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[Page 16]
Hiding a portion of it and stretching as far as the eye could see were the hills on the horizon of rich blue colours, whilst separated from them by a band of purple was the endless red desert looking as vast and endless as the ocean we had lately crossed and as pitiless as when seen at midday when the sun makes it a waving mass of heat. Draped over it is the morning mist and through this veil thousands of camels from the camp silently wend their way across it, led by their Arab drivers swathed from head to foot in their loose black robes, making it all look like one hugh procession of spirits. However, the thoughts that such a scene as this gives rise to are dispelled only too soon by the order to double, for every one of us has sore feet, and unless spirits can use some rather strong language we could certainly not be described as above. During the afternoon we just marched to the other side of the railway line and sat there till it was time to come home. Collins has been made Adjutant of "B" details so we only had Sargeant McDermott over us and as there are no guns, drill except for a negligible amount of foot drill and signalling is not done.
Saturday 6/2/16 – To-day a lot of us went on a round trip arranged by an officer of the Engineers for 20 piastres each, for which we were to be driven to various sights in a trap (gharri) The trip was delayed just after starting by two halves of the column for there were 23 carriages altogether missing one another, but after uniting again we proceeded to Roda Island, being ferried across on a little flat punt propelled by a man sticking a long pole in the bottom of the river. The first spot of interest on the island was Pharoah's garden, and the pool where Pharoah's daughter was supposed to have bathed and also in which she hid Moses. This was according to our guide who was a little French Scout Boy, but the masonry around the pool was certainly not that old, and as he gave us wrong information all through he is most likely wrong. Another point of interest was the Nilometer which is a scale marked in a rock pillar, in order to show how high the Nile rose, at any time, and the Natives used to be taxed by it, for if the river rose higher one year than another they were taxed more heavily. From here we drove to the Coptu Church – Abou Sirgeh, where the wood carvings inlaid with ivory were exquisite. There were three altars, one