High Over The Centre Brigade
Flew The Black Flag Of The Khalifa, And Underneath A Smaller Flash Of Red
Marked The Position Of The Headquarters Staff.
The black masses of men
continued to move slowly across the open ground while we fired at the
flying Arabs, and at twelve o'clock we saw them halt near the river about
three miles from the city.
Orders now reached us to join them, and as the
sun was hot, the day dragged, all were tired and hungry, and the horses
needed water, we were not long in complying, and the remnants of the
Dervish army made good their retreat unmolested.
We marched back to the Nile. The whole force had halted to drink, to eat,
and to rest at Khor Shambat. The scene was striking. Imagine a six hundred
yards stretch of the Suez Canal. Both banks are crowded with brown- or
chocolate-clad figures. The northern side is completely covered with the
swarming infantry of the British division. Thousands of animals - the horses
of the cavalry, the artillery mules, the transport camels - fill the spaces
and the foreground. Multitudes of khaki-clad men are sitting in rows on the
slopes. Hundreds are standing by the brim or actually in the red muddy
water. All are drinking deeply. Two or three carcasses, lying in the
shallows, show that the soldiers are thirsty rather than particular.
On all sides water-bottles are being filled from the welcome Nile, which
has come into the desert to refresh the weary animals and men.
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