4. The Egyptian Red Cross Hospital at Cairo.

(Visited on January 4, 1917.)

The Egyptian Red Cross, under the presidency of His Highness Prince Fuad Pasha, being anxious to help its co-religionists, founded in March, 1915, a hospital for sick and wounded prisoners of war. This hospital is under the sole management of the Turkish Red Cross, which is in touch with the British authorities through Dr. Keatinge, Professor of the Faculty of Medicine at Cairo.

Sanitary Staff.—All the hospital doctors are Egyptian. In addition to the doctor-in-chief, Dr. Abbas Bey Helmey, two doctors, three surgeons, and one druggist live in the hospital.

Consulting doctors come from the town when sent for to treat nose, ear and eye troubles. A Cairo specialist also places his X-ray apparatus at the service of the hospital patients. The matron is an American, and has three English nurses under her.

Thirty-two orderlies do the ward work.

Accommodation.—The Egyptian Red Cross Hospital is installed in an old palace of Omar-Pasha Lufti, situated in a large garden, which is very shady and well kept. The dimensions of the wards assure easy circulation of air and perfect ventilation. As the building was not designed to serve its present purpose, the various staffs are somewhat scattered, but this difficulty has been got over in a most practical manner. A huge corridor gives communication between the wards, which are usually 23 feet square and 26 feet high. The large wards considerably exceed these measurements, and their tasteful decoration gives them a characteristic style. On the first floor, the rooms for the consumptive patients measure 16 by 16 by 13 feet—a very good cubical allowance for the four beds in each. The floor is of large flag-stones. Most of the rooms command the garden and a courtyard planted with trees. The building occupied by the guard is quite separate from the hospital. Electricity is used throughout the buildings.

Bedding.—The iron bedsteads, painted with white ripolin, are separated from one another by pedestal tables. The spring mattress, stuffed mattress, sheets and pillows are in very sound condition. There is no limit set to the number of blankets allowed. The beds are covered with pretty blue and white quilts, with the Red Cross in the middle. This quite recent innovation has a very pretty effect.

Food.—The commissariat is arranged by contract with a head cook. The menus are drawn up by the doctors according to the diet prescribed. We tasted the day's food and found it excellent. All provisions examined by us were of good quality and carefully overlooked. The kitchen, with its well-fitted ranges and polished utensils, struck us favourably. The cooking and attendance is done by persons engaged by the chef.

Each man is provided with two bowls of tinned copper and a drinking cup. All invalids get sweetened tea twice a day. Officers may choose tea or coffee. The following is the hospital dietary:

FOR OFFICERS.

• Breakfast: European bread; fresh milk; 3 eggs; tea; coffee.
• Lunch: Mutton; two dishes of vegetables, or macaroni rice; salad; rice pudding; coffee; fruit.
• Dinner: The same as lunch, but without fruit.

ORDINARY DIET.

• Breakfast: Arab bread; sweetened fresh milk.
• Lunch: Arab bread; beef; rice, vegetables.
• Dinner: Arab bread; rice soup; rice pudding.

MILK DIET.

• Breakfast: Bread, 350 grm.; sweetened milk.
• Lunch: Arab bread; soup; beef-tea; rice pudding.
• Dinner: Bread, 350 grm.; sweetened milk.

FEVER DIET.

• Breakfast: Milk, 400 grm., without sugar.
• Lunch: 400 grm. of milk without sugar.
• Dinner: 400 grm. of milk without sugar.

On Sunday and Thursday mutton is replaced by game. On the same two days a course of sweetened rice and macaroni is substituted for fruit. The ration of Arab bread is 780 grammes for ordinary diet; that of European bread 450 grammes. The proportion of other articles is equally liberal.

Clothing.—The sick men's garments are consigned to a storehouse, and are replaced by 2 nightshirts, a hospital jacket with a hood, and a pair of slippers.

Hygiene.—Drinking water is drawn from the town main and filtered before use. There is an ample installation of lavatories with running water, baths with hot and cold douches, and Turkish baths. Turkish latrines have been fitted in the annexes of the palace. Natives do the laundry work and ironing.

Special Quarters.—The Red Cross Hospital is provided with a spacious, well-lighted theatre for operations, and all the necessary apparatus. In a neighbouring ward a powerful fumigating stove, built by natives after a French model, enables instruments and dressings to be completely sterilised. Since the introduction of this perfected method of sterilisation cases of infection and erysipelas have entirely disappeared from the hospital, and post-operation mortality has been reduced to barely one quarter per cent.

