there is
little reason to rejoice.

The 7th Brigade was now a reserve for the 5th and 6th Brigades. A
reconnaissance of the route to the front line was therefore made. A
military road under construction had already run some miles out into the
desert. On this were working numerous gangs of Egyptian labourers and
many strings of camels. These animals in this part of the country seemed
to be as numerous as cattle in Australia.[Q] Quarries had been opened at
the few places near by. A pipe to carry water to the advanced positions
was also being laid alongside the road at the rate of over a mile a day.

The desert is almost pure sand, and very trying for man and beast.
Numerous hills, some of which are over 300 feet high, make the going
difficult. The summits of these hills present a razor-like edge, and the
wind keeps the sand continuously in motion in the form of a miniature
cascade stretching along the whole of the crest.

The line occupied by the troops was some 12,000 yards out from the
Canal. Trenches, heavily revetted with sandbags and protected by barbed
wire, had been dug and were thinly manned, the main portions of the
garrisons being sheltered in tents pitched in convenient hollows. Here
the Australians led a dolorous existence, without even the distraction
of shell fire or an adjacent enemy. Away out in front detachments
mounted on camels, and an occasional aeroplane, looked for signs of a
Turkish approach.

The 28th did not remain long at Staging Camp. On the 6th February it
moved back to the Canal bank near the crossing point--Ferry Post--and
took over from the 30th Battalion the duties connected with the inner
defences at this part.

The defences consisted of a bridgehead system, the earthworks of which
had been constructed in the spoil taken out during the excavation and
dredging of the Canal. The southern flank rested on the shore of Lake
Timsah, whilst the northern flank terminated on the Canal bank some two
miles above Ferry Post. At this extremity of the line "A" Company was
located and had, with the support of the Machine Gun Section, to
garrison two posts named Bench Mark and Ridge Post. Here they led a life
of comparative ease. At night time the trenches were thinly manned, and
at all times a guard was maintained on a neighbouring dredge. But for
the rest, bathing and fishing were the main diversions of Captain
Macrae's men. A small pontoon, left by the Turks twelve months earlier,
was on charge t