NEWS FROM EGYPT.

Timaru Herald, Volume CII, Issue 15579, 11 February 1915, Page 5

NEWS FROM EGYPT.

BY CORPORAL C. IMAI.THUS, M.A. i Yesterday wo published a long letter from Corporal C. Malthus, M.A. Today wo publish extracts from another letter by the same writer to his mother iu Timaru. Writing under date JVc. 'JO, Corporal Malthus says:— "Tin.' English newspapers, which came by yesterday's man, say ibat tno -Australians and -Now Zealauders aro I training m Egypt, and will go 10 the I front in Ecbruary. Uf course thai is ! only newspaper talk, and not official. i Ijui 1 tiiiiiK Jt- is probably right, li it i | is, we will bo very fortunate in having Jiad a pleasant holiday here; but it we are kept much longer than that, 1 believe we will get 10 bate the place. Itis just an ideal place for a course of' military training, lint tbere is nothing I homely or comiortablo in our life. 1 I would give anything to sleep in a ! bed, or eat a home mea!, or sit in an : arm-chair in a familiar room. There j is .plenty of fresh air in the desert —in I fact, it is horribly chilly in the early | hours-—but the dust is awful when we j are on the march, ami the sun is I scorching hot at mid-day. There is practically no wind here;. 1 think ibat j accounts for the great heat. Our con- j ditions aro being much improved by \ the erection of dining sheds, which we '; expect to use in about a fortnight. It will })o miles better than ' - pigging' : in ■ our tents. At first wo hoped to got straw mattresses, such as the English ; troops have, but now- we are quite ■ reconciled to the sand. I really think j I could sleep on the clothes line "or ativ- • where now. The sand is very dusty— ' more like cloy dust or gravel—so to ! keep our blankets from getting tool filthy, wo have to water the floor of! the tent, and it sets as hard as concrete. | You would think slecn was impossible ! on such a bed, but wo never had anv j trouble from the first—l suppose, be- ; cause we aro thoroughly tired everv i night. Our time-table has been sliglnlv ' altered since hist week. Reveille is i now at o-.'lO, breakfast- 0.30. day's work j 7.15 to -2, with haversack ration, ritle I parade 0.30 to 4, and dinner at .",. The ' alteration was very unpopular, on ae-! count of the early" rising, and also be- | cause «e either have to get dinner intown, which is very expensive here, or' 01-o cut our leave short bv staying in camp for it. To make un for this."our leave was extended till VJ. which makes ! the evening m uoh better, but also . makes sleep a rather scarce commoditv. ; Our scouts have had some pleasant outings in the Oasis—a big stretch of fertile country to the north of o-ir camp. Cairo lies due south, and there is desert on the east and west, bur ro tno north there is this Oasis, wonder- ■ fully fertile Kind, and thickly dotted with villages. For the last few davs we have been out in the desert with the regiment, but. for tile week before that no went out every day, in patrols of seven, iim. rambling round exploring the country, for practice in sanee. It is irrigation time .'u-t now. • and you have to stick to the footpaths which divide the fields —there are no fences—or else follow the bridle j tracks along the banks of the onaN. j J hero is a canal about every mile ,-r I ie.-vs. and any nuniber of fool-path.-. j which are raised a foot- or so above the | level of the fields. The fields theu,~ ■ selves are divided by ditclies into -iutd' ( area" about ten yards suoare. The water is allowed to flow through ;h--.-.-ditches, and practically swamp.- the fields, though there is no water shoving thioiig!'. the young given crops. 'l'ho chief crimps are maize, sugar and lice, also alfalqua (a kind of fi.d'i.-i like luccrne'i. cotton, millet, and plenty of date plantations. The land-cap. s are wonderfully beautiful, and t ; -e villages picturesque but filthy. The land yields about Llii profit per -a, v. i three and sometimes four crop- a vcar. The country folk are ho:u--i "aed obliging, very ililfotviu from the •.-.>- raff of Cairo. Jhc- head of tie- village generally comes nut in state ~-, •_;-.-. • us. and his perfocilv dig-.ili. d hearl'tg is ipiite embarrassing. 'I he\ latr--. ; : \,. verv plainly, for the ■-.-ik,- which t-nv bring i:.- as a soeeia! tr.-ai i- a-uttt! - ■s'.uu l haw itut. really •..,.;. gga h <>i Cairo yet. I have boon in iov. r, several evenings., but it is hope—:blo , to find the way anywhere at night. ;•>.'..: ; we generally keep to the centre of ll ■■ '] town. We had a good chance ,u" sigh:- , seeing this afternoon, but it was ) ■■ <i •_ hot to bother. Upsides I can't get \ anyone to come and see the tilings ? that, are worth seeing. They all think : old buildings ami monument.- an awnn ; bore. 1 am hoping to get about with ( Hall-Jones, but our regimen;.- have : been .loing different work all the week. , and I have not seen him since Men- ' day. I had a trip to the Pyramid- la-: 1 Sunday, but Jul m-.i eiij.iy it note'.. !•> fact I was thoroughly di-illusiottod. <«i" r course it was .-omeihtgg .-ii-iuallv \ > -- the Pyramids an.! the Sphinx-- ; h. i wonders of t!tc world—but it wa- really i much nicer ',,., -ee pictures and imagine ;

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