with
water, which collects in pools in every hole. Add four battalions soaked
to the skin. Some men are crouching beneath the shelter of canvas
bivouacs, which no longer keep out the rain: others are wandering about
trying to get warm, and they sink over their boots in mud at every step
they take. Everyone looks thoroughly depressed and miserable. Battalion
Headquarters have selected the side of a slight hollow for their
bivouacs, and a raging stream has formed in the depression, which
gradually rises until it is over the floor of the bivouacs. The only
sign of relief is the Doctor patiently fishing for his field boots in
the stream. It is amusing to recall now, but will those who experienced
it ever forget it.

It cleared from wet to showery on the morning of the 9th, and someone
discovered some sandy soil on the other side of the village, where even
if it continued to rain the water would not lie, and to this we
proceeded in the afternoon. It was a queer procession, as we carried
everything, and our coats and blankets were too wet to roll and had to
be carried over our arms. We looked more like a gang of Russian refugees
on the trek in a film drama, than a part of the British army.

The next two or three days were fortunately dry, though bitterly cold,
and we were able to get our things dried, and our rifles and equipment
cleaned. We remained in this area for a week, but little can be recorded
of our doings. The battle of the Auja was approaching, and expectancy
was in the air. Training was carried on for two or three hours daily,
and all the officers reconnoitred the river and the Turkish positions
beyond.

The river Auja is a winding stream, some 30 to 40 yards in width, and
varying in depth very largely according to the season of the year. It
was only the three or four miles before it entered the sea that
concerned us, and the Turks had taken good care to destroy all the
bridges, except a stone one near Khurbet Hadra, and this one was
naturally strongly guarded. At the mouth of the river there was a ford,
but its exact position was doubtful, and very little was known of its
practicability for troops. Some said it was 18 inches deep, others 4
feet.

The enemy were occupying trenches on the north side of the river. The
ground was marshy near the bank of the stream, except for a narrow strip
of sand about half a mile in breadth which ran along the seashore. The
trenches in the marshy ground had been flooded out