aining a well-manned Turkish fort which could be knocked
about without damaging other buildings in the town if we were careful.
It was also a rallying-point for Turkish influence, and it was not
conducive to our prestige or politically desirable that it should
flourish unmolested.

I was in the "Fox" again for that occasion, she being the senior ship of
the patrol and the only one that could land an adequate force if
required.

The evening before we anchored far out on the fishing-grounds of Hasani
Island, and I managed to pick up a fisherman who knew where the Turkish
hidden position was, outside the town, and, having been held a prisoner
once in their Customs building, could point that out too. Next morning
we stood slowly in for Um-Lejj with the steam-cutter groping ahead for
the channel, which is about as tortuous a piece of navigation as you can
get off this coast, and that is saying a good deal.

When we cleared for action I went to my usual post on the bridge with
the S.N.O. and took my fisherman-friend with me. The civil population
was streaming out of the town across the open plain in all directions
like ants from an over-turned ant-hill, probably realising that we meant
business this time. This was all to the good, as otherwise I should have
had to go close in with the steam-cutter, a white flag and a megaphone
to warn Arab civilians; thus giving the Turks time to clear, besides the
chance of a sitting-shot at us if they thought my address to the
townsfolk a violation of the rules of war, which, technically, it might
be.

However, the fort was a fixture and our business was first of all with
it. Standing close in, the ship turned southwards and moved slowly
abreast of the town. The port battery of four-point-sevens loaded with
H.E. and the two six-inchers fore and aft swung out-board and followed
suit. The occasion called for fine shooting, as a minaret rose just to
the right of the fort, and the houses were so massed about it that there
was only one clear shot--up the street leading from the beach past the
main gate.

"At the southern gate of the fort, each gun to fire as it comes to bear
up the street from the water-side."

As I turned my glasses on the big portico of the southern gate, out
stepped a Turkish officer who regarded us intently; the next instant the
bridge shook to the crashing concussion of our forward six-inch, and
through a drifting haze of gas-fume I saw him blotted out by the orange