Mertens received the médaille militaire for his bravery; and it is reported that Admiral Courbet, when complimenting him on the courage he had shown, said: "And you would have had the Legion of Honour had you cried, 'Vive la France!'"
This last, however, is probably a soldier's yarn.
With September came the manœuvres which were held in the south of the province of Oran, and along the Morocco frontier towards the Tuat and the Figuig oases.
My battalion went by train as far as Mecheria, where the column was concentrated.
From this point we proceeded afoot to Ain-Sefra, and thence south, along the caravan routes into the desert.
It was terribly hard work marching through the sand under the scorching African sun, laden as we were with all our kit.
South of Ain-Sefra there is little or no vegetation, save at an occasional oasis. The landscape consists of stretches of sand hillocks, with here and there patches of mimosa and Alfa grass, the monotony being broken only at rare intervals by the brown tents of an Arab encampment.
Fuel was so scarce that it was necessary to burn dry camel dung for cooking purposes. We had been out about ten days when I fell ill with typhoid fever, and was sent back to Sidi-bel-Abbes.
The convoy of sick, of which I was a unit, travelled part of the way by camel or mule cacolet, and the remainder by rail.
It was a terrible journey, and the sufferings I endured will never be erased from my memory. Indeed, even to-day it is a source of wonder to me that I pulled through it, for I was in a sorry state when carried eventually into the military hospital of our garrison town.