Solomon' Temple described by Issac Newton

Extracts from: THE CHRONOLOGY OF ANCIENT KINGDOMS AMENDED. To which is Prefix'd, A SHORT CHRONICLE from the First Memory of Things in Europe, to the Conquest of Persia by Alexander the Great. By Sir ISAAC NEWTON. LONDON: Printed for J. TONSON in the Strand, and J. OSBORN and T. LONGMAN in Pater-noster Row. MDCCXXVIII.

A Description of the TEMPLE of Solomon.
[435] The Temple of Solomon being destroyed by the Babylonians, it may not be amiss here to give a description of that edifice.
This [436] Temple looked eastward, and stood in a square area, called the Separate Place: and [437] before it stood the Altar, in the center of another square area, called the Inner Court, or Court of the Priests: and these two square areas, being parted only by a marble rail, made an area 200 cubits long from west to east, and 100 cubits broad: this area was compassed on the west with a wall, and [438] on the other three sides with a pavement fifty cubits broad, upon which stood the buildings for the Priests, with cloysters under them: and the pavement was faced on the inside with a marble rail before the cloysters: the whole made an area 250 cubits long from west to east, and 200 broad, and was compassed with an outward Court, called also the Great Court, or Court of the People, [439] which was an hundred cubits on every side; for there were but two Courts built by Solomon: and the outward Court was about four cubits lower than the inward, and was compassed on the west with a wall, and on the other three sides [440] with a pavement fifty cubits broad, upon which stood the buildings for the People. All this was the [441] Sanctuary, and made a square area 500 cubits long, and 500 broad, and was compassed with a walk, called the Mountain of the House: and this walk being 50 cubits broad, was compassed with a wall six cubits broad, and six high, and six hundred long on every side: and the cubit was about 21½, or almost 22 inches of the English foot, being the sacred cubit of the Jews, which was an hand-breadth, or the sixth part of its length bigger than the common cubit.
The Altar stood in the center of the whole; and in the buildings of [442] both Courts over against the middle of the Altar, eastward, southward, and northward, were gates [443] 25 cubits broad between the buildings, and 40 long; with porches of ten cubits more, looking towards the Altar Court, which made the whole length of the gates fifty cubits cross the pavements. Every gate had two doors, one at either [444] end, ten cubits wide, and twenty high, with posts and thresholds six cubits broad: within the gates was an area 28 cubits long between the thresholds, and 13 cubits wide: and on either side of this area were three posts, each six cubits square, and twenty high, with arches five cubits wide between them: all which posts and arches filled the 28 cubits in length between the thresholds; and their breadth being added to the thirteen cubits, made the whole breadth of the gates 25 cubits. These posts were hollow, and had rooms in them with narrow windows for the porters, and a step before them a cubit broad: and the walls of the porches being six cubits thick, were also hollow for several uses. [445] At the east gate of the Peoples Court, called the King's gate, [446] were six porters, at the south gate were four, and at the north gate were four: the people [447] went in and out at the south and north gates: the [448] east gate was opened only for the King, and in this gate he ate the Sacrifices. There were also four gates or doors in the western wall of the Mountain of the House: of these [449] the most northern, called Shallecheth, or the gate of the causey, led to the King's palace, the valley between being filled up with a causey: the next gate, called Parbar, led to the suburbs Millo: the third and fourth gates, called Asuppim, led the one to Millo, the other to the city of Jerusalem, there being steps down into the valley and up again into the city. At the gate Shallecheth were four porters; at the other three gates were six porters, two at each gate: the house of the porters who had the charge of the north gate of the People's Court, had also the charge of the gates Shallecheth and Parbar: and the house of the porters who had the charge of the south gate of the People s Court, had also the charge of the other two gates called Asuppim.
They came through the four western gates into the Mountain of the House, and [450] went up from the Mountain of the House, to the gates of the People's Court by seven steps, and from the People's Court to the gates of the Priest's Court by eight steps: [451] and the arches in the sides of the gates of both courts led into cloysters [452] under a double building, supported by three rows of marble pillars, which butted directly upon the middles of the square posts, ran along from thence upon the pavements towards the corners of the Courts: the axes of the pillars in the middle row being eleven cubits distant from the axes of the pillars in the other two rows on either hand; and the building joining to the sides of the gates: the pillars were three cubits in diameter below, and their bases four cubits and an half square. The gates and buildings of both Courts were alike, and [453] faced their Courts: the cloysters of all the buildings, and the porches of all the gates looking towards the Altar. The row of pillars on the backsides of the cloysters adhered to marble walls, which bounded the cloysters and supported the buildings: [454] these buildings were three stories high above the cloysters, and [455] were supported in each of those stories by a row of cedar beams, or pillars of cedar, standing above the middle row of the marble pillars: the buildings on either side of every gate of the People's Court, being 187½ cubits long, were distinguished into five chambers on a floor, running in length from the gates to the corners or the Courts: there [456] being in all thirty chambers in a story, where the People ate the Sacrifices, or thirty exhedras, each of which contained three chambers, a lower, a middle, and an upper: every exhedra was 37½ cubits long, being supported by four pillars in each row, [457] whose bases were 4½ cubits square, and the distances between their bases 6½ cubits, and the distances between the axes of the pillars eleven cubits: and where two [458] exhedras joyned, there the bases of their pillars joyned; the axes of those two pillars being only 4½ cubits distant from one another: and perhaps for strengthning the building, the space between the axes of these two pillars in the front was filled up with a marble column 4½ cubits square, the two pillars standing half out on either side of the square column. At the ends of these buildings [459] in the four corners of the Peoples Court, were little Courts fifty cubits square on the outside of their walls, and forty on the inside thereof, for stair-cases to the buildings, and kitchins to bake and boil the Sacrifices for the People, the kitchin being thirty cubits broad, and the stair-case ten. The buildings on either side of the gates of the Priests Court were also 37½ cubits long, and contained each of them one great chamber in a story, subdivided into smaller rooms, for the Great Officers of the Temple, and Princes of the Priests: and in the south-east and north-east corners of this court, at the ends of the buildings, were kitchins and stair-cases for the Great Officers; and perhaps rooms for laying up wood for the Altar.
In the eastern gate of the Peoples Court, sat a Court of Judicature, composed of 23 Elders. The eastern gate of the Priests Court, with the buildings on either side, was for the High-Priest, and his deputy the Sagan, and for the Sanhedrim or Supreme Court of Judicature, composed of seventy Elders. [460] The building or exhedra on the eastern side of the southern gate, was for the Priests who had the oversight of the charge of the Sanctuary with its treasuries: and these were, first, two Catholikim, who were High-Treasurers and Secretaries to the High-Priest, and examined, stated, and prepared all acts and accounts to be signed and sealed by him; then seven Amarcholim, who kept the keys of the seven locks of every gate of the Sanctuary, and those also of the treasuries, and had the oversight, direction, and appointment of all things in the Sanctuary; then three or more Gisbarim, or Under-Treasurers, or Receivers, who kept the Holy Vessels, and the Publick Money, and received or disposed of such sums as were brought in for the service of the Temple, and accounted for the same. All these, with the High-Priest, composed the Supreme Council for managing the affairs of the Temple.
The Sacrifices [461] were killed on the northern side of the Altar, and flea'd, cut in pieces and salted in the northern gate of the Temple; and therefore the building or exhedra on the eastern side of this gate, was for the Priests who had the oversight of the charge of the Altar, and Daily Service: and these Officers were, He that received money of the People for purchasing things for the Sacrifices, and gave out tickets for the same; He that upon sight of the tickets delivered the wine, flower and oyl purchased; He that was over the lots, whereby every Priest attending on the Altar had his duty assigned; He that upon sight of the tickets delivered out the doves and pigeons purchased; He that administred physic to the Priests attending; He that was over the waters; He that was over the times, and did the duty of a cryer, calling the Priests or Levites to attend in their ministeries; He that opened the gates in the morning to begin the service, and shut them in the evening when the service was done, and for that end received the keys of the Amarcholim, and returned them when he had done his duty; He that visited the night-watches; He that by a Cymbal called the Levites to their stations for singing; He that appointed the Hymns and set the Tune; and He that took care of the Shew-Bread: there were also Officers who took care of the Perfume, the Veil, and the Wardrobe of the Priests.
The exhedra on the western side of the south gate, and that on the western side of the north gate, were for the Princes of the four and twenty courses of the Priests, one exhedra for twelve of the Princes, [462] and the other exhedra for the other twelve: and upon the pavement on either side of the Separate Place [463] were other buildings without cloysters, for the four and twenty courses of the Priests to eat the Sacrifices, and lay up their garments and the most holy things: each pavement being 100 cubits long, and 50 broad, had buildings on either side of it twenty cubits broad, with a walk or alley ten cubits broad between them: the building which bordered upon the Separate Place was an hundred cubits long, and that next the Peoples Court but fifty, the other fifty cubits westward [464] being for a stair-case and kitchin: these buildings [465] were three stories high, and the middle story was narrower in the front than the lower story, and the upper story still narrower, to make room for galleries; for they had galleries before them, and under the galleries were closets for laying up the holy things, and the garments of the Priests, and these galleries were towards the walk or alley, which ran between the buildings.
They went up from the Priests Court to the Porch of the Temple by ten steps: and the [466] House of the Temple was twenty cubits broad, and sixty long within; or thirty broad, and seventy long, including the walls; or seventy cubits broad, and 90 long, including a building of treasure-chambers which was twenty cubits broad on three sides of the House; and if the Porch be also included, the Temple was [467] an hundred cubits long. The treasure-chambers were built of cedar, between the wall of the Temple, and another wall without: they were [468] built in two rows three stories high, and opened door against door into a walk or gallery which ran along between them, and was five cubits broad in every story; So that the breadth of the chambers on either side of the gallery, including the breadth of the wall to which they adjoined, was ten cubits; and the whole breadth of the gallery and chambers, and both walls, was five and twenty cubits: the chambers [469] were five cubits broad in the lower story, six broad in the middle story, and seven broad in the upper story; for the wall of the Temple was built with retractions of a cubit, to rest the timber upon. Ezekiel represents the chambers a cubit narrower, and the walls a cubit thicker than they were in Solomon's Temple: there were [470] thirty chambers in a story, in all ninety chambers, and they were five cubits high in every story. The [471] Porch of the Temple was 120 cubits high, and its length from south to north equalled the breadth of the House: the House was three stories high, which made the height of the Holy Place three times thirty cubits, and that of the Most Holy three times twenty: the upper rooms were treasure-chambers; they [472] went up to the middle chamber by winding stairs in the southern shoulder of the House, and from the middle into the upper.
Some time after this Temple was built, the Jews [473] added a New Court, on the eastern side of the Priests Court, before the King's gate, and therein built [474] a covert for the Sabbath: this Court was not measured by Ezekiel, but the dimensions thereof may be gathered from those of the Womens Court, in the second Temple, built after the example thereof: for when Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed the first Temple, Zerubbabel, by the commissions of Cyrus and Darius, built another upon the same area, excepting the Outward Court, which was left open to the Gentiles: and this Temple [475] was sixty cubits long, and sixty broad, being only two stories in height, and having only one row of treasure-chambers about it: and on either side of the Priests Court were double buildings for the Priests, built upon three rows of marble pillars in the lower story, with a row of cedar beams or pillars in the stories above: and the cloyster in the lower story looked towards the Priests Court: and the Separate Place, and Priests Court, with their buildings on the north and south sides, and the Womens Court, at the east end, took up an area three hundred cubits long, and two hundred broad, the Altar standing in the center of the whole. The Womens Court was so named, because the women came into it as well as the men: there were galleries for the women, and the men worshipped upon the ground below: and in this state the second Temple continued all the Reign of the Persians; but afterwards suffered some alterations, especially in the days of Herod.
This description of the Temple being taken principally from Ezekiel's Vision thereof; and the ancient Hebrew copy followed by the Seventy, differing in some readings from the copy followed by the editors of the present Hebrew, I will here subjoin that part of the Vision which relates to the Outward Court, as I have deduced it from the present Hebrew, and the version of the Seventy compared together.
Ezekiel chap. xl. ver. 5, &c.
[476] And behold a wall on the outside of the House round about, at the distance of fifty cubits from it, aabb: and in the man's hand a measuring reed six cubits long by the cubit, and an hand-breadth: so he measured the breadth of the building, or wall, one reed, and the height one reed. [477] Then came he unto the gate of the House, which looketh towards the east, and went up the seven steps thereof, AB, and measured the threshold of the gate, CD, which was one reed broad, and the Porters little chamber, EFG, one reed long, and one reed broad; and the arched passage between the little chambers, FH, five cubits: and the second little chamber, HIK, a reed broad and a reed long; and the arched passage, IL, five cubits: and the third little chamber LMN, a reed long and a reed broad: and the threshold of the gate next the porch of the gate within, OP, one reed: and he measured the porch of the gate, QR, eight cubits; and the posts thereof ST, st, two cubits; and the porch of the gate, QR, was inward, or toward the inward court; and the little chambers, EF, HI, LM, ef, hi, lm, were outward, or to the east; three on this side, and three on that side of the gate. There was one measure of the three, and one measure of the posts on this side, and on that side; and he measured the breadth of the door of the gate, Cc, or Dd, ten cubits; and the breadth of the gate within between the little chambers, Ee or Ff, thirteen cubits; and the limit, or margin, or step before the little chambers, EM, one cubit on this side, and the step, em, one cubit on the other side; and the little chambers, EFG, HIK, LMN, efg, hik, lmn, were six cubits broad on this side, and six cubits broad on that side: and he measured the whole breadth of the gate, from the further wall of one little chamber to the further wall of another little chamber: the breadth, Gg, or Kk, or Nn, was twenty and five cubits through; door, FH, against door, fh: and he measured the posts, EF, HI, and LM, ef, hi, and lm, twenty cubits high; and at the posts there were gates, or arched passages, FH, IL, fh, il, round about; and from the eastern face of the gate at the entrance, Cc, to the western face of the porch of the gate within, Tt, were fifty cubits: and there were narrow windows to the little chambers, and to the porch within the gate, round about, and likewise to the posts; even windows were round about within: and upon each post were palm trees.
Then he brought me into the Outward Court, and lo there were chambers, and a pavement with pillars upon it in the court round about, [478] thirty chambers in length upon the pavement, supported by the pillars, ten chambers on every side, except the western: and the pavement butted upon the shoulders or sides of the gates below, every gate having five chambers or exhedræ on either side. And he measured the breadth of the Outward Court, from the fore-front of the lower-gate, to the fore-front of the inward court, an hundred cubits eastward.
Then he brought me northward, and there was a gate that looked towards the north; he measured the length thereof, and the breadth thereof, and the little chambers thereof, three on this side, and three on that side, and the posts thereof, and the porch thereof, and it was according to the measures of the first gate; its length was fifty cubits, and its breadth was five and twenty: and the windows thereof, and the porch and the palm-trees thereof were according to the measures of the gate which looked to the east, and they went up to it by seven steps: and its porch was before them, that is inward. And there was a gate of the inward court over against this gate of the north, as in the gates to the eastward: and he measured from gate to gate an hundred cubits.
A Description of THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON

