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[Page 29]
horseshoe-shaped contrivance sunk in front of the post. I also observed numbers of "T" shaped holes sunk in the bank but do not know what these were for. A railway line runs alongside the canal. There is a fence erected to keep the sand from driving over the railway line. There were are several stations along the line. They are usually roofed with red tiles one storey high of a light ocherous colour picked out in a white or dull red. A mile or so from the canal regular groves of trees are growing. They appear to be some variety of pine. This is to be observed after leaving the lake. The country there is sandy, with a low tufted isolated shrub growing. We passed one military encampment in a state of defence ready for attack and several outposts.
The troops were all natives of India. After dinner we passed much marshy country and some that has been flooded as a hindrance to the Turk. The English stations usually comprised, in addition to the residential buildings, a dozen or so of semi-detached houses (with bars over the windows. These may have been prisons, as the bars would seem to indicate. At Port Said [indecipherable] are used in lieu of cabs. There are few lorries or drays(at least I saw none) but the vehicle most in use is a little hand cart. This has two short shafts running out from a floor with no railing around it or side support of any kind. Under this is a box-like affair from the front of which [indecipherable] two short legs. Two rather small wheels are placed to the back of this