NEW ZEALANDERS IN EGYPT

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLVIII, Issue XLVIII, 18 February 1915, Page 4

NEW ZEALANDERS IN EGYPT

AN INTERESTING LETTER. SATISFAGTIGN~WITH THE MEN'S - SHOWING* ■ '.. '-' The Pi ess has been permitted to mako the following extracts Irom * lott « £"> tcx from Zdtoun Camp by a« oftcei of, the Main New Zealand Expeditjpnary Force, to his wife in Christchurch >- 29-12-'l4.—Had 'the entrenching implements issued, and two Canterbury companies practised digging-m with it. In the sandy soil, lying down, cover can "bo got -in five minutes. # 30-12-'l4.—The division was inspected. by General Birdwood, - the Army Corps Commander. In the afternoon tho lab and 2nd (Canterbury) Companies went out to bivouac., and, to do all night out, posts. The work of tht-2nd (Cantetr burv) Company was especially .good./: it, was a beautiful moonlight night, and very cool, and quite' eerie, out\in _tho desert with the ghosts' of the millions who have lived andvdied h«£Mduring the past 6000 years. Had to turn , out early, as ivc had an attack at dawn; by the Ist. Company. Aitei- breakfast 7e carried, out field firing. V/Tho::«$&* two companies have been on the rang? all the week. « . .' .. -' : 31-12-'l4.—-After the inspection-yester-day I went to I>r. ffflwd. Generals Bird wood and . Godlcy ■ and. all their/ 'staffs" were : there,' also tho.two bri-adiers. The military --cemetery in old° Cairo is a very- pretty ;.place, surlounded by lovely ; trees, inside a high stone wall! I- Little 1 canals > run veverywhere, and there are shrubs and flowers in'profusion.- Poor Bell is-.a4ong way from home, but, ; his resting very peaceful arid beautiful, onflv- On the Sun?' journey-W «ad to one Of the; mounted ■ firing- We wa£ thrown: ; badly;-; win have?fe bV sent fWall his Kfe. J Bad liick ior-J-him. • Saw Se played all round ,ca<mpy •£*££ great M deal ;of singing Lang rumours are going about that wc are shortly going to have a go at the TurTw, v We also hear that new rifle* »"d foreign-serywo kits have arrived for us. ■Mffy™Js& received'■ 50 copies bf,a/fcr**ure; Note? From the : Front,' by the It is full of information, and but I gather from it that-the; Canterbury Regiment been wprking on are quite sound, and there is nothing to unteachv thennicn. !' A' s 'i a fact,, the.Canterbury officers tell: me; ; #»a£ they, are very/; pleased with, men are shaping now, v ai^rwhdp is aaoV'to'-Jeam7-yeV::|ihe^cerß-feel.thab the Brigadier ;thi^ SO-flOr" ''"; V,:-" '•> '/■■}-''Y\\'l'/- , -:'.^''.: : '.'h' '?**:><' V ! "-!^...

A "HAPPY" DAY. - \ 2-l-'ls. —Three of us wont shooting 1 ,, and although we did.not got much,of a bag, had a great "time. An Arab guide called Hassen arrived at 5 a.m. with a> Victoria, and we drove out beyond tho Pyramids; some 20 miles" from camp. Native roads, raised high above the surrounding country to enable them to be used when the Nile overflows, were very uneven, but tho springe and xubber. tyres made the riding easy." Going oyer* we met crowds of with swings of camels'and-'donkeys/all bringing m produce, lucerne, maize, vegetables, etca, to the markets. The waters had only receded about a month, and.,already crops of .peas, beans,"> wheatj etcV.wero springing arpL , Thefeoil-is black&nd very fertile. J • Plcfughs are-vnot Used, a.hoe beings—the .implement. In soime rases the seed is just, sown broadcast while the mud is still liquid. We passed a number of native village®, whicb, tqr thiee months, are islands. Skinny sheep with brown faces and broad tails, quaint Egyptian cattle with concave noses, and necks, and horns, also concave, lying - back along their necks; .camels and:dpnkeys s alore > goats, , dpge. and a -stMty broken-down horse, , hacked the *oaas and made piogi'ess - sibw. LoavingvUW carriages—the secoiid-ono held the, obiter guides, who acted as beaters, a" man Jo cai'ry the lunch, and a boy for message*, qiut'o a retinue, in fact —at a village tro wero ferried over a canal, and eoon wete tramping down cotton plantations, where we got a few snips. It was 'heavy going, - the mud .being awful. It seemed Kke glue, arid < ( soon , our feet were the size of a -tobacco' oox, and as heavyAfter leaving' the cotton we were earned over numerous creeks after some plover, but could not get'near enough to get?* , shot. We came across, swae --nativee fishing in a pond not yet They had built small mud walls to localise the fish and then paddled round feeling wity. - their hands and-feet. gotiquite,a lot of .fish}' something like a guffy.,WhUp we were having, lunch angola man came up with, Ihree,* like-snakes/ each ahoufc two feet long, in & bag.' ►"I, don't think £hev were poisonous, ■hi ,n an ™ brought bloocf. ". He just pulled them off, and did not seem to mind. Hassan p brother Abdul was my marker, and'*, very intelligent vand, ..interesting ifellow he was. He has only one wife, and; four children. He showed me with pride a letter from some English 'fellow, « for whom lie had acted for the last 12 years, . enclosing fi,ve pounds for his eldestvboy s education. Hassan is"a most picturesque fellow, with a fascinating face. He has . two wives, and.,he knows how to manage them. He was~-marTietl at 15, and his wife was' 13.' He" has- only had to thrash her once, when he caught hor talking over the fence .to • her . brother and another man. He apparently tied her up and beat her till the blood'ran down, since when he has had no'•further trouble!** "She fear me," he added significantly. I asked him if his two.wWes wero good (and he s&ld yes. His modus opei-andi^. in< case > | simple;;if 'either(.did anything bad.-.to the other, they knew she would bo turned out without her marriage papers being returned,' and in that case she could not marry again. « He was quite - a,lJceligious fellow; praying five times a - day. ,when too. busy, duringthe day, he made up leeway at night. He also' expounded the • tenets of Mohammedanism . very clearly. Abdul's wife has only been, ott,t of the house twice in 14 years'. "If him I go out, I tell him I send him away,'.: Quite simple.. I wanted to know how "him" filled in the time. "Him milk cow, make butter and cheese, cook, and look after babies." He even had put-. -ft . pump in the - houso so that tho poor 1 tiling could not even visit the * ( yilfage -well. After lunch wo got a few quail, and tried for some ducks, but could* not get near enough,, they wero too 1 -wild-, Wo saw two jackals and lots of crpws and hawks. Wo also saw a man clipping a camel, lining a large pair of scissors, . ono blade of -which was at right angles to the other. Wo got back to ,'camp about 8, and turned in, rather w.eajry, but wc had a "happy" day, as one., the ''guides put it. •