Plate I. p. 346.
ABCD. The Separate Place in which stood the Temple.
ABEF. The Court of y^{e} Priests.
G. The Altar.
DHLKICEFD. A Pavement compassing three sides of the foremention'd Courts, and upon which stood the Buildings for the Priests, with Cloysters under them.
MNOP. The Court of the People.
MQTSRN. A Pavement compassing three sides of the Peoples Court, upon which stood the Buildings for the People, with Cloysters under them.
UXYZ. The Mountain of the House.
aabb. A Wall enclosing the whole.
c. The Gate Shallecheth.
d. The Gate Parbar.
ef. The two Gates Assupim.
g. The East Gate of the Peoples Court, call'd the Kings Gate.
hh. The North and South Gates of the same Court.
iiii. The chambers over the Cloysters of the Peoples Court where the People ate the Sacrifices, 30 Chambers in each Story.
kkkk. Four little Courts serving for Stair Cases and Kitchins for the People.
l. The Eastern Gate of the Priests Court, over which sate the Sanhedrin.
m. The Southern Gate of the Priests Court.
n. The Northern Gate of the same Court, where the Sacrifices were flea'd &c.
opqrst. The Buildings over the Cloysters for the Priests, viz six large Chambers (subdivided) in each Story, whereof o and p were for the High Priest and Sagan, q for the Overseers of the Sanctuary and Treasury, r for the Overseers of the Altar and Sacrifice and s and t for the Princes of the twenty four Courses of Priests.
uu. Two Courts in which were Stair Cases and Kitchins for the Priests.
x. The House or Temple which (together with the Treasure Chambers y, and Buildings zz on each side of the Separate Place) is more particularly describ'd on the second Plate.

A Description of the Inner Court & Buildings for the Priests in Solomons Temple.

Plate II. p. 346.
ABCD. The Separate Place.
ABEF. The Inner Court, or Court of the Priests, parted from the Separate Place, and and Pavement on the other three sides, by a marble rail.
G. The Altar.
HHH. The East, South, & North Gates of the Priests Court.
III. &c. The Cloysters supporting the Buildings for the Priests.
KK. Two Courts in which were Stair Cases and Kitchins for the Priests.
L. Ten Steps to the Porch of the Temple.
M. The Porch of the Temple.
N. The Holy Place.
O. The most Holy Place.
PPPP. Thirty Treasure-Chambers, in two rows, opening into a gallery, door against door, and compassing three sides of the Holy & most Holy Places.
Q. The Stairs leading to the Middle Chamber.
RRRR. &c. The buildings for the four and twenty Courses of Priests, upon the Pavement on either side of the Separate Place, three Stories high without Cloysters, but the upper Stories narrower than the lower, to make room for Galleries before them. There were 24 Chambers in each Story and they opend into a walk or alley, SS. between the Buildings.
TT. Two Courts in which were Kitchins for the Priests of the twenty four Courses.
A Particular Description of one of the Gates of the Peoples Court, with part of the Cloyster adjoyning.

Plate III. p. 346.
uw. The inner margin of the Pavement compassing three sides of the Peoples Court.
xxx. &c. The Pillars of the Cloyster supporting the Buildings for the People.
yyyy. Double Pillars where two Exhedræ joyned, and whose interstices in the front zz were filled up with a square Column of Marble.
Note The preceding letters of this Plate refer to the description in pag. 344 345.

Paris Besieged in 1870

Extracts from: DIARY OF THE BESIEGED RESIDENT IN PARIS. REPRINTED FROM "THE DAILY NEWS," WITH SEVERAL NEW LETTERS AND PREFACE. IN ONE VOLUME. Second Edition, Revised. LONDON: HURST AND BLACKETT, PUBLISHERS, 13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. 1871. The Right of Translation is Reserved. LONDON: BRADBURY, EVANS, AND CO., PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS.

