OUR EXPEDITIONERY FORCE

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2358, 14 January 1915, Page 6

OUR EXPEDITIONERY FORCE

LETTER FROM ALEXANDRIA

CAMPED UNDER THE PYRAMIDS,

"I expect vou have all heard of our change of plans by this. When we were two days steam from Suez our beat and the flagship of the Australian fleet left at full speed for that port, and all- sorts of rumours were floating round. It was not, however, until the afternoon of the day on which we arrived at Suez that we were told that we may soon disembark. Truth to tell, I was honestly glad in a way, because •we were all getting a bit tired of the long trip. We arrived at Suez in the evening, and remained at anchor there i .i ie® hours. Three of our officers landed at once, and' proceeded on to Cairo bv train. It was then that wo heara that we were all to ' disembark at the Canal, Alexandria,, in Egypt. _ "At • about 9 p.m. we entered the Canal, steaming very slowly. I stayed up for some time watching the trees slip slowly by, but the air got too cold (cold even in tile Suez Canal), and I went to bunk. On waking up the next morning I found that we were enveloped in a thick fog, and had been at anchor for an hour. It was not until 10 a.m. that the fog lifted, and we were able to continue our voyage. Shortly after resuming the Canal became very narrow' —the high banks on either side sloping to the water's edge, and then drop straight to the bottom of \ the CanaL We had heard that the Canal was guairded by Indian and British troops, and about 11 a.m. we saw the Indians. Great Excitement. "How excited they were, and how they cheered us I Needless to say we were all just as excited, and cheered them heartily. ' They were dressed in light khaki uniforms, and all hands were busily engaged in building entrenchments. We could see the wire entanglements and deep trenches all round. Further up wepassed English 'Tommies' in camp. They were engaged in the same work, as the Indians. Later still we passed a large. Indian camel corps, who cheered us like mad. In fact, all along the Canal on both sides were stationed English and Indian troops. Just prior to our arrival at Port Said we nad a splendid view of the salt works, where . there ' are acres of miniature mountains of pure white salt. We arrived at Port Said at 4 p.m. and anchored in the main street, the quays being one side of the main thoroughfares. Lying at anchor were about half-a-dozen French, warships and four British 'barkers.' The narbour was as congested as Willis Street on Christmas Eve. The place was packed with liners and 'launches and cruisers, and lighters. There are several million natives more or less, and they soon swarmed out in their boats to sell fruit aiid cigarettes. Then the coal lighters came out, and the natives got busy ooal,ing. I fahcied_ that .the days of slavery were over. Since I have visited Port Said I know, they are not. From the lighters to the steamer two narrow planks are run out and the natives run along one of these, tip out their basket of coal and run back to the lighter in a continuous circle, and as tney run they sing and jabber in a uniform manner. At each end of the plank stands a well-developed native with a whip, and as soon as a native is caught slackening off from the normal pace he is quickly reminded of it by, the cruel brute's, whip. . A Memorable Scene. "The next day all the other transports commenced to arrive, and at 4 p.m. our boat, together with the rest of the New Zealand fleet, left for Alexandria. By jove, we were given a memorable send-off I Those on the Australian boats cheered us madly, and from the shore, and the French and English warships cheers rang out as we poked the old Maunganui's nose towards the Mediterranean. Each warship honoured us with a salute as we passed, and the bugles rang out far and) near calling in clarion notes, ','Good luck! God bless'you!" It was a stirring sight, and made us all feel very proud. On rising next morning wa found wo had tied up to the land of the Pharaohs— we,were at Alexandria.

At Alexandria. "We berthed right away alongside the quay, and commenced to disembark. To-day.is Sunday, but the.work is still proceeding. The New Zealand Contingent camp at Ziotun, via Palais Kubba, which is about five miles from Cairo. Our camp is only a few minutes'' walk from the Pyramids, so we will all see them,' and rub noses with, the' Sphinx. .. .. . I have been up to town (Cairo), and found much there that was squalid and unspeakably dirty. The, Square, however, is beautifully laid out. In the centre is a beautiful'avenue of trees, and at one end is a magnificent Bourse, with a heavily pillared facade and a broad verandah. It is in this quarter | of the city that rank and fashion abide -where society ashej its gauds at one, and one feels that khaki is not perhaps the most delicate shade and texture in men's tweeds. And the French women! Oh, my! How can they dress. They are so appallingly neat and perfect in stylo. So are the Frenchmen, egad! I'll have to get my putties pressed this evening, and grease my boots afresh. • . • • They are all French and Egyptians here. The slum areas are absolutely the most filthy, and swelly I've seen. Haining Street would be a swell streetin Cairo's slum land., and the view of it from Taranaki Street would be a delicate art painting compared with what one may see here on a slumming expedition. The stone-paved streets are covered with black, slimy, smellful mud, with donkeys, pigs, fowls, and human beings all mixed up in it. Lazy, good-for-nothing, half-starved descendants of Cleopatra hang about low forbidding doors, too tired to brush the flies from the corners of their eyes. Ain't it sickenin'. "To Defend a Great Idea." "I send you an_ interesting cutting from the 'Egyptian Gazette,' which speaks for itself.. "The extract is as follows: — " 'First the Indians, then the Manchester boys, and now the New Zealanders and Australians. So our own special little pageant of Empire runs on. It is something after all to live at this small but important junction on the great communication line. And what a moving show! From the snowy heights of the Himalayas and the plains of the Punjab, from Lancashire's teeming hives of industry, from the Antipodoan Islands of the Pacifie Ocean, and the great southern Continent of Australia they come at Old England's call, to defend a great idea, perhaps the greatest idea the world has_ ever seen—the British Empire. This is what Enver Pasha has run his sillv little head against! Our latest defenders, the New'Zealan'ders and Australians, are already winning their way into everybody's hearts. As some of tliem were marching along the Pyramids Road on Thursday night, they were loudly cheered bv crowds of Europeans and natives; this, wo may tell them, means something, for cheers are very rare in Egypt. Forty centuries look down on these breezy sons of our lusty young Dominions. One almost feels sorry for the Turks. _ They are asked to cross a desert (which is difficult) and nnpotiato floods (which are more difficult), and then stand up to the Indians and Englishmen and Australians, who are waiting for them on chosen ground —which is most difficult of all. W ihev ».