There is a laboratory devoted to summary analyses; more complete chemical or bacteriological analyses are carried out in the town institution. The dispensary is well supplied, containing all the most modern medicaments.

Six wards are reserved for tuberculous cases, who have their own special nurses. Such consumptives as are not confined to bed pass most of the day in one of the palace gardens which is assigned to them.

One ward is occupied by wounded officers; another by the non-commissioned officers. Two more wards are set apart for patients suffering from dysentery. Operation cases are assembled in a special chamber adjoining the theatre. Three comfortable English hospital tents erected in the garden serve as accommodation for convalescents who have to vacate their beds in the palace when an unexpected influx of sick or wounded prisoners takes place. All the wards are clean and well kept; at the head of each bed is a medical chart detailing the illness and the temperature.

Sickness.—Since March 17, 1915, the date of its foundation, up to the day of our visit, the Egyptian Red Cross Hospital has treated 2,245 wounded or sick prisoners.

There are at the present time 149 prisoners under treatment, 8 Ottoman officers and 141 soldiers, distributed as follows:

Surgical cases (wounds): 66; among them 13 invalids and 6 who have undergone amputation and have been detained a long time in the hospital.

Internal ailments: 38; we may mention among the most serious cases of this kind noticed by us, 4 suffering from bilious haemoglobinurea, all from Bagdad; 6 from dysentery, anaemic and enfeebled patients; 4 from chronic nephritis.

Eye affections: 25.

Consumptives: 20.

Which make up the total of 149 cases.

Among the officers under treatment we may mention: 1 wounded right knee, 1 scalp wound, 1 compound fracture of the thigh, 1 neck wound, 1 bullet wound in the chest, 1 bullet wound in the face, all recent cases coming from El Arish.

Deaths:

The dead were buried in the Musulman cemetery with military honours, such comrades as were well enough attending the ceremony.

5. The Cairo Citadel Camp.

(Visited on January 3, 1917.)

This camp occupies the curious Jewel-Palace, one of the monuments of the citadel, and contains only women and children coming from Hedjaz, who were captured near Mecca.

The dates of arrival are as follows:

Numbers.—The total includes 229 women and 207 children (7 of whom were born in camp), and a further batch of 200 women is expected shortly.

The Head Matron is Miss Lewis. It is she who has the management and full control of this camp, which, by its character and its diversity of nationalities, classes and religions, demands great patience, tact and kindness—qualities possessed in the highest degree by Miss Lewis. She devotes herself entirely, and most capably, to this often very ungrateful task, and we welcome this chance of conveying to her the expression of our appreciation.

Those interned are divided into three classes. The first class consists of officers' wives and children; the second class, of those of the non-commissioned officers; and the third class, of soldiers' wives and servants. This classification has been adopted in order that the dormitories shall be occupied by persons of as nearly as possible the same social standing.

Accommodation.—The important group of buildings known as Saleh-el-din (Saladin) comprises a great number of rooms whose size and curious ornateness contrast strangely with their present use as a concentration camp for civilian prisoners. From the windows of these apartments one looks across the panorama of Cairo, with its mosques, its minarets and the misty background of the desert.

The 40 inhabited rooms are allotted in three sections, corresponding to the social classification established for the interned women.

The rooms and corridors are paved throughout with marble, but the general distribution of mats and even beautiful carpets gives an impression of comfort. The large dimensions of the chambers, as compared with the smallness of the number of occupants, give plenty of room for exercise and work. Corridors and vestibules connect the different buildings. They are lighted with paraffin lamps.

An extensive garden is always at the prisoners' disposal.

Bedding.—The japanned iron bedsteads are furnished with spring and stuffed mattresses, sheets, blankets, and pillows. In their arrangement one notices the influence of personal taste. Embroidered coverlets, hangings and upholstery give to some of the apartments an aspect of comfort and even of elegance. The military administration supplies all the furniture and the regulation bedding, to which the inmates may add what they like at their own expense.

Dress.—The English authorities supply women and children with all their linen and other clothing.

Food.—Provisioning is a private enterprise, carried out under a contract. The food is the same for all classes, and is unlimited in quantity. The women are given as much as they desire of each dish. No complaint was made concerning the food, which is wholesome and palatable. We visited the kitchen and sampled the day's menu. Milk in large quantities is provided for the children. The meals are served in three well-appointed dining-rooms.

The hours for meals are:

• Breakfast, from 7.30 to 8.30.
• Lunch, from 12.30 to 1.80.
• Supper, from 5.30 to 6.80.