PARIS, September 18th.
No one walking on the Champs Elysées or on the Boulevards to-day would suppose that 300,000 Prussians are within a few miles of the city, and intend to besiege it. Happy, said Laurence Sterne, in his "Sentimental Journey," the nation which can once a week forget its cares. The French have not changed since then. To-day is a fête day, and as a fête day it must be kept. Every one seems to have forgotten the existence of the Prussians. The Cafés are crowded by a gay crowd. On the Boulevard, Monsieur and Madame walk quietly along with their children. In the Champs Elysées honest mechanics and bourgeois are basking in the sun, and nurserymaids are flirting with soldiers. There is even a lull in the universal drilling. The regiments of Nationaux and Mobiles carry large branches of trees stuck into the ends of their muskets. Round the statue of Strasburg there is the usual crowd, and speculators are driving a brisk trade in portraits of General Uhrich. "Here, citizens," cries one, "is the portrait of the heroic defender of Strasburg, only one sou—it cost me two—I only wish that I were rich enough to give it away." "Listen, citizens," cries another, "whilst I declaim the poem of a lady who has escaped from Strasburg. To those who, after hearing it, may wish to read it to their families, I will give it as a favour for two sous." I only saw one disturbance. As I passed by the Rond Point, a very tall woman was mobbed, because it was thought that she might be a Uhlan in disguise. But it was regarded more as a joke than anything serious. So bent on being happy was every one that I really believe that a Uhlan in the midst of them would not have disturbed their equanimity. "Come what may, to-day we will be merry," seemed to be the feeling; "let us leave care to the morrow, and make the most of what may be our last fête day."
Mr. Malet, the English secretary, who returned yesterday from Meaux, had no small difficulty in getting through the Prussian lines. He started on Thursday evening for Creil in a train with a French officer. When they got to Creil, they knocked up the Mayor, and begged him to procure them a horse. He gave them an order for the only one in the town. Its proprietor was in bed, and when they knocked at his door his wife cried out from the window, "My husband is a coward and won't open." A voice from within was heard saying, "I go out at night for no one." So they laid hands on the horse and harnessed it to a gig. All night long they drove in what they supposed was the direction of the Prussian outposts, trumpeting occasionally like elephants in a jungle. In the morning they found themselves in a desert, not a living soul to be seen, so they turned back towards Paris, got close in to the forts, and started in another direction. Occasionally they discerned a distant Uhlan, who rode off when he saw them. On Friday night they slept among the Francs-tireurs, and on the following morning they pushed forward again with an escort. Soon they saw a Prussian outpost, and after waving for some time a white flag, an officer came forward. After a parley Mr. Malet and his friend were allowed to pass. At three o'clock they arrived at Meaux. Count Bismarck was just driving into the town; he at once recognised Mr. Malet, whom he had known in Germany, and begged him to call upon him at nine o'clock. From Mr. Malet I know nothing more. I tried to "interview" him with respect to his conversation with Count Bismarck, but it takes two to make a bargain, and in this bargain he declined to be the number two. About half an hour afterwards, however, I met a foreign diplomatist of my acquaintance who had just come from the British Embassy. He had heard Mr. Malet's story, which, of course, had been communicated to the Corps Diplomatique, and being slightly demoralised, without well thinking what he was doing, he confided it to my sympathising ear.
Mr. Malet, at nine o'clock, found Count Bismarck seated before a table with wine and cigars. He was in high spirits and very sociable. This I can well believe, for I used to know him, and, to give the devil his due, he is one of the few Prussians of a sociable disposition. The interview lasted for more than two hours. Count Bismarck told Mr. Malet that the Prussians meant to have Metz and Strasburg, and should remain in France until they were obtained. The Prussians did not intend to dismantle them, but to make them stronger than they at present are. "The French," he said, "will hate us with an undying hate, and we must take care to render this hate powerless." As for Paris, the German armies would surround it, and with their several corps d'armée, and their 70,000 cavalry, would isolate it from the rest of the world, and leave its inhabitants to "seethe in their own milk." If the Parisians continued after this to hold out, Paris would be bombarded, and, if necessary, burned. My own impression is that Count Bismarck was not such a fool as to say precisely what he intended to do, and that he will attack at once; but the event will prove. He added that Germany was not in want of money, and therefore did not ask for a heavy pecuniary indemnity. Speaking of the French, Count Bismarck observed that there were 200,000 men round Metz, and he believed that Bazaine would have to capitulate within a week. He rendered full justice to the courage with which the army under Bazaine had fought, but he did not seem to have a very high opinion of the French army of Sedan. He questioned Mr. Malet about the state of Paris, and did not seem gratified to hear that there had been no tumults. The declaration of the Republic and its peaceful recognition by Paris and the whole of France appeared by no means to please him. He admitted that if it proved to be a moderate and virtuous Government, it might prove a source of danger to the monarchical principle in Germany.
I do trust that Englishmen will well weigh these utterances. Surely they will at last be of opinion that the English Government should use all its moral influence to prevent a city containing nearly two million inhabitants being burnt to the ground in order that one million Frenchmen should against their will be converted into Germans. It is our policy to make an effort to prevent the dismemberment of France, but the question is not now so much one of policy as of common humanity. No one asks England to go to war for France; all that is asked is that she should recognise the de facto Government of the country, and should urge Prussia to make peace on terms which a French nation can honourably accept.
General Vinoy, out reconnoitering with 15,000 men, came to-day upon a Prussian force of 40,000 near Vincennes. After an artillery combat, he withdrew within the lines of the forts. There have been unimportant skirmishes with the enemy at several points. The American, the Belgian, the Swiss, and the Danish Ministers are still here. Mr. Wodehouse has remained to look after our interests. All the secretaries were anxious to stay. I should be glad to know why Mr. Falconer Atlee, the British Consul at Paris, is not like other consuls, at his post. He withdrew to Dieppe about three weeks ago. His place is here. Neither a consul, nor a soldier, should leave his post as soon as it becomes dangerous.
Victor Hugo has published an address to the nation. You may judge of its essentially practical spirit by the following specimen:—"Rouen, draw thy sword! Lille, take up thy musket! Bordeaux, take up thy gun! Marseilles, sing thy song and be terrible!" I suspect Marseilles may sing her song a long time before the effect of her vocal efforts will in any way prevent the Prussians from carrying out their plans. "A child," say the evening papers, "deposited her doll this afternoon in the arms of the statue of Strasburg. All who saw the youthful patriot perform this touching act were deeply affected."

October 7th.
Paris would hardly be recognised under its present aspect by those citizens of the Far West who are in the habit of regarding it as a place where good Americans go when they die. In the garden of the Tuileries, where bonnes used to flirt with guardsmen, there is an artillery camp. The guns, the pickets of horses, the tents, the camp-fires, and the soldiers in their shirt-sleeves, have a picturesque effect under the great trees. On the Place de la Concorde from morning to evening there is a mob discussing things in general, and watching the regiments as they defile with their crowns before the statue of Strasburg. In the morning the guns of the forts can be heard heavily booming; but the sound has now lost its novelty, and no one pays more attention to it than the miller to the wheel of his mill. In the Champs Elysées there are no private carriages, and few persons sitting on the chairs. The Palais de l'Industrie is the central ambulance; the Cirque de l'Impératrice a barrack. All the cafés chantants are closed. Some few youthful votaries of pleasure still patronise the merry-go-rounds; but the business cannot be a lucrative one. Along the quays by the river side there are cavalry and infantry regiments under tentes d'abri. The Champ de Mars is a camp. In most of the squares there are sheep and oxen. On the outer Boulevards lines of huts have been built for the Mobiles, and similar huts are being erected along the Rue des Remparts for the Nationaux on duty. Everywhere there are squads of Nationaux, some learning the goose-step, others practising skirmishing between the carts and fiacres, others levelling their guns and snapping them off at imaginary Prussians. The omnibuses are crowded; and I fear greatly that their horses will be far from tender when we eat them. The cabbies, once so haughty and insolent, are humble and conciliatory, for Brutus and Scævola have taught them manners, and usually pay their fares in patriotic speeches. At the Arc de Triomphe, at the Trocadero, and at Passy, near the Point du Jour, there are always crowds trying to see the Prussians on the distant hills, and in the Avenue de l'Impératrice (now the Avenue Uhrich), there are always numerous admirers of Mont Valérien gazing silently upon the object of their worship. In the Faubourg St. Antoine workmen are lounging about doing nothing, and watching others drilling. In the outer faubourgs much the same thing goes on, except where barricades are being built. Round each of these there is always a crowd of men and women, apparently expecting the enemy to assault them every moment. At the different gates of the town there are companies of Mobiles and National Guards, who sternly repel every civilian who seeks to get through them. On an average of every ten minutes, no matter where one is, one meets either a battalion of Nationaux or Mobiles, marching somewhere. The asphalt of the boulevards, that sacred ground of dandies and smart dresses, is deserted during the daytime. In the evening for about two hours it is thronged by Nationaux with their wives; Mobiles who ramble along, grinning vaguely, hand in hand, as though they were in their native villages; and loafers. There, and in the principal streets, speculators have taken advantage of the rights of man to stop up the side walks with tables on which their wares are displayed. On some of them there are kepis, on others ointment for corns, on others statuettes of the two inseparables of Berlin, William and his little Bismarck, on others General Trochu and the members of the Government in gilt gingerbread. The street-hawkers are enjoying a perfect carnival—the last editions of the papers—the Tuileries' papers—the caricatures of Badinguet—portraits of the heroic Uhrich, and infallible cures for the small-pox or for worms, are offered for sale by stentorian lungs. Citizens, too, equally bankrupt alike in voice and in purse, place four lighted candles on the pavement, and from the midst of this circle of light dismally croak the "Marseillaise" and other patriotic songs. As for beggars, their name is legion; but as every one who wants food can get it at the public cantines, their piteous whines are disregarded. Lodgings are to be hired in the best streets for about one-tenth part of what was asked for them two months ago, and even that need not be paid. Few shops are shut; but their proprietors sit, hoping against hope, for some customer to appear. The grocers, the butchers, and the bakers, and the military tailors, still make money; but they are denounced for doing so at the clubs as bad patriots. As for the hotels, almost all of them are closed. At the Grand Hotel, there are not twenty persons. Business of every kind is at a standstill. Those who have money, live on it; those who have not, live on the State: the former shrug their shoulders and say, "Provided it does not last;" the latter do not mind how long it lasts. All are comparatively happy in the thought that the eyes of Europe are on them, and that they have already thrown Leonidas and his Spartans into the shade.
The Government has placarded to-day a despatch from Tours. Two armies are already formed, we are told—one at Lyons, and the other at——. The situation of Bazaine is excellent. The provinces are ready. The departments are organising to the cry of "Guerre à outrance, ni un pouce de terrain, ni une pierre de nos forteresses!" I trust that the news is true; but I have an ineradicable distrust of all French official utterances. A partial attempt is being made to relieve the population. At the Mairies of the arrondissements, tickets are delivered to heads of families, giving them the right to a certain portion of meat per diem until January. The restaurants are still fairly supplied; so that the system of rationing is not yet carried out in its integrity.
I am not entirely without hopes that the trial through which France is passing will in the end benefit it. Although we still brag a good deal, there is within the last few days a slight diminution of bluster. Cooped up here, week after week, the population must in the end realise the fact that the world can move on without them, and that twenty years of despotism has enervated them and made other nations their equals, if not their superiors. As Sydney Smith said of Macaulay, they have occasional flashes of silence. They sit, now and then, silent and gloomy, and mourn for the "Pauvre France." "Nous sommes bien tombés." This is a good sign, but will it outlive a single gleam of success? Shall we not in that case have the Gallic cock crowing as lustily as ever? The French have many amiable and engaging qualities, and if adversity would only teach them wisdom, the country is rich enough to rise from the ruin which has overtaken it. M. Jules Simon has published a plan of education which he says in twenty years will produce a race of virile citizens; but this is a little long to wait for a social regeneration. At present they are schoolboys, accustomed to depend on their masters for everything, and the defence of Paris is little more than the "barring out" of a girls' school. They cannot, like Anglo-Saxons, organise themselves, and they have no man at their head of sufficient force of character to impose his will upon them. The existing Government has, it is true, to a certain extent produced administrative order, but they have not succeeded in inspiring confidence in themselves, or in raising the spirit of the Parisians to the level of the situation. The Ultras say justly, that this negative system cannot last, and that prompt action is as much a political as it is a military necessity.
The sixth livraison of the Tuileries papers has just appeared. Its contents are unimportant. There is a receipt from Miss Howard, the Emperor's former mistress, showing that between 1850 and 1855 she received above five million francs. This sum was not, however, a sufficient remuneration in her opinion, for her services, as in July, 1855, she writes for more, and says "the Emperor is too good to leave a woman whom he has tenderly loved in a false position." This and several other of her letters are addressed to the Emperor's Secretary, whose functions seem to have been of a peculiarly domestic character. Indeed, the person who fulfilled them would everywhere, except at a Court, have been called something less euphonious than "secretary." A report from M. Duvergier, ex-Secretary-General of the Police, is published respecting the Cabinet Noir. It is addressed to the then Minister of the Interior. It is lengthy, and very detailed. It appears that occasionally the Emperor's own letters were opened.
I went to the Hôtel de Ville this afternoon, to see whether anything was going on there. Several battalions passed by, but they did not demonstrate en passant. The place was full of groups of what in England would be called the "dangerous classes." They were patiently listening to various orators who were denouncing everything in general, and the Government in particular. The principal question seemed to be that of arms. Frenchmen are so accustomed to expect their Governments to do everything for them, that they cannot understand why, although there were but few Chassepots in the city, every citizen should not be given one. It is indeed necessary to live here and to mix with all classes to realise the fact that the Parisians have until now lived in an ideal world of their own creation. Their orators, their statesmen, and their journalists, have traded upon the traditions of the First Empire, and persuaded them that they are a superior race, and that their superiority is universally recognised. Utterly ignorant of foreign languages and of foreign countries, they believe that their literature is the only one in the world, and that a Frenchman abroad is adored as something little less than a divinity. They regard the Prussians round their city much as the citizens of Sparta would have regarded Helots, and they are so astonished at their reverses, that they are utterly unable to realise what is going on. As for trying to make them comprehend that Paris ought to enjoy no immunity from attack which Berlin or London might not equally claim, it is labour lost. "The neutrals," I heard a member of the late Assembly shouting in a café, "are traitors to civilisation in not coming to the aid of the Queen of Europe." They did their very best, they declare, to prevent Napoleon from making war. Yet one has only to talk with one of them for half an hour to find that he still hankers after the Rhine, and thinks that France wishes to be supreme in Europe.

