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Up fairly early to complete my packing & after early breakfast fell in with the picquet of 150 men & moved off at 8 o'c on our 9 mile march to Kasr-el-Nil barracks, the headquarters of the Cairo Town Picquets, arriving a little before 12 o'clock.
They are very extensive barracks on the very bank of the Nile, & cover some 4 or 5 acres, this area being subdivided into squares by the barracks which are 3 stories high. Parts are occupied by the British tommies, Devons as far as I have seen, the remainder by the 500 to 600 men doing picquet. The outer barrack square is used as a dumping ground for army goods & is visited daily by A.S.C. [Army Service Corps] people who take out tents, nose-bags, blankets, etc, etc.
After lunch had to take a picquet of 20 men & start duty at once, my beat being in one of the worst parts of Cairo, but only from 2 till 7, not nearly as bad as the 7 till 11 beat. Although broad daylight some of the most degrading sights imaginable came under notice, but made no arrests. An Egyptian woman murdered bu another on my beat but the whole case attended to by the "gyppy" police.
Too tired after tea to do anything but turn in, the orderly having everything very comfortably arranged.
Tuesday 21 March 1916
A beautiful day like yesterday.
Got up abt 8 o'clock & after breakfast went round to Pension Wales for a while & then trotted round to one or two of the native quarters to obtain some snaps that I wanted, including 2 or 3 more of the Sultan's guard.
On coming in at lunch time was delighted to receive 9 letters, 1 from Father, 1 from Anna & 7 from C. South people, & 1 from Lawry.
During the afternoon on duty at the same spot & made 1 arrest. Stayed in chatting after tea.