Hygiene.—Water is supplied from the town mains. Lavatories are installed in the corridors near the dormitories. The inmates may have hot and cold baths every day. As to laundry work, those of the first class can have it done by their own servants or pay the third-class women to do it.

The W.C.'s consist of movable tubs on the Turkish system, each containing a solution of cresol. They are emptied daily by contract into the citadel cesspool, which communicates with the main sewer of Cairo.

Medical Care and Illnesses.—The Head Physician, Captain Scrimgeour, comes to the camp every day; a Greek doctor also visits it four times a week at 9 o'clock in the morning. These two doctors both speak Turkish and Arabic fluently. Three trained nurses and an English midwife take charge of the infirmary. As Moslems usually have very good teeth, the services of a dentist are not often needed.

The infirmary is very commodious. It consists of a consulting-room, with a couch for examinations; a surgery, and a sick ward.

In the infirmary register the name, the disease, the treatment and the course of the illness are all duly noted.

When the internment camp was opened a hundred prisoners applied for treatment daily; many had suffered great privations previous to their capture. At the present time only 5 or 10 patients take advantage of the doctor's visit; and these are mild cases, chiefly bronchitis, constipation, diarrhoea, and eye affections among women and children, and some cases of heart affections and chronic bronchitis among the old people.

There is neither malaria, dysentery nor typhus in the camp, and no epidemic malady. An early case of tuberculosis, without Koch's bacillus in the sputa, was cured.

On the day of our visit to the infirmary we found 5 patients in bed or crouched in the oriental manner upon their bedsteads; 1 suffering from senile paralysis, 2 from bronchitis, 1 from inflammation of the ears, and 1 from general debility.

Maternity.—Confinements not being uncommon, it was necessary to establish a maternity ward. There were 5 births during the last three months of 1915. Two more occurred upon the day we inspected the camp, mothers and infants doing well.

Deaths.—Up to that time there had only been one death at the Citadel Camp, that of a baby prematurely born, which died from debility at the age of 18 days.

Education.—A school has been started in the camp, and all boys as well as girls up to 12 years old are obliged to attend it. A mistress teaches them Turkish and Arabic, and also gives them half an hour's instruction in English daily.

Religious Services.—The imaum came once to hold a Mahometan service, but the interned women expressed no desire that he should repeat his visit. However, an old woman, chosen from among them, reads the Koran aloud upon feast days.

Intellectual Diversions.—The women seem to have no needs or desires on this score. They pass their days in talking and smoking.

The camp has been presented with a gramophone.

Work.—This is absolutely voluntary. The head nurse has organised a little dressmaking class, the wife of a former president, Sir B. McMahon, having given her £10 with which to buy the necessary materials. The results will be divided equally among those who did the work, but as most of the women have plenty of money they are not energetic over it.

Money.—Many of those interned had money on them, sometimes a large amount, when captured; the whole of which has been left in their hands. They often send money through the agency of British officers to their husbands who are prisoners in Maadi Camp, or at Sidi Bishr, near Alexandria. Others, on the contrary, receive allowances from their husbands. Some money orders have also come through the International Red Cross Committee.

Correspondence.—Each person interned has the chance of writing once a week; those who do not know how to write get help from their companions. An interpreter is attached to the camp. Many letters arrive through the medium of the International Red Cross Committee, but the exchange of correspondence is not generally very active.

Wishes of the Interned.—Some of the women express a wish to see their husbands more often, at least once a month; others wish to see their sons or brothers who are prisoners at Maadi or at Sidi Bishr. This being a legitimate and comprehensible desire, the English Government has several times already allowed the husbands to come from these camps (4 hours distant by train) to spend three or four days with their wives in the Citadel. A part of the building containing 12 rooms has been reserved for these visits. But it would clearly be impossible to permit these indulgences often, as they entail considerable expense, and require much organisation and surveillance.

Repatriation.—Some of the women beg to be sent back to Turkey, which the British Government has already offered to do. Many, on the other hand, prefer to remain in Cairo. The American chargé d'affaires in Egypt, M. Knabenschuh, is considering this question. He has visited the camp several times, and has transmitted different propositions of the English Government to the Sublime Porte. The first offer was to repatriate the interned women and children by means of an American vessel, which would land them at the port of Mersina in Asia Minor. The second was to take them back to Turkey in an English hospital ship, which should at the same time carry medical supplies, food and clothing to the English prisoners in Asia Minor, and bring away about 25 English ladies who had been made prisoners in Mesopotamia. Finally, the English Government offered to repatriate the Turkish women without any reciprocity conditions. Unhappily, up to now all these proposals have borne no fruit. The English Government sincerely desires to be freed from the maintenance and surveillance of these people, whom it took under its care merely for reasons of humanity.