October 8th.
Yesterday I happened to be calling at the Embassy, when a young English gentleman made his appearance, and quietly asked whether he could take any letters to England. He is to start to-day in a balloon, and has paid 5,000f. for his place. I gave him a letter, and a copy of one which I had confided on Wednesday to an Irishman who is trying to get through the lines. I hear that to-morrow the Columbian Minister is going to the Prussian Headquarters, and a friend of mine assures me that he thinks if I give him a letter by one o'clock to-day this diplomatist will take it. The Corps Diplomatique are excessively indignant with the reply they have received from Count Bismarck, declining to allow any but open despatches through the Prussian lines. They have held an indignation meeting. M. Kern, the Swiss Minister, has drawn up a protest, which has been signed by himself and all his colleagues. The Columbian Minister is to be the bearer of it. It bombards Bismarck with copious extracts from Puffendorf and Grotius, and cites a case in point from the siege of Vienna in the 15th century. It will be remembered that Messenger Johnson, at the risk of his life and at a very great expense to the country, brought despatches to the Parisian Embassy on the second day of the siege. I recommend Mr. Rylands, or some other M.P. of independent character, to insist upon Parliament being informed what these important despatches were. The revelation will be a curious one.

October 19th.
Each person now receives 100 grammes of meat per diem, the system of distribution being that every one has to wait on an average two hours before he receives his meat at the door of a butcher's shop. I dine habitually at a bouillon; there horse-flesh is eaten in the place of beef, and cat is called rabbit. Both, however, are excellent, and the former is a little sweeter than beef, but in other respects much like it; the latter something between rabbit and squirrel, with a flavour all its own. It is delicious. I recommend those who have cats with philoprogenitive proclivities, instead of drowning the kittens, to eat them. Either smothered in onions or in a ragout they are excellent. When I return to London I shall frequently treat myself to one of these domestic animals, and ever feel grateful to Bismarck for having taught me that cat served up for dinner is the right animal in the right place.

October 20th.
"The clients of M. Poiret are informed that they can only have one plate of meat," was the terrible writing which stared me on the wall, when I went to dine at my favourite bouillon—and, good heavens, what a portion it was! Not enough for the dinner of a fine lady who has previously gorged herself at a private luncheon. If meat is, as we are told, so plentiful that it will last for five weeks more, the mode in which it is distributed is radically bad. While at a large popular restaurant, where hundreds of the middle classes dine, each person only gets enough cat or horse to whet his appetite for more; in the expensive cafés on the Boulevards, feasts worthy of Lucullus are still served to those who are ready to part with their money with the proverbial readiness of fools. Far more practical, my worthy Republicans, would it be to establish "liberté, égalité, fraternité" in the cook shops, than to write the words in letters of gold over your churches. In every great city there always is much want and misery; here, although succour is supposed to be afforded to all who require it, many I fear are starving owing to that bureaucrat love of classification which is the curse of France. After my meagre dinner, I was strolling along the quays near the river, l'estomac as leger as M. Ollivier's heart, when I saw a woman leaning over the parapet. She turned as I was passing her, and the lamp from the opposite gate of the Tuileries shone on her face. It was honest and homely, but so careworn, so utterly hopeless, that I stopped to ask her if she was ill. "Only tired and hungry'" she replied; "I have been walking all day, and I have not eaten since yesterday." I took her to a café and gave her some bread and coffee, and then she told me her story. She was a peasant girl from Franche Comté, and had come to Paris, where she had gone into service. But she had soon tired of domestic servitude, and for the last year she had supported herself by sewing waistcoats in a great wholesale establishment. At the commencement of the siege she had been discharged, and for some days she found employment in a Government workshop, but for the last three weeks she had wandered here and there, vainly asking for work. One by one she had sold every article of dress she possessed, except the scanty garments she wore, and she had lived upon bread and celery. The day before she had spent her last sou, and when I saw her she had come down to the river, starving and exhausted, to throw herself into it. "But the water looked so cold, I did not dare," she said. Thus spoke the grisette of Paris, very different from the gay, thoughtless being of French romance, who lives in a garret, her window shrouded with flowers, is adored by a student, and earns enough money in a few hours to pass the rest of the week dancing, gossiping, and amusing herself. As I listened to her, I felt ashamed of myself for repining because I had only had one plate of meat. The hopeless, desolate condition of this poor girl is that of many of her class to-day. But why should they complain? Is not King William the instrument of Heaven, and is he not engaged in a holy cause? That Kings should fight and that seamstresses should weep is in the natural order of things. Frenchmen and Frenchwomen only deserve to be massacred or starved if they are so lost to all sense of what is just as to venture to struggle against the dismemberment of their country, and do not understand how meet and right it is that their fellow-countrymen in Alsace should be converted into German subjects.
November 8th
A new industry has sprung up in Paris. A manufactory has been discovered, in which Prussian casques and sabres were being made. It was at first thought that the owner was engaged in a dark conspiracy, but, upon being arrested, he confessed that he was endeavouring to meet the demand for trophies from the fields of battle. In one room of the house of this ingenious speculator, a large number of forged letters were found, from mothers, sisters, and brides, to their relations in the army before Paris: these, he explained, were to be sold, warranted from the pocket of a German corpse.

January 6th.
The vin ordinaire is giving out. It has already risen nearly 60 per cent. in price. This is a very serious thing for the poor, who not only drink it, but warm it and make with bread a soup out of it. Yesterday, I had a slice of Pollux for dinner. Pollux and his brother Castor are two elephants, which have been killed. It was tough, coarse, and oily, and I do not recommend English families to eat elephant as long as they can get beef or mutton. Many of the restaurants are closed owing to want of fuel. They are recommended to use lamps; but although French cooks can do wonders with very poor materials, when they are called upon to cook an elephant with a spirit lamp the thing is almost beyond their ingenuity. Castor and Pollux's trunks sold for 45fr. a lb.; the other parts of the interesting twins fetched about 10fr. a lb. It is a good deal warmer to-day, and has been thawing in the sun; if the cold and the siege had continued much longer, the Prussians would have found us all in bed. It is a far easier thing to cut down a tree than to make it burn. Proverbs are not always true; and I have found to my bitter experience of late that the proverb that "there is no smoke without a fire" is untrue. The Tupper who made it never tried to burn green wood.

