endowment. It was arranged that Doctor Borrie, who among his other duties
ran the civil hospital at Busra, should periodically include Zobeir in his
rounds. The Sheikh showed us over the building. It was cool, comfortable,
and very sanitary. The Indian who was to be resident physician had every
appearance of intelligence and proficiency. Old Ibrahim gave us a large
banquet of the orthodox type. There was a sheep roasted whole, and dishes
of every sort of meat and vegetable marshalled upon the table, which
fairly groaned beneath their weight. We had innumerable speeches. General
Sutton made an excellent address, which an interpreter translated into
Arabic. Our Arabian hosts were long-winded, and the recognized local
orator was so classical in his phrases and forms and tenses that it was
impossible to do more than get the general drift of what he said. Luckily
I had in my pocket a copy of the _Lusiads_, which I surreptitiously read
when the speeches became hopelessly long drawn out.

I was allotted space on a British India, boat, the _Torrilla_, that was to
take to Egypt a field artillery regiment of the Third Division. As we
dropped down-stream and I watched a disconsolate Yusuf standing on the
dock, I felt that another chapter had closed--an interesting one at that.
I was not left long to muse on what the next would bring forth before
there was a cry of "fire"; and from where I was standing in the
smoking-room I could see, through the open hatchways, the soldiers
hurrying about below decks. As the ship was well ballasted with
ammunition, anything that happened would, take place quickly, and only
those on the spot could hope to control events, so I stayed where I was. A
few minutes later the fire was reported out.

The long two weeks' trip through the Persian Gulf and round to the Red Sea
was monotonously peaceful. Being "unattached," I had no regular duties.
Occasionally I attended "stables," and wandered around the horse lines.