Special Inquiry at the Citadel Camp.—During our visit to the Maadi Camp, Dr. Suleïman Bey, head physician at Taïf, a town of the Hedjaz, told us that he had personally nothing to complain of in the camp treatment, but that his wife and children, interned in the Cairo Citadel, were suffering greatly from the conditions there. What he especially criticised was the diet and the medical attendance. These complaints, made in much detail, seemed to us to deserve a specific inquiry, and we went again to the Citadel next day. We closely cross-questioned Mme. S. and another of the ladies. Her replies, collected and confronted with the official data, our personal observations, and the testimony of the other interned, absolutely convinced us that Dr. Suleïman's accusations had no real foundation. Mme. S. assured us that meat was only provided three times weekly. We have proof that meat is served six times each week, a quarter of an English pound being supplied to each person. After telling us that the cheese and olives were of the worst quality, she finished by owning that she only found the cheese too salt and the olives monotonous. Mme. S., who purchased coffee, biscuits, fruit and bonbons at the canteen, would not touch ordinary bread because it was not good enough for her. This bread, which is provided by the best bakery in Cairo, is served fresh twice a day to whoever desires it. Mme. S. has enough money to buy any food that she wishes, either from the canteen or by ordering it in from the town. Her companions, less rich and less dainty, find the food provided by the camp kitchen both excellent and abundant.

As Dr. Suleïman Bey complained that his two sick children, interned at the Citadel with their mother, received no medical care, they were examined by Dr. Blanchod. The one suffered on its arrival in camp from ophthalmia, now completely cured, no trace of photophobia remains, no redness nor oedema; the other had its sub-maxillary glands enlarged; these glands are now reduced and nothing to worry about.

These two children have received constant care from (Dr.) Captain Scrimgeour, their names are repeatedly entered in the infirmary register, and their mother herself expressed gratitude for the care which had been lavished upon them.

Dr. Suleïman Bey's complaints upon this point therefore proved equally inexact.

6. The Ras-el-Tin Camp.

(Visited January 5, 1917.)

This camp of interned civilians is situated on a rising ground beside the sea, 5 kilometres (3 miles) from Alexandria.

The camp contains 45 Ottoman civilians of military age, and 24 others; the latter are all elderly men, or have been exempted from military service owing to illness. There is one priest (imaum). We also found 400 Austro-Germans interned at Ras-el-Tin; many of them had been in Egypt when war was declared and could not get home.

Though our mission was to visit the Turkish prisoners, we made a point of concerning ourselves equally with the Austrians and Germans, and of entering into conversation with them.

Several Ottoman prisoners in the camp were making the pilgrimage to Mecca when they were captured by the Sherif's troops and passed over to the English authorities, who interned them. The camp at Ras-el-Tin was to be evacuated in a few days' time, and all the occupants were to be transferred to Sidi Bishr Camp, now prepared to accommodate 5,000 men. In this camp there will be a special section for civilians.

The commandant of Ras-el-Tin is Major F.G. Owens, who takes the greatest interest in his prisoners. Every day he personally receives anyone who has a wish or a complaint to bring forward.

The camp was visited in 1916 by the American Consul from Alexandria, and also by the American chargé d'affaires from Athens.

Accommodation.—The civilians interned in the camp of Ras-el-Tin are placed in tents. These circular tents, set up either on the sand or on a cement base, each contain three men. Those of the Ottoman prisoners form one sectional group of 24 tents. In the centre of each tent is a wire-work cupboard to contain personal belongings. The space inside the tent is ample for the three beds. Some prisoners are provided with matting and small rugs.

In the stone buildings surrounding the court a certain number of rooms are reserved which open upon a veranda. Each contains three beds. These comfortably fitted-up chambers are assigned to elderly prisoners or to those in weak health. The rest of the camp buildings are occupied by the administrative quarters, the kitchens, refectories, canteens, etc. The English guard is lodged under canvas in a special section. The camp is lighted by electricity.

Bedding.—The bedsteads are iron provided with a wire-spring mattress, a squab of vegetable fibre and a sufficient number of blankets. All the bedding is kept scrupulously clean.

Food.—The commissariat is supplied by a private contractor. A committee presided over by the camp commandant, and composed of delegates from among the prisoners, arrange the menus for each week. The kitchen is very clean, and the prisoners do not provide the personnel.

