A SOLDIER'S DIARY.

LIFE ON THE BANKS OF THE CANAL.

NEW ZEALANDERS UNDER FIItE

Extracts from the diary of Private li. J.. ivnight, of the 2nd (South •Canterbury)' iiegiinent, New Zealand, Main iJxi>eainonary Force:— . .■„ ■

January 26, 1915.—Entrained." at Zeitoun at 3 p.m., and came on to Isrnaihii, bivouacked next to the railway station, overy man-carrying full equipment—lifloj 150 rounds of ammunition, and field outiifc, with 24 hours' rations. Two loaves of bread were issued to each tent of eight or nine men, as the eatve may be, and the remainder of the 24 hours' rations consisted of one's own water bottle full, and a couple of pots, of jam for each tent of No. five platoon, the gift of Lieut. Lawry.

January 27.—The first occasion on which a good many of.us have seen an' aeroplane in flight. Two ascended here this morning; one of these came in from, a/ flight yesterday just rj.ddled j with bullets, but luckily neither the | pilot nor the machinery was damaged". We are near the actual fight here, for I as wa-.aro drilling and being instructed in passing orders and firel, control, as the. routine.is this morning, we can hear the artillery (our own) firing just on the other ;side- of. the Suez Canal, which is jiist about two miles over. 1 heaii'tf .later'.that.•■they, ifired ,47 rounds at a Turkish column which was advancing across their front,; and caused them to move further out. We are not going direct:, into . the trenches, as, we at first believed, but we are the first line of reserves, . and are to hold '..p.uiv ,selves in readiness to reinforce at any moment. January 28. — Some bayonet fighting practice in the morning, close order drill, and an attack practice in the afternoon. Two of the eight aeroplanes make anascent here each day, it seems, and we always get a good view of them, we are all settling ;down .fine now to bivouacking., and don't,miss the tents, at fill. Bill and I make a double bed, nud as we each got away with three blankets instead of two, we sleep vyarm and comfy. January 29.—There are only two battalions here (Auckland and- Canterbury), and we are all lined up for inspection at 9 a.m. by the C.O.C. Canal j Defences, General Younghusband, a big, fine-looking mn?i with a lame lerr, and a couple of s of "ribbons. In a 1 short speech ■)<■•> -aid, "New Zorlanders,. I am su.-* yon will lx> tc know you wero V>-<rr'ht her* you were wn»>'•', ..""-hi lur-^ r long wav f>-^;- '-tir .b~-rn'"' --ru 1 have already .«• ?. r'"-'-i nt'vv in this country, which I know you will keep. In a day or two you will he required in _tlve trendies j > for the enemy < is- advancing, though, of., course, we don't know his plans. 'You'will .be fed, and must always fill your water bottles when possible, and with rifle, ammunition, and overcoat, you will get on very well for a weok or two." -Then the two battalions wero shaken out into artillery formation, and so on, in an attack practice-.; after going about a mile thebugles sounded "Stand fast," and w<? were' all recalled. Lieutenant Lawry told us at lunch time that the General wa&.extremey .well pleased with us, and .would be quite willing to lead us any•.whet^:"i;;. IJtfr vthe ,aft«rnoqn we marched tiirougii";the native quarters of Ismailia to the canip station, and practised entraining, and back W our own camp at 6.30 p.m. Bill-and I walked up the town in the evening, and it was a vast imprpreinent on. Cairo—much cleaner. and the' streets well kept and planted with ornamental trees. Six piastres was the lowest we could get a feed for, but we enjoyed tho chop and two eggs immensely, as we wore starving. January 30.—Parade at 8.30 a.m. for pitching the tents, which hove arrived, now that we care not whether we get them or not to sleep in. 'Plane? ft'rrf quite common! sights now,and no;one takes much notice of them flying over; I have been acting as observer to Major Grant since we came here, a permanent position for field work, but tbp Colonel has said that Sergeant-Mnior .Edmonds, >' must. be the Major's < •righthand man, and he will do without an observer. In the afternoon, battalion parade at 2 p.m. with towels, nnd wp indulge in a grand, swim in tho lok<> behind Ismailia. whioh is part of thp | canal. There is a gunboat out about j a mile from the shore, and all stumor traffic must come right round hehiiy?. it. An'pamntly r,ow bur training iflfinished nufl wo will jog along and endeavour to keep fit. V

