ON THE TIGRIS.

Pahiatua Herald, Volume XXII, Issue 5850, 25 September 1917, Page 2

ON THE TIGRIS.

OFICERS INTERESTING JOB. NATIVES AND THEIR WAYS. j London, July 12. An officer in Mesopotamia, sends home some particulars of conditions on the banks of the Tigris. “I have been all. on my own with about men,” he wtrites, “in a. very lonely place. It has been a particularly solitary job' .for me, I being the only officer. Water 1 here isi naturally plenti.. Itil, and T have had a swim morning and evening, while we do not get the dust this snide of the river. The hea.t I can stand but the suffocating sand and dust try one severely. Our job is to ward off attacks from plundering Arabs. “Yesterday some, ‘friendlier' passed, with about 1000 sheep- an' dIOO head of cattle. It is curious to watch these Arabian shepherds rouit'iing up the stray sheep. They have a tin can on a pole. This they rattle and the sheep recognise the sounds of their respective shepherds and tlieir respective cans and rally around accordingly. The cows and bullocks are made to carry sacks of hay anW straw ant! any odd sheep that happen to fall sick. When a sheep' falls sick, one of the Arabs simply springs on the hack of a cow, drags the sheep up after him, and flings it none too gently around the cow’s neck. This flock had a aimed escort,' which was provided by our people with ;i pass, hut- had apparently also- provided itself with old Turkish rifles. “We have made a special friend of one Arab. He is the. officially recog lii.sod 1 tidier’ to the officers and crew of a monitor whcli is stationed near by. The captain came ashore and told me he would provide this gentleman with a pass, and so this welcome dusky official comes across fishes for its and tints gives ns a welcome ration tor ‘breaker.’ The first- morning lie got awfully frightened, for our chap- chivvied him away, not then knowing bis particular mission, this, misundeistanding was soon clear, cti up, and. as the. river is simply alive with the finny tril>o, our Arab friend stands on the bank and nets them in—half a dozen at a "111110. "One other little pleasure we have is the nightly strafe of the jackals, who make an awful noise—something between the civ of a eat and a laughing hyena. Then, agan, there. are the sandflies and the mosquitoes which on calm nights are too horrible for words. As wo are up at 2.30 every morning, you can guess doe pis very precious, and I pray for a breeze tonight, for that eases things considei - nbly Then, in aSJdition to the multitudes -of insects, there is yet another torment —snakes. We killed one 2ft long the other morning—in our drinking water tank, of all plqo<s». “I seem to be ‘O.C. Everything!’ In addition to looking after the men, irationing, etc., I have to purify the water for drinking and attend to the sick, as long as they are mild cases, artel of their seriousness, of course, I have to be thejudge. Rain ! I have not seen any since I left England; how many months, or is it years ago! You would be shocked if I were to quote from our M.H.H., which, being interpreted, means Mesopotamia Hymn of Hate, so T refrain. “I think you would certainly like to have a description of my camp fur. li.ituro. I say ‘my.’ hut 1 share with ,i captain—an excellent .sort. Imagine a Hudson’s soap box minus the top, inverted and with four thin pieces of wood, one at each corner. Voiia, nm- tablet 'My chair? Also a soap lx>\ similarly treated, one side mounted as a back ; and- yet another box serving as a dressing table. My carpets, two in number, improvised l fioni a sandbag (lost, stolen, stravoH or won from the Q.Mand my bedroom is complete. Bathroom? I take yet the third lid of the remaining soap box (nothing wasted, ‘ gentlemen—wa ieconomy) with it my ration of water from the Tigris nrwl with loins girded and towel over my arm 1 step out of- niy tent into—the arms of the Orderly Corporal.”