Here is the menu for Friday, January 5, 1917, the day of our visit:

• Breakfast: Porridge; milk; chocolate; butter; bread.
• Lunch: Haricot soup; ragoût of beef and potatoes.
• Dinner: Rice soup; hashed meat (moussaka), with vegetables; eggs; tea.

The prisoners' menu is extended on Thursdays and Sundays by an extra dish and cake of some sort. We examined the day's provision in the kitchen, and found it wholesome and appetising. When pork is included in the menu, which happens rarely, this item is replaced, in the case of the Turkish prisoners, by a dish of eggs and vegetables.

A second kitchen staff, installed in a separate room, prepares a special menu which the prisoners can have by paying for it. The commandant himself authorised the reservation of this kitchen to provide for such prisoners as possess ample means.

Here is the extra menu for January 5, 1917:

• Lunch: Italian dumplings; roast veal; salad and gherkins.
• Dinner: Soup "parmentier"; fish croquettes; braised beef with cabbage.

The meals are served at:

• Breakfast, half-past seven.
• Lunch, one o'clock.
• Dinner, half-past five.

Three canteens furnish all kinds of commodities to the prisoners—ham, sausages, preserves, cakes, chocolate, fruits, wine, beer, etc. The prices are exactly the same as in the English army canteens. A shop, run by a Bulgarian merchant, is permitted for the sale of tobacco, cigars and cigarettes. Besides this there is a Viennese who makes cigarettes in the camp itself. On Christmas Day the commandant made a generous distribution of cigarettes to all the interned men at his own expense. They can also obtain at the bar tea, coffee and other drinks. In point of fact, we made sure that the camp administration has organised the commissariat in a manner that meets all needs.

Clothing.—The men arrived in camp in their own clothes. When these began to wear out the administration furnished a new outfit, which consists of two flannel shirts, two knitted pairs of drawers, a vest and trousers of blue cloth, an overcoat, a police hat or a fez for the Turks, socks and slippers. The Mahometans receive Turkish slippers. All prisoners have a red scarf and two handkerchiefs. A well-found shop sells under-clothing at moderate prices, and articles of outfit, scent, post-cards and watches.

Hygiene.—Drinking water, abundant and wholesome, is brought from the mains of the town of Alexandria. Besides the toilet lavatories, there are 4 bathrooms supplied with hot water and cold douches always available. The prisoners go in parties to bathe in the sea near the camp, under guard of British soldiers.

The prisoners do their own washing, numerous wash-houses being provided for the purpose.

The latrines are partly on the English and partly on the Turkish system, 1 to every 10 men, cleanly kept. They are disinfected daily. The floor and the lower part of the chambers are treated with cresol; the upper part is whitewashed. The sewers discharge into the sea. The sweepings are burnt in a special stove.

Medical Attention.—The sanitary condition of the camp is inspected at regular intervals by the Colonel, medical director of Hospital No. 21, Alexandria. Captain (Dr.) Dunne is resident in the camp; he pays a medical visit each day at 9 o'clock. Eight to ten prisoners out of the total in camp may present themselves for treatment, among them 1 or 2 Ottomans.

An interned Turkish civilian, Abrahim Assan, by calling an employee in a Constantinople factory, who speaks French and English perfectly, serves as orderly-interpreter.

An English Red Cross orderly assists the doctor. An Austrian dentist, formerly in business at Cairo, gives dental attention to the prisoners; he has a complete outfit of instruments.

The infirmary is well housed in a stone building. It contains a consulting-room, supplied with a full-flushed lavatory basin; a sick ward with 6 iron beds, mattress and coverings ad libitum; an isolation ward, and a dispensary.

Only slight cases are treated at the infirmary; serious cases are removed to Hospital No. 21 at Alexandria, situated within 10 minutes of the camp, a large modern hospital overlooking the sea.

On the day of our inspection there were in the infirmary 1 prisoner ill with bronchitis; at the hospital 1 tuberculous case and 1 with a wounded elbow.

The sanitary state of the camp has always been excellent. Apart from two relapse cases of dysentery in 1916, there has been neither trachoma, typhoid, typhus, malaria, nor any other infectious disease. This is explained by the fact that the interned civilians were not in bad health before their captivity, as was the case with soldiers who had sojourned in the desert, whom we saw in the other Egyptian camps.

There had been no deaths in the camp or at the hospital in Alexandria. The orderly, Abrahim Hassan, told us of his own accord that the sick receive the most assiduous attention, and have nothing but praise for the resident physician.

