All wheels had to be covered over during the day in order to prevent the
wood shrinking; if this had not been done, very little transport could have
been brought out of the valley at the end of the Brigade's tour of duty!

There is, a little over a mile east of the Jordan, a series of low isolated
hills; upon these was situated our line of defence. Each hill, fortified
with barbed-wire and trenches, constituted a "post". This line was held by
Indian Infantry, the regiments of the cavalry brigade providing the patrols
in "no man's land," which, _several miles wide_, was intersected by
thousands of wadis (providing excellent cover for a stealthy enemy), also a
certain amount of tall grass.

The enemy's position was on the mountains at the eastern side of the Jordan
Valley, completely overlooking ours. Earlier in the year they had crossed
the intervening ground, under cover of darkness, and attempted to send us
to "Jericho". They had found the posts too strong for them, however, and
had retired to the positions now mentioned.

"C" Sub-section was on the left, on the banks of the Wadi Nimrin[19]--a
broad wadi with a small stream running along its centre. This wadi ran
right from the Turkish positions to the Jordan near the Squadron camp. "A"
Sub-section was about half a mile away to the right in the centre of a
cluster of small hills. "A's" horses were between the two Sub-sections, and
"C's" were a few hundred yards behind its position under a cliff beside the
Nimrin. If anything, it was probably more pleasant to be with the sections
in the line than in the Squadron Camp.

Nothing of importance happened during our first week. Shells came over
every day at unexpected moments in odd places, and Boche planes paid