TURKISH PRISONERS IN EGYPT

Extracts from: TURKISH PRISONERS IN EGYPT - A Report By The Delegates Of The International Committee Of The Red Cross Extracted and translated from the Official Reports of the Red Cross Society (Documents publiés à l'occasion de la Guerre Européenne, 1914-1917)
Published in 1917

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.
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.
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.

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.
Bedding.—The iron beds have wire springs, mattresses stuffed with vegetable fibre, pillows, and sufficiency of blankets, to which many officers like to add curtains and coverlets. The rest of the furniture is adequate, and easy-chairs are general.
Food.—The officers' mess is run by a contractor. One of the officers, appointed by his comrades, is entrusted with arranging the menus and seeing them properly carried out. No limit is fixed to the choice and quantity of food. The cost must not exceed 10 piastres (about 2s.) daily, including tea, coffee, sugar, preserves, etc. The officers can get any extras which they desire either from the canteen or from the town, except alcoholic drinks, which are forbidden. The meat is previously inspected by the veterinary of the sanitary department. The bread is particularly good. Officers are given European bread, orderlies native bread. We tasted the day's menu ourselves. No complaints with regard to food reached us. The Turkish officers take their meals in two dining-rooms, each of which seats 150. The tables are covered with cloths; the china and plate are suitable.
The orderlies' fare is wholesome and sufficient.
Dress.—The Turkish officers are warmly and suitably clad. They can procure for themselves all kinds of toilet articles and other equipment. Most of them wear civilian costume with a fez. An Alexandria tradesman comes to the camp to take their orders.
When inspecting the orderlies we heard some of them complain of a lack of linen, especially of drawers. Surprised by this, we made an immediate inquiry, which produced the following results: the orderlies all received their regulation supply of linen, and signed a receipt in the register. A certain number of them subsequently sold the articles to their officers; these are the men who now complain of a deficiency of linen.
Hygiene.—Abundant and wholesome drinking water is laid on from the town system. The toilet supply comes to cement basins provided with many taps. The water from the lavatories and kitchens empties itself into a lake at some distance from the camp.
In the morning the officers use the baths or douches fitted up close to the barracks, and separated from each other by woven grass partitions.
The officers' linen is washed by their orderlies in very convenient wash-houses built of wood and cement.
There are 44 Turkish W.C.'s, cemented, at a good distance from the quarters. They are arranged over cesspools 18 feet deep, disinfected every day with whitewash and cresol, and are quite odourless.
Medical Attention.—The health of the inmates of Sidi Bishr Camp is looked after by an English doctor, Captain Gillespie, assisted by an Armenian doctor, who practised at Aleppo in Turkey before the war.
These two doctors speak Arabic and Turkish.
An English corporal and 5 English hospital orderlies take care of the sick.
Twenty-one Egyptian orderlies do the sanitary work of the camp; serious cases are sent to the English hospital at Alexandria. A Turkish Surgeon-Major, Dr. Ibrahim, interned at the camp, is present at operations performed upon his Ottoman comrades in the hospital. He expressed himself as entirely satisfied with the care bestowed upon them.
The infirmary contains 12 iron bedsteads, with wool mattresses and blankets. The consulting room is well fitted up, the cupboards abundantly supplied with drugs. An isolation ward accommodates infectious cases in the incubation stage. Bathrooms reserved for the patients adjoin the infirmary, and there is a kitchen service for preparing special diet.
Officers troubled by their teeth are taken to a dentist in Alexandria.
The prisoners' garments and bedding are sterilised in a special apparatus.
All new arrivals pass 14 days in quarantine, in special quarters in one of the sections of the camp. They are permitted to join their comrades only when it is certain that they are free from any contagious malady. At present 36 officers and 34 orderlies are in quarantine.
Illnesses and Deaths-All officers imprisoned at Sidi Bishr having been vaccinated against smallpox, typhoid, and cholera, there are no epidemics in the camp. Three to five officers come forward each morning when the doctor makes his rounds. There are perhaps 6 light cases of malaria weekly, 3 to 5 cases of bacillic dysentery every month, treated with serum; 1 case of more serious dysentery was sent away to the English Hospital in Alexandria. In summer there are some mild cases of diarrhoea. There were 3 cases of trachoma among the officers' orderlies. Four tuberculous patients, coming from the Hedjaz, were conveyed to the hospital without any stay at the camp; two died after 20 and 30 days of treatment respectively. In the infirmary at Sidi Bishr are now:
1 officer with a foot wound, 1 suffering from pharyngitis, and one passing 1/2 per cent. of albumen.
Some of the Turkish officers were wounded in the war:
One whose thigh was amputated is provided with a fine artificial substitute; one who had both bones of the lower arm fractured, and was operated upon four times, is now well on the way to recovery.
One suffering from hemiplegia, owing to a fractured skull, is now able to move again and to walk with crutches. Another lame officer is affected by rupture of a main nerve in the leg.
Salik Sidki, judge of Mecca, entrusted us with a letter of thanks to the English authorities, in recognition of the care which he received at the hospital where he underwent a severe operation for a chronic affection of the pylorus.
Prisoners' Wishes.—Some officers complained of not being allowed to go to Alexandria to make their purchases; but in the circumstances such a request could not be gratified. On the other hand, a certain number of officers have obtained permission to go to Cairo and spend a few days with their wives interned in the Citadel; it is evident that this favour is only accorded in exceptional cases and cannot be made general. To extend it equally to sons, brothers and other relations, as some of the prisoners desire, is clearly impossible.
The officers were offered two hours' walk every morning outside the camp, in parties of 26, under the supervision of an unarmed soldier, on condition of their giving their parole not to escape. This they refused, declaring that a conditional proposal was no privilege. They can, however, stroll about freely inside the limits of the camp, which is very extensive.
We received several complaints concerning rain having recently found its way into the barracks. But the extreme rarity of such an occurrence makes it of no importance.
Pay.—Officers' pay is fixed by the War Office. That of lieutenants comes to 5 francs daily, that of captains to 5 francs 75, that of superior officers is proportionate to their rank.
The orderlies, being privates, are not paid. Some of them receive pay from their officers, others get nothing. Most of them have some money, but nevertheless we have decided to remit £20 to the camp commandant for the poorest soldiers' small needs.
Correspondence.—Prisoners may write as often as they like, but seldom take advantage of the privilege, and as a rule receive few letters, which take from 40 to 45 days in reaching them. Few money orders come to the camp.
Religion and Amusements.—The prisoners have every chance of worshipping according to their own creed. The imaums can use a building arranged as a mosque and lighted by electricity. There is one mosque inside the camp enclosure.
The camp contains 40 musical instruments; a piano has been hired for the officers.
The prisoners play football, tennis, cards and chess. Many amuse themselves with reading.
* * *
CONCLUSIONS
The Red Cross International Committee, at Geneva, has since the beginning of the war organised visits to the camps of prisoners of war and of civilian prisoners in the various belligerent countries.
The members of the mission sent to Egypt, MM. Dr. F. Blanched, E. Schoch, and F. Thormeyer, had already inspected camps in Germany, France, Morocco and Russia. They may be allowed to compare the treatment of the Egyptian prisoners with what they had seen elsewhere.
We express our deep gratitude to the English authorities for all the facilities which they gave us for the accomplishment of our mission.
We will now sum up the whole set of observations made by us.
We visited the camps of Heliopolis, Maadi, the Citadel of Cairo, Ras-el-Tin, Sidi Bishr, and the hospitals of Abbassiah and the Egyptian Red Cross.
The camps are situated in healthy localities, and their dimensions are amply sufficient for the population that they hold. The accommodation seems to us exactly suited to the conditions of the country and climate. Whether barracks are specially constructed for the prisoners, or stone buildings are adapted to their use, these results are obtained.
Ventilation is sufficient everywhere. Measures of protection against the cold, so difficult to render effective in other countries, are unimportant here, owing to the mildness of the climate. Both boarded and beaten earth floors are kept perfectly clean.
The bedding of the prisoners of war (non-commissioned officers and privates) is composed of plaited rush mats, such as they are accustomed to use when at home. These mats are regularly cleansed, and replaced as they wear out. The officers, civilian prisoners and sick are provided with iron spring beds, and mattresses generally stuffed with vegetable fibre. For hospitals and officers, pillows and coverlets are also supplied.
The blankets assigned to each prisoner vary from 3 to 5, a number which we have never seen equalled in other places.
As to clothing, the military authorities furnish the men with all that is necessary: 2 pairs of drawers, 2 flannel shirts, 2 pairs of socks, a woollen belt, 1 neckerchief, 1 pair of trousers, a tunic of blue cloth (or beige) and a cloak. All these garments are warm, clean, and of good quality. All the Turks wear the national head-covering, the fez. Decorations are allowed to be worn unrestrictedly. Owing to the date of our visit we were not able to inspect the summer outfit, but the prisoners told us that in the hot season they wore blue linen suits.
The civilian prisoners whose personal belongings were worn out received a complete equipment.
The interned civilians were decently and sufficiently clothed.
Officers can order their clothes at their own expense from the town tailors.
The private soldiers all wear the oriental slippers; non-commissioned officers are given high-lows. All necessaries for repairs are provided by the camp administration.
Everywhere we found the prisoners adequately and suitably dressed. No external mark shows their position as prisoners of war, except a metal medallion attached to the tunic.
We can assert that the commissariat of the Egyptian prisoners leaves nothing to be desired. The fact that the prisoners prepare their own food insures them a diet suitable to their tastes and customs. The quantities supplied are calculated upon a very liberal scale. The quality, whether of bread, meat or vegetables, is excellent and constant.
The officers' mess is entrusted to private contract. They arrange their own menu. The daily board is very moderate. Well-stocked canteens enable them to obtain additions at prices fixed by the authorities.
The sick in hospital have a regimen suited to their condition prescribed by the doctors. The milk provided is of excellent quality.
The health department is remarkably well organised everywhere. Drinking water and water for washing purposes are equally abundant. There is an ad libitum supply for douches and baths in every camp. The arrangements for laundering linen are very efficient.
Each camp is provided with a disinfecting furnace, linen and upper garments being sterilised once weekly. There are no vermin anywhere. Special pains are taken over the cleansing of prisoners newly arrived from the front. The result of these measures and of the system of vaccination is seen in the entire freedom of the camps from epidemics.
Turkish or English latrines are sufficient in number, odourless, and regularly disinfected.
In every camp medical attention is given by a staff of first-class English physicians, assisted by Armenian or Syrian doctors; hospital orderlies keep the quarters in perfect order. The infirmaries are spacious, well lighted, thoroughly stocked with drugs and with surgical apparatus and dressings.
If dentistry be needed, which is rare among Ottomans, it is supplied by dentists from the town or resident in the camps.
Cases of mutilation are provided with artificial limbs.
An examination of the medical register in all the camps has convinced us of their good sanitary condition. The small number of sick, and the slight character of the ailments, corroborate what we have ourselves observed from the hygienic point of view. The death-rate is very low.
Deceased prisoners are interred with military honours and according to the rites of their religion.
The space enclosed within the camps permits the prisoners to enjoy walking exercise as well as outdoor games.
The English military authorities have not sanctioned compulsory work for prisoners. Except for sanitary fatigue duties, prisoners have the whole disposal of their own time. The numerous complaints provoked in other countries by forced labour are entirely absent among the Ottoman prisoners in Egypt.
Imaums take religious charge, and the prisoners have full liberty to carry out their daily worship.
Correspondence is less active than elsewhere owing to the large proportion of illiterate prisoners. Letters are long on the road because of the great distances traversed. The censorship is carried out in a liberal spirit and gives rise to no complaints. Money orders sent from Turkey are paid in full; but their number, as well as that of parcels, is restricted.
Assaults and corporal punishment are totally unknown in the camps. The only disciplinary penalty, very seldom applied, consists of arrest for a period fixed by the military authorities. We were happy to learn that the discipline of the Turkish prisoners is excellent. Their own commissariat officers exercise a good influence. We were ourselves struck by the correct bearing of the men and their good humour. They fully appreciate the English authorities' kindness to them.
To sum up, our conviction, based upon careful investigations, is that the inspectors, commandants and officers of the camps treat the prisoners with humanity and do all in their power to soften their lot.
We form the impression that the English Government's proposals concerning repatriation of the interned civilians will soon bear fruit; and we hope that this measure will be extended to all mutilated prisoners of war.

