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[Page 56]
and in the distance we could see a number of tents. We knew this to be one of the Arab camps which our Greek friend had warned us of, so we gave this a good-bye. When we had gone a little further we came to a dry bed of a small creek with thick bushes growing up all along. We decided to go in hiding here till the following evening. It was about 3 a.m. and we were dead tired. It was not long before we were fast asleep. In the evening just before sunset, the water question began to trouble us again, so we started to follow the bed of this creek along in the chance of finding water. When we had gone a few hundred yards two Arab soldiers passed us not 50 yards away. We immediately fell down behind a bush and they passed on without seeing us so we decided to go no further till dark. When we did move off again it was not long before we struck good water and then we knew we were right for the night. This night the travelling was good and we did not meet anybody so we made excellent progress Towards morning we made our way towards a small hill which was our custom as we could take a bearing during the day of the surrounding country. When we got to the top of this hill there was very little cover. Just a few small stunted pine trees, we could not go to the next hill as it would be daylight before we got there so we had to stop where we were and chance it. We cut come of the branches off the pine trees to afford a shelter from the sun. Then we waited for day to break. When it did we were delighted to see the sea in the distance and the town of Mersina. Our Greek friend had directed us to go to a small creek about seven miles to the west of Mersine very near to the ruins of an old Greek City. So we judged that we had about 25 miles to do. That night after dusk we moved off again to find the travelling good and plenty of water. Towards morning as usual we made towards a hill. This hill proved to be much the same as the one we were on the previous day, the cover being bad so we made a shelter of pine tree branches as before. When day broke we found ourselves about nine miles in from Messine with a small village either side of us. We slept that day about 4 in the afternoon we heard voices approaching and soon we could see some Turkish children. They appeared to be gathering wood. However we lay low and did not whisper. They passed within five yards of us and did not see us. If they did they did not show any signs of having seen us. That night we moved off again. It was not long before we crossed a small stream of good water. The travelling was fairly good but a lot of villages about whenever we came near these villages all the dogs commenced barking. This was rather an advantage as it was a good warning. Towards morning we crossed another creek. We knew we could not reach the coast that night, so we went in hiding in a large clump of bushes. When day broke we found we were dangerously near a village and about five miles from the sea. However all went well during the day. That night we reached the beach about 11 p.m. (after crossing the main road from Mersini to