MARCHING AND CARRYING POWER 195 



so as, first of all, to assure the safety of the convoy ; 

 second, to arrive at this without unduly fatiguing or 

 starving his animals ; and to do this he must take into 

 consideration the general conditions above given. 



Everything in the first place naturally depends 

 entirely on these, and on circumstances generally 

 such as the character of the enemy, the nature of the 

 country, and the condition of his animals ; so that in 

 arranging his convoy and its order of march he 

 would, as a matter of course, weigh one with the 

 other. 



In open country it is always advisable to march on HOW to 

 as broad a front as possible, and it is preferable to have ^en 

 camels spread well out, or in several short lines, than 

 to have them in a few long unwieldy lines, which lead 

 to greater stretching out and straggling. In this way 

 they can be kept more in hand, and better under the 

 transport officer's own eye. And, believe me, the real 

 secret of success in transport is personal supervision, 

 which must be constant and conscientious ; and the 

 steadier the constancy, and the stronger the conscience, 

 the greater the success. In this way, too, he can deal 

 with the pace, and so prevent his animals being un- 

 necessarily harassed ; in fact, he can cope with every 

 point and any emergency. And on no account what- 

 ever should a transport officer leave his convoy except 

 for a strictly legitimate purpose, and especially to take 

 part in or watch a fight, as is too often the case, to the 

 utter neglect of his own duties. I have seen this occur 

 on service with very bad results, and it is a practice 

 which should be promptly put down by the authorities, 

 and yet, with our present system, it is not to be 



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