CAIRO, January, 1917.
The Delegates of the Red Cross International Committee.
Dr. F. BLANCHOD.
F. THORMEYER.
EMMANUEL SCHOCH.

To the North Pole with Peary

An excerpt from: A NEGRO EXPLORER AT THE NORTH POLE, BY MATTHEW A. HENSON WITH A FOREWORD BY ROBERT E. PEARY, REAR ADMIRAL, U. S. N., RETIRED AND AN INTRODUCTION BY BOOKER T. WASHINGTON WITH ILLUSTRATIONS FROM PHOTOGRAPHS, NEW YORK, FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY, PUBLISHERS, Copyright, 1912, by Frederick A. Stokes Company


February 18, 1909: Weather clear, temperature 28° at five a. m. We were ready to leave the ship at seven-thirty a. m., but a blinding gale delayed our start until nine a. m. Two parties have left for Columbia: Professor MacMillan, three boys, four sledges, and twenty-four dogs; and my party of three boys and the same outfit. Each sledge is loaded with about two hundred and fifty pounds of provisions, consisting of pemmican, biscuits, tea, and alcohol. The Arctic night still holds sway, but to-day at noon, far to the south, a thin band of twilight shows, giving promise of the return of the sun, and every day now will increase in light. Heavy going to Porter Bay, where we are to spend the night, and as soon as rested start to work soldering up the thirty-six leaky alcohol tins left there by George Borup last week. Professor MacMillan and his party have not shown up yet. They dropped behind at Cape Richardson and we are keeping a watch for them. Snow still drifting and the wind howling like old times. Have had our evening meal of travel-rations; pemmican, biscuits, and tea and condensed milk, which was eaten with a relish. Two meals a day now, and big work between meals. No sign of Professor MacMillan and his crew, so we are going to turn in. The other igloo is waiting for him and the storm keeps up.

February 19, 1909: It was six a. m. when I routed out the boys for breakfast. I am writing while the tea is brewing. Had a good sleep last night when I did get to sleep. Snoring, talk about snoring! Sleeping with Esquimos on either side, who have already fallen asleep, is impossible. The only way to get asleep is to wake them up, get them good and wide-awake, inquire solicitously as to their comfort, and before they can get to sleep fall asleep yourself. After that, their rhythmic snores will only tend to soothe and rest you.

Worked all day soldering the tins of alcohol, and a very trying job it was. I converted the oil-stove into an alcohol-burner, and used it to heat the irons. It took some time for me to gauge properly the height above the blue flame of the alcohol at which I would get the best results in heating the irons, but at last we found it. A cradle-shaped support made from biscuit-can wire was hung over the flame about an inch above it, and while the boys heated the irons, I squatted on my knees with a case of alcohol across my lap and got to work. I had watched Mr. Wardwell aboard the ship solder up the cases and I found that watching a man work, and doing the same thing yourself, were two different matters. I tried to work with mittens on; I tried to work with them off. As soon as my bare fingers would touch the cold metal of the tins, they would freeze, and if I attempted to use the mittens they would singe and burn, and it was impossible to hold the solder with my bearskin gloves on. But keeping everlastingly at it brings success, and with the help of the boys the work was slowly but surely done.

Early this evening Professor MacMillan and his caravan arrived. He complimented me on the success of my work and informed me that they camped at Cape Richardson last night and that the trail had been pretty well blown over by the storm, but that the sledge-tracks were still to be seen. Dead tired, but not cold or uncomfortable. The stew is ready and so am I. Goodnight!

February 20: Wind died down, sky clear, and weather cold as usual. Our next point is Sail Harbor and after breakfast we set out. The Professor has asked me the most advisable way; whether to keep to the sea-ice or go overland, and we have agreed to follow the northern route, overland across Fielden Peninsula, using Peary's Path. By this route we estimate a saving of eight miles of going, and we will hit the beach at James Ross Bay.

Five p. m.: Sail Harbor. Stopped writing to eat breakfast, and then we loaded up and started. Reached here about an hour ago and from the fresh tracks in the snow, the Captain's or the Doctor's party have just recently left. It was evidently Doctor Goodsell and his crew who were here last; for Captain Bartlett left the Roosevelt on February 15 and the Doctor did not leave until the 16th. The going has been heavy, due to loose snow and heavy winds. Also intense cold; the thermometers are all out of commission, due to bubbles; but a frozen bottle of brandy proves that we had at least 45° of cold. The igloo I built last December 5 is the one my party are camped in. Professor MacMillan and his party kept up with us all day, and it was pleasant to have his society. Writing is difficult, the kettle is boiled, so here ends to-day's entry.
* * *
While we waited here, we had time to appreciate the magnificent desolation about us. Even on the march, with loaded sledges and tugging dogs to engage attention, unconsciously one finds oneself with wits wool-gathering and eyes taking in the scene, and suddenly being brought back to the business of the hour by the fiend-like conduct of his team.

There is an irresistible fascination about the regions of northern-most Grant Land that is impossible for me to describe. Having no poetry in my soul, and being somewhat hardened by years of experience in that inhospitable country, words proper to give you an idea of its unique beauty do not come to mind. Imagine gorgeous bleakness, beautiful blankness. It never seems broad, bright day, even in the middle of June, and the sky has the different effects of the varying hours of morning and evening twilight from the first to the last peep of day. Early in February, at noon, a thin band of light appears far to the southward, heralding the approach of the sun, and daily the twilight lengthens, until early in March, the sun, a flaming disk of fiery crimson, shows his distorted image above the horizon. This distorted shape is due to the mirage caused by the cold, just as heat-waves above the rails on a railroad-track distort the shape of objects beyond.

The south sides of the lofty peaks have for days reflected the glory of the coming sun, and it does not require an artist to enjoy the unexampled splendor of the view. The snows covering the peaks show all of the colors, variations, and tones of the artist's palette, and more. Artists have gone with us into the Arctic and I have heard them rave over the wonderful beauties of the scene, and I have seen them at work trying to reproduce some of it, with good results but with nothing like the effect of the original. As Mr. Stokes said, "it is color run riot."

To the northward, all is dark and the brighter stars of the heavens are still visible, but growing fainter daily with the strengthening of the sunlight.

When the sun finally gets above the horizon and swings his daily circle, the color effects grow less and less, but then the sky and cloud-effects improve and the shadows in the mountains and clefts of the ice show forth their beauty, cold blues and grays; the bare patches of the land, rich browns; and the whiteness of the snow is dazzling. At midday, the optical impression given by one's shadow is of about nine o'clock in the morning, this due to the altitude of the sun, always giving us long shadows. Above us the sky is blue and bright, bluer than the sky of the Mediterranean, and the clouds from the silky cirrus mare's-tails to the fantastic and heavy cumulus are always objects of beauty. This is the description of fine weather.

Almost any spot would have been a fine one to get a round of views from; at Cape Sheridan, our headquarters, we were bounded by a series of land marks that have become historical; to the north, Cape Hecla, the point of departure of the 1906 expedition; to the west, Cape Joseph Henry, and beyond, the twin peaks of Cape Columbia rear their giant summits out to the ocean.

