Item 03: Joseph George Burgess war diary, 1 January 1916-4 February 1917 - Page 165
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[Page 165]
22 Aug, 1916
Train Cairo to Alex
Out of quad at last. Out into the street alive, alive with color & life. It was a brisk trip in the motor waggon to the station & now we are bowling along on the Train right merrily What a beaut it is after white wash walls & pyjamas. On each side extend fields of rich green above it is bright blue. here & there are drab villages with quiet shades of brown grey & orange only the dome of a mosque showing up with dazzling whiteness in the bright sun shine; patches of date palms with bunches of rich brown & wine colored clusters hanging, & in the field are the people working listlesly.
Along the road we pass some camels moving lazily, an Egyptian on a donkey, looking pompous under his big umbrella, Above the horizon some clouds as soft looking & white as wool drift ceaslessly along & merge at last into a shimmer among the tree tops. Egypt! unobstrusive, & quietly [indecipherable] [Line?] your Sphinx, camels, bright star flecked nights, & boundless sandy deserts.