Religion and Amusements.—The prisoners offer their prayers daily. A mosque will be built for them in the new camp at Sidi Bishr.

Catholics are looked after by several Austrian priests, who used to manage Catholic schools in Upper Egypt.

For the Germans and Austrians there is a good circulating library, containing English, French and German books.

The prisoners have formed an orchestra, and organised theatrical performances, for which they have painted pretty scenery.

There is a cinematograph performance every evening. There are a piano and harmonium. A photographer, who had an establishment in Cairo before the war, practises his art in the camp.

Discipline.—The very occasional cases of infraction of rules which entail one or more days' detention in the police cells, have a special diet prescribed for them. The military authorities find the general conduct of the civilians quite satisfactory.

Exercise and Sports.—The prisoners have at their own disposal that part of the grounds lying between the tents and the barracks, a broad space where they can amuse themselves all day long with football and other games.

They have also a tennis-court, of which the Austro-Germans make more use than the Orientals; a committee of the prisoners arrange the hours for each set of players. Skittles are very popular. Fencing is eagerly learned; the English officer who teaches it being delighted with his pupils' progress. Lessons in gymnastics, like those in other sports, are optional.

Periodically a gymkhana is got up, with donkey races, gymnastic competitions, and the distribution of prizes.

Work.—No work is demanded from the prisoners.

Correspondence, Money Orders and Parcels.—Very few money orders are received. The interned Turks are chiefly illiterate; those whose wives are interned at Cairo, and who are allowed to occasionally visit them, seldom write, as they know them to be well treated. Parcels are seldom sent to the camp, and hitherto no philanthropic society has busied itself over the necessitous.

Prisoners' Aid.—The only plea which has been addressed to us by means of the Ottoman interpreter, who speaks French and English extremely well, comes from a certain number of destitute prisoners. They wish to have, in addition to the complete outfit with woollen overcoat supplied by the English Government, a change of warm garments, which they have not the means to buy. Many find it difficult to wear the kind of foot-gear in ordinary use—the heelless leather Turkish slippers—and wish for laced shoes such as they wear at home. We asked the interpreter to make out a list of names of the needy; and after submitting it to the commandant of the camps for verification, we decided to send him from the Ottoman Red Cross Fund the sum of 2,000 francs, to provide these prisoners with the extra garments which they require, and with shoes and tobacco.

7. Sidi Bishr Camp.

(Visited on January 6, 1917.)

The camp of Sidi Bishr is situated 15 kilometres (9-1/2 miles) to the north-east of Alexandria in a healthy spot on the sea shore, where the sand dunes form little hillocks intersected by miniature valleys. Palms are scattered over it, and it lies open to the fresh breezes. The view from the highest points of the camp is very extensive. A recently constructed road for vehicular traffic leads into the camp, all the appointments of which give the impression that everything has been done to make the prisoners as comfortable as possible. A kitchen garden has just been laid out in a sheltered place, and a flat piece of ground surrounded by palm trees prepared for games, tennis, football, etc.

Strength.—The camp at Sidi Bishr contains 430 officers, 60 of whom have been here since February, 1915; 410 orderlies captured with their officers, on whom they attend, each officer having 1 orderly; 10 imaums (priests); 20 civilians, who were captured by the Sherif of Mecca and at once handed over to the English.

The commandant of the camp is Lieut.-Colonel Coates.

The American chargé d'affaires in Egypt has twice visited the camp.

Accommodation.—The equipment of the camp at Sidi Bishr not having been entirely completed before our visit we found some of the buildings still in course of erection. But the officers' quarters were ready, and lacked nothing except some furniture, which was daily expected. The barracks, 25 metres (81 feet) long and 8 metres (20 feet) wide, consisted of a solid wooden framework, with partitions either of timber or cement, constructed in the camp by native workmen. A corridor about 1 metre 75 (6 feet) wide runs all along the front of the building, and gives access to the chambers. These measure about 3 metres 50 (14 feet) by 4 metres (17 feet), and 4 metres (17 feet) from the wooden floor to the ceiling. All the interior walls are lime-washed. Each room has two windows, glazed and also covered with wire gauze to exclude insects, and a latched door. Chimneys rise above the roof, which is of timber covered with tarred felt.

According to regulation, the number of occupants of each chamber depends upon their grade. Officers up to the rank of captain are quartered four in each dormitory; captains three, and colonels two. (Some superior officers have each a separate chamber.) The orderlies are housed elsewhere. All the buildings are lighted by electricity, generated by a local plant.