From Cape Columbia the expedition was now to leave the land and sledge over the ice-covered ocean four hundred and thirteen miles north—to the Pole!
* * *
February 28, 1909: A bright, clear morning. Captain Bartlett and his crew, Ooqueah, Pooadloonah, and Harrigan; and George Borup and Karko, Seegloo, and Keshungwah, have set sail and are on their way.

Captain Bartlett made the trail and George Borup was the scout, and a rare "Old Scout" he was. He kept up the going for three days and then came back to the land to start again with new loads of supplies.

The party that stayed at Crane City until March 1, consisted of Commander Peary, MacMillan, Goodsell, Marvin, myself, and fourteen Esquimos, whom you don't know, and ninety-eight dogs, that you may have heard about.

The dogs were double-fed and we put a good meal inside ourselves before turning-in on the night of February 28, 1909. The next morning was to be our launching, and we went to sleep full of the thought of what was before us. From now on it was keep on going, and keep on—and we kept on; sometimes in the face of storms of wind and snow that it is impossible for you to imagine.

Day does not break in the Arctic regions, it just comes on quietly the same as down here, but I must say that at daybreak on March 1, 1909, we were all excitement and attention. A furious wind was blowing, which we took as a good omen; for, on all of Commander Peary's travelings, a good big, heavy, storm of blinding snow has been his stirrup-cup and here he had his last. Systematically we had completed our preparations on the two days previous, so that, by six a. m. of the 1st of March, we were ready and standing at the upstanders of our sledges, awaiting the command "Forward! March!"

Already, difficulties had commenced. Ooblooyah and Slocum (Esquimo name, Inighito, but, on account of his dilatory habits, known as Slocum) were incapacitated; Ooblooyah with a swelled knee, and Slocum with a frozen heel. The cold gets you in most any place, up there.

I and my three boys were ordered to take the lead. We did so, at about half past six o'clock in the morning. Forward! March! and we were off.
* * *
March 19: We left camp in a haze of bitter cold; the ice conditions about the same as the previous day; high rafters, huge and jagged; and we pickaxed the way continuously. By noontime, we found ourselves alongside of a lead covered by a film of young ice. We forced the dogs and they took it on the run, the ice undulating beneath them, the same as it does when little wanton boys play at tickley benders, often with serious results, on the newly formed ice on ponds and brooks down in civilization. Our tickley benders were not done in the spirit of play, but on account of urgent necessity, and as it was I nearly suffered a serious loss of precious possessions.

One of the sledges, driven by Ahwatingwah, broke through the ice and its load, which consisted of my extra equipment, such as kamiks, mittens, etc., was thoroughly soaked. Luckily for the boy, he was at the side of the sledge and escaped a ducking. Foolishly I rushed over, but, quickly realizing my danger, I slowed down, and with the utmost care he fished out the sledge, and the dogs, shaking as with palsy, were gently urged on. Walking wide, like the polar bear, we crept after, and without further incident reached the opposite side of the lead. My team had reached there before me and, with human intelligence, the dogs had dragged the sledge to a place of safety and were sitting on their haunches, with ears cocked forward, watching us in our precarious predicament. They seemed to rejoice at our deliverance, and as I went among them and untangled their traces I could not forbear giving each one an affectionate pat on the head.

For the next five hours our trail lay over heavy pressure ridges, in some places sixty feet high. We had to make a trail over the mountains of ice and then come back for the sledges. A difficult climb began. Pushing from our very toes, straining every muscle, urging the dogs with voice and whip, we guided the sledges. On several occasions the dogs gave it up, standing still in their tracks, and we had to hold the sledges with the strength of our bones and muscles to prevent them from sliding backwards. When we had regained our equilibrium the dogs were again started, and in this way we gained the tops of the pressure-ridges.

Going down on the opposite side was more nerve-racking. On the descent of one ridge, in spite of the experienced care of Ootah, the sledge bounded away from him, and at a declivity of thirty feet was completely wrecked. The frightened dogs dashed wildly in every direction to escape the falling sledge, and as quickly as possible we slid down the steep incline, at the same time guiding the dogs attached to the two remaining sledges. We rushed over, my two boys and I, to the spot where the poor dogs stood trembling with fright. We released them from the tangle they were in, and, with kind words and pats of the hand on their heads, quieted them. For over an hour we struggled with the broken pieces of the wreck and finally lashed them together with strips of oog-sook (seal-hide). We said nothing to the Commander when he caught up with us, but his quick eye took in at a glance the experience we had been through. The repairs having been completed, we again started. Before us stretched a heavy, old floe, giving us good going until we reached the lead, when the order was given to camp. We built our igloos, and boiled the tea and had what we called supper.

Commander Peary called me over to his igloo and gave me my orders: first; that I should at once select the best dogs of the three teams, as the ones disqualified by me would on the following morning be sent back to the ship, in care of the third supporting party, which was to turn back. Secondly; that I should rearrange the loads on the remainder of the sledges, there now being ten in number. It was eight p. m. when I began work and two the following morning when I had finished.
* * *
Captain Bartlett and his two boys had commenced their return journey, and the main column, depleted to its final strength, started northward. We were six: Peary, the commander, the Esquimos, Ootah, Egingwah, Seegloo and Ooqueah, and myself.

Day and night were the same. My thoughts were on the going and getting forward, and on nothing else. The wind was from the southeast, and seemed to push us on, and the sun was at our backs, a ball of livid fire, rolling his way above the horizon in never-ending day.

The Captain had gone, Commander Peary and I were alone (save for the four Esquimos), the same as we had been so often in the past years, and as we looked at each other we realized our position and we knew without speaking that the time had come for us to demonstrate that we were the men who, it had been ordained, should unlock the door which held the mystery of the Arctic. Without an instant's hesitation, the order to push on was given, and we started off in the trail made by the Captain to cover the Farthest North he had made and to push on over one hundred and thirty miles to our final destination.

The Captain had had rough going, but, owing to the fact that his trail was our track for a short time, and that we came to good going shortly after leaving his turning point, we made excellent distance without any trouble, and only stopped when we came to a lead barely frozen over, a full twenty-five miles beyond. We camped and waited for the strong southeast wind to force the sides of the lead together. The Esquimos had eaten a meal of stewed dog, cooked over a fire of wood from a discarded sledge, and, owing to their wonderful powers of recuperation, were in good condition; Commander Peary and myself, rested and invigorated by our thirty hours in the last camp, waiting for the return and departure of Captain Bartlett, were also in fine fettle, and accordingly the accomplishment of twenty-five miles of northward progress was not exceptional. With my proven ability in gauging distances, Commander Peary was ready to take the reckoning as I made it and he did not resort to solar observations until we were within a hand's grasp of the Pole.

The memory of those last five marches, from the Farthest North of Captain Bartlett to the arrival of our party at the Pole, is a memory of toil, fatigue, and exhaustion, but we were urged on and encouraged by our relentless commander, who was himself being scourged by the final lashings of the dominating influence that had controlled his life. From the land to 87° 48' north, Commander Peary had had the best of the going, for he had brought up the rear and had utilized the trail made by the preceding parties, and thus he had kept himself in the best of condition for the time when he made the spurt that brought him to the end of the race. From 87° 48' north, he kept in the lead and did his work in such a way as to convince me that he was still as good a man as he had ever been. We marched and marched, falling down in our tracks repeatedly, until it was impossible to go on. We were forced to camp, in spite of the impatience of the Commander, who found himself unable to rest, and who only waited long enough for us to relax into sound sleep, when he would wake us up and start us off again. I do not believe that he slept for one hour from April 2 until after he had loaded us up and ordered us to go back over our old trail, and I often think that from the instant when the order to return was given until the land was again sighted, he was in a continual daze.

Onward we forced our weary way. Commander Peary took his sights from the time our chronometer-watches gave, and I, knowing that we had kept on going in practically a straight line, was sure that we had more than covered the necessary distance to insure our arrival at the top of the earth.

It was during the march of the 3d of April that I endured an instant of hideous horror. We were crossing a lane of moving ice. Commander Peary was in the lead setting the pace, and a half hour later the four boys and myself followed in single file. They had all gone before, and I was standing and pushing at the upstanders of my sledge, when the block of ice I was using as a support slipped from underneath my feet, and before I knew it the sledge was out of my grasp, and I was floundering in the water of the lead. I did the best I could. I tore my hood from off my head and struggled frantically. My hands were gloved and I could not take hold of the ice, but before I could give the "Grand Hailing Sigh of Distress," faithful old Ootah had grabbed me by the nape of the neck, the same as he would have grabbed a dog, and with one hand he pulled me out of the water, and with the other hurried the team across.

He had saved my life, but I did not tell him so, for such occurrences are taken as part of the day's work, and the sledge he safeguarded was of much more importance, for it held, as part of its load, the Commander's sextant, the mercury, and the coils of piano-wire that were the essential portion of the scientific part of the expedition. My kamiks (boots of sealskin) were stripped off, and the congealed water was beaten out of my bearskin trousers, and with a dry pair of kamiks, we hurried on to overtake the column. When we caught up, we found the boys gathered around the Commander, doing their best to relieve him of his discomfort, for he had fallen into the water also, and while he was not complaining, I was sure that his bath had not been any more voluntary than mine had been.

When we halted on April 6, 1909, and started to build the igloos, the dogs and sledges having been secured, I noticed Commander Peary at work unloading his sledge and unpacking several bundles of equipment. He pulled out from under his kooletah (thick, fur outer-garment) a small folded package and unfolded it. I recognized his old silk flag, and realized that this was to be a camp of importance. Our different camps had been known as Camp Number One, Number Two, etc., but after the turning back of Captain Bartlett, the camps had been given names such as Camp Nansen, Camp Cagni, etc., and I asked what the name of this camp was to be—"Camp Peary"? "This, my boy, is to be Camp Morris K. Jesup, the last and most northerly camp on the earth."

He fastened the flag to a staff and planted it firmly on the top of his igloo. For a few minutes it hung limp and lifeless in the dead calm of the haze, and then a slight breeze, increasing in strength, caused the folds to straighten out, and soon it was rippling out in sparkling color. The stars and stripes were "nailed to the Pole."

