EVERYDAY SCENES IN ASHAR.
ASHAR BARRACKS.
STREET SCENES IN ASHAR.
One Company of the Regiment had travelled out on a different transport—with another Highland unit and arrived a day or so in advance and were awaiting the arrival of the main body at Basrah. They were very interested in the place and were full of their adventures and of rumours. One thing was evident, one thing alone mattered, troops were needed, urgently needed, at the front; and we were at once ordered to proceed up river. The Regiment transshipped in midstream, not even having time to land, and were taken up by two river boats, with barges attached on either side.
Not a man who made that journey and is still alive will ever forget the "P-7" or the "Salimi." The time since leaving France had not been wasted; everything that could possibly be done to keep the men fit and their minds active was done. Physical drill every morning, sports were got up, concerts,—the Colonel himself taking a big interest and share in everything that tended to the comfort of his men. At the best of times, life on a Troopship is a cramped existence, but in comparison to the up river voyages, it is a life of luxury. The world has been scoured for river boats for this campaign; steamers from the Nile, the Irrawady and the Thames are doing excellent work in carrying troops and supplies to the fighting line. Part of the river is so narrow that it is dangerous for paddle boats to attempt the journey without lighters attached as bumping into the sides of the bank the paddle boxes would be smashed. The trip up the river in January is by no means a pleasure one. It is not now! and it was much less so in January 1916. The nights are cold and in the early morning the river is lost in mist. At nights it is usually necessary to tie up at the side of the bank or to anchor in midstream. Only on bright moonlight nights, and not always then, can progress be made. The flood season on the Tigris is at its height about May and continues so till about the end of June. The river gradually falls in July and August and is at its lowest level during the months of September, October and November. It rises during the rains in December and January, sometimes as much as four or five feet, and this keeps the river fairly high during the following two months. In April the river rises still higher owing to the melting of the snow on the mountains in the north. These are the normal changes that come as regularly as winter follows autumn. There may be slight variations such as more rain one winter season than another, for instance, January 1916 was far wetter than January 1917. There are occasional high floods owing to the rain, and in January 1896 the river rose eight feet in one night at Baghdad.