mosque or Sheikh's tomb with a big dark tree, perhaps a tamarisk, beside
it, and bricks and other remains showed that there had at some time been
other modest dwelling-places in the neighbourhood.

At night we usually moved out to an outpost line in the sand ridges
beyond the oasis. The Turks dropped a few shells along these on the 6th,
but after that the fighting, still kept up by the cavalry, moved far out
of range to the east. By day the bulk of the force came down among the
trees, while the outpost companies were able to rig up some kind of
shelter from the sun with the blankets which camels had brought up by
the 9th, one to two men. Providence perpetrated a huge p