A thrill of patriotism ran through me and I raised my voice to cheer the starry emblem of my native land. The Esquimos gathered around and, taking the time from Commander Peary, three hearty cheers rang out on the still, frosty air, our dumb dogs looking on in puzzled surprise. As prospects for getting a sight of the sun were not good, we turned in and slept, leaving the flag proudly floating above us.

This was a thin silk flag that Commander Peary had carried on all of his Arctic journeys, and he had always flown it at his last camps. It was as glorious and as inspiring a banner as any battle-scarred, blood-stained standard of the world—and this badge of honor and courage was also blood-stained and battle-scarred, for at several places there were blank squares marking the spots where pieces had been cut out at each of the "Farthests" of its brave bearer, and left with the records in the cairns, as mute but eloquent witnesses of his achievements. At the North Pole a diagonal strip running from the upper left to the lower right corner was cut and this precious strip, together with a brief record, was placed in an empty tin, sealed up and buried in the ice, as a record for all time.

Commander Peary also had another American flag, sewn on a white ground, and it was the emblem of the "Daughters of the Revolution Peace Society"; he also had and flew the emblem of the Navy League, and the emblems of a couple of college fraternities of which he was a member.

It was about ten or ten-thirty a. m., on the 7th of April, 1909, that the Commander gave the order to build a snow-shield to protect him from the flying drift of the surface-snow. I knew that he was about to take an observation, and while we worked I was nervously apprehensive, for I felt that the end of our journey had come. When we handed him the pan of mercury the hour was within a very few minutes of noon. Laying flat on his stomach, he took the elevation and made the notes on a piece of tissue-paper at his head. With sun-blinded eyes, he snapped shut the vernier (a graduated scale that subdivides the smallest divisions on the sector of the circular scale of the sextant) and with the resolute squaring of his jaws, I was sure that he was satisfied, and I was confident that the journey had ended. Feeling that the time had come, I ungloved my right hand and went forward to congratulate him on the success of our eighteen years of effort, but a gust of wind blew something into his eye, or else the burning pain caused by his prolonged look at the reflection of the limb of the sun forced him to turn aside; and with both hands covering his eyes, he gave us orders to not let him sleep for more than four hours, for six hours later he purposed to take another sight about four miles beyond, and that he wanted at least two hours to make the trip and get everything in readiness.

I unloaded a sledge, and reloaded it with a couple of skins, the instruments, and a cooker with enough alcohol and food for one meal for three, and then I turned in to the igloo where my boys were already sound asleep. The thermometer registered 29° below zero. I fell into a dreamless sleep and slept for about a minute, so I thought, when I was awakened by the clatter and noise made by the return of Peary and his boys.

The Commander gave the word, "We will plant the stars and stripes—at the North Pole!" and it was done; on the peak of a huge paleocrystic floeberg the glorious banner was unfurled to the breeze, and as it snapped and crackled with the wind, I felt a savage joy and exultation. Another world's accomplishment was done and finished, and as in the past, from the beginning of history, wherever the world's work was done by a white man, he had been accompanied by a colored man. From the building of the pyramids and the journey to the Cross, to the discovery of the new world and the discovery of the North Pole, the Negro had been the faithful and constant companion of the Caucasian, and I felt all that it was possible for me to feel, that it was I, a lowly member of my race, who had been chosen by fate to represent it, at this, almost the last of the world's great work.

The four Esquimos who stood with Commander Peary at the North Pole, were the brothers, Ootah and Egingwah, the old campaigner, Seegloo, and the sturdy, boyish Ooqueah. Four devoted companions, blindly confident in the leader, they worked only that he might succeed and for the promise of reward that had been made before they had left the ship, which promise they were sure would be kept. Together with the faithful dogs, these men had insured the success of the master. They had all of the characteristics of the dogs, including the dogs' fidelity. Within their breasts lingered the same infatuations that Commander Peary seemed to inspire in all who were with him, and though frequently complaining and constantly requiring to be urged to do their utmost, they worked faithfully and willingly. Ootah, of my party, was the oldest, a married man, of about thirty-four years, and regarded as the best all around member of the tribe, a great hunter, a kind father, and a good provider. Owing to his strong character and the fact that he was more easily managed by me than by any of the others, he had been a member of my party from the time we left the ship. Without exaggeration, I can say that we had both saved each other's lives more than once, but it had all gone in as part of the day's work, and neither of us dwelt on our obligations to the other.

My other boy, Ooqueah, was a young man of about nineteen or twenty, very sturdy and stocky of build, and with an open, honest countenance, a smile that was "child-like and bland," and a character that was child-like and bland. It was alleged that the efforts of young Ooqueah were spurred on by the shafts of love, and that it was in the hopes of winning the hand of the demure Miss Anadore, the charming daughter of Ikwah, the first Esquimo of Commander Peary's acquaintance, that he worked so valiantly. His efforts were of an ardent character, but it was not due to the ardor of love, as far as I could see, but to his desire to please and his anxiety to win the promised rewards that would raise him to the grade of a millionaire, according to Esquimo standards.

Commander Peary's boy, Egingwah, was the brother of my boy Ootah, also married and of good report in his community, and it was he who drove the Morris K. Jesup sledge.

If there was any sentiment among the Esquimos in regard to the success of the venture, Ootah and Seegloo by their unswerving loyalty and fidelity expressed it. They had been members of the "Farthest North party" in 1906, the party that was almost lost beyond and in the "Big Lead," and only reached the land again in a state of almost complete collapse. They were the ones who, on bidding Commander Peary farewell in 1906, when he was returning, a saddened and discouraged man, told him to be of good cheer and that when he came back again Ootah and Seegloo would go along, and stay until Commander Peary had succeeded, and they did. The cowardice of their fellow Esquimos at the "Big Lead" on this journey did not in the least demoralize them, and when they were absolutely alone on the trail, with every chance to turn back and return to comfort, wife, and family, they remained steadfast and true, and ever northward guided their sledges.
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The long trail was finished, the work was done, and there was only left for us to return and tell the tale of the doing. Reaction had set in, and it was with quavering voice that Commander Peary gave the order to break camp. Already the strain of the hard upward-journey was beginning to tell, and after the first two marches back, he was practically a dead weight, but do not think that we could have gotten back without him, for it was due to the fact that he was with us, and that we could depend upon him to direct and order us, that we were able to keep up the break-neck pace that enabled us to cover three of our upward marches on one of our return marches, and we never forgot that he was still the heart and head of the party.

It was broad daylight and getting brighter, and accordingly I knew little fear, though I did think of the ghosts of other parties, flitting in spectral form over the ice-clad wastes, especially of that small detachment of the Italian expedition of the Duke D'Abruzzi, of which to this day neither track, trace, nor remembrance has ever been found. We crossed lead after lead, sometimes like a bare-back rider in the circus, balancing on cake after cake of ice, but good fortune was with us all of the way, and it was not until the land of recognizable character had been lifted that we lost the trail, and with the land in sight as an incentive, it was no trouble for us to gain the talus of the shore ice and find the trail again.

When we "hit the beach for fair" it was early in the morning of April 23, 1909, nearly seventeen days since we had left the Pole, but such a seventeen days of haste, toil, and misery as cannot be comprehended by the mind. We who experienced it, Commander Peary, the Esquimos, and myself, look back to it as to a horrid nightmare, and to describe it is impossible for me.

Commander Peary had taken the North Pole by conquest, in the face of almost insuperable natural difficulties, by the tremendous fighting-power of himself. The winning of the North Pole was a fight with nature; the way to the Pole that had been covered and retraced by Commander Peary lay across the ever moving and drifting ice of the Arctic Ocean. For more than a hundred miles from Cape Columbia it was piled in heavy pressure ridges, ridge after ridge, some more than a hundred feet in height. In addition, open lanes of water held the parties back until the leads froze up again, and continually the steady drift of the ice carried us back on the course we had come, but due to his deathless ambition to know and to do, he had conquered. He had added to the sum of Earth's knowledge, and proven that the mind of man is boundless in its desire.

The long quest for the North Pole is over and the awful space that separated man from the Ultima Thule has been bridged. There is no more beyond; from Cape Columbia to Cape Chelyuskin, the route northward to the Pole, and southward again to the plains of Asia, is an open book and the geographical mind is at rest.

We found the abandoned igloos of Crane City and realized that Captain Bartlett had reached the land safely. The damage due to the action of the storms was not material. We made the necessary repairs, and in a few minutes tea was boiled and rations eaten, and we turned in for sleep. For practically all of the two days following, that was what we did: sleep and eat; men and dogs thoroughly exhausted; and we slept the sleep of the just, without apprehensions or misgivings. Our toboggan from the Pole was ended.

Different from all other trips, we had not on this one been maddened by the pangs of hunger, but instead we felt the effects of lack of sleep, and brain- and body-fatigue. After reaching the land again, I gave a keen searching look at each member of the party, and I realized the strain they had been under. Instead of the plump, round countenances I knew so well, I saw lean, gaunt faces, seamed and wrinkled, the faces of old men, not those of boys, but in their eyes still shone the spark of resolute determination.

Commander Peary's face was lined and seamed, his beard was fully an inch in length, and his mustaches, which had been closely cropped before he left the ship, had again attained their full flowing length. His features expressed fatigue, but the heart-breaking look of sadness, that had clung to him since the failure of the 1906 expedition, had vanished. From his steel-gray eyes flashed forth the light of glorious victory, and though he always carried himself proudly, there had come about him an air of erect assurance that was exhilarating.

When I reached the ship again and gazed into my little mirror, it was the pinched and wrinkled visage of an old man that peered out at me, but the eyes still twinkled and life was still entrancing. This wizening of our features was due to the strain of travel and lack of sleep; we had enough to eat, and I have only mentioned it to help impress the fact that the journey to the Pole and back is not to be regarded as a pleasure outing, and our so-called jaunt was by no means a cake-walk.