surround the whole camp. This was a very poor defence compared with those contact with the enemy afterwards taught us to build.

As these Arab fortifications formed an important element in our subsequent dealings with the enemy, it may be well to describe one in detail. An Arab force on the march employs a large number of its slaves in cutting down, and carrying with them, trees and saplings from about twelve to fifteen feet in length and up to six feet in diameter. As soon as a halting-place has been fixed on, the slaves plant this timber in a circle of about fifty yards in diameter, inside which the chiefs and officers establish themselves. A trench is then dug and the earth thrown up against the palisades, in which banana stalks, pointing in different directions, are laid.