31.—Parade with towels at 8.45 a.m! for another swim We also have church parade on the engineers' ground in among the trees. There are beautiful gardens and grounds in this town. Speaking to Colonel \B— — on the train, he said his battalion (Otago) had fired a few shots, but no casualties. February 1.-*—Platoon drill all tho morning, and parade for swimming at 2 p.m.,. but we carry equipment, rifles, and 150 rounds of ammunition as usual, for it is reported that 4000 Turks ■ are., about 'nine' miles from here, with some fairly heavy guns. To-night 20 men from No. fire are detailed for a fatigue from 8.30 till 10.30, probably to unload ammunition, of which there is accumulating a large quantity here. February 2.—Parade at 9 a.m. for rifle inspection at the armourer-ser-geant's, and sharpening bayonets. During the morning we could Hear the heavy artillery at work at different points along the canal, and incessant musketry fire all the time. As I write now (12 norm), I can hear heavy guns booming. One platoon has just turned out at tho double with only the handles of their entrenching tools to force some of the natives that are lagging back or hiding,- to board the train*along with the others. About .1000 Egyptians were hurried along the railway yard with, their bundles ■of belongings, by native police, and by some of our boys with- their batons. ' We '•' are sitting waiting for word to move, and, incidentally, for somo dinner, with everything ready for action. 2 p.m.: Parade in.full marching order, and we move off through the town- and on to a ferry across'tho canal/; We occupy soinil! trenches overlooking the enemy's country for about seven or eight miles, but it is just dusk, and sentries are set. After arranging ammunition, and fixing bayonets to prepare for a night attack, to Ho down for a snooze.

February 3.—My first day under fire. Called up at 4.50 a.m. to. stand to firms, which is always done on active service, as attacks are usually commenced at daybreak. Wo are all disappointed, as nothing unusual .happens, and the desert in front wears its accustomed appearance. Pickets are com-

ing and going on our front; About 6.15 a.m. the first shot is fired from the Turkish batteries, and a shrapnel bursts about 200 yards from us. That is the start of a fusilade from both sides. Plenty of the enemy's shrapnel is bursting, about here, and on the lake, which is. within a stone's throw, there are two or three, boats, which are getting -a, hot time. Shrapnel are screaming overhead now as I write. Two aeroplanes are out now, drawing some shrapnel, too. One of bur.;bbart r taries is only. 60 yards from here,, and is dealing ie out hot, but it is drawing | the -lire,;. on itself ,7 and,, incidentally, on us.' Tho French cruiser in the lake if doing some good work with* her. 10-inch guns 7 but all the small craft are duck-. nig hke scaided cats away to the top of" the lake nearest the town. I have boon looking over the trenches here at some of the advancing Turks, and 1 saw some hit by shell fire; they are less than two miles away. They haven't gob our range yet, though. The shrapnel is coming right over and masting about half a mile further on. We have to keep down below the edge of the trench, but we have an excellent view of. all the country behind and the ...lake, etc., and ..all .the men here are laughing at the natives; and canal workers, who find '■ ■themselves unpleasantly close- to theWtiursting shrapnel^ and are going for their very, lives.;, ;];; tell you, whoever reads this, it is funny as anything to watch, but really,!; it's no laughing matter. : - It?s in deadly earnest, and I've; heard sweeter music than shells whistling, past. The jjartil-s ler^, fire kept up all day, but "from, atiqiit 3 o'clock very little was heard: of t'the enemy. There 1 were four fairsized cargo or pas-senger boats on: Lake; Timsah,: and,;.ono bf these, a New^Zea-i land Shipping Company's boat, had:ai; least two v'iian;.ow shaves.,. one:. shell; bursting just astern -of -her. and one to: starboard* An jtrmoured .cruiser* or, hea\-7 armed merchantman, in the,' Navy service, got some rough ii'eat-; mont; 'tbe rear funnel was split open and torn about and the bridge. and awnings badly smashed, but , she.steamed out towards Port Said in the! afternoon. We; were told that her'l captain had both legs shot away, and the pilot an arm, by shrapnel. Last night, also, ab Kantara, 40 Turks we: killed, and 50 wounded, in an attempi; to rush the trenches. The bodies Were with difficulty drawn from the barbed.; wire entanglements. Strange to say.; as if in'sympathy with the unrest of; •war, the wpnther has been sympa-: thetically r«tli"tv, cold wind and; rain showers all alov-cc. and it makes things very cold at night.. Our cooks cam? up in the afternoon, and by 6 p.m. wo got a hot cup and a ladle- of stew each, which /whs decent, though little enough. (To be continued.)