MAECHING AND CARRYING POWER 197 



liability of sowing the seeds of various pulmonary 

 diseases when the nights are cold or damp. 



Marching by night, except when in actual contact 

 with the enemy, is as a rule quite feasible, especially on 

 lines of communication ; such, for instance, as we had 

 on the Mle from Wady Haifa to Korti, where, for all 

 practical purposes, with an almost interminable and im- 

 passable desert on both banks of the river, we were as 

 safe as if in Hyde Park. It is advisable in more ways 

 than one when, as occurred in that campaign, the ani- 

 mals were totally unprovided with covering or clothing. 

 Then, marching in the desert, where at times the cold is 

 intense from 2 A.M. up to sunrise the coldest hours in 

 the twenty-four the exercise keeps them warm, they are 

 less exposed, if at all, and run far smaller, if any, risks. 



Even desert camels, who can stand heat better than 

 those bred in more civilised and cultivated districts, 

 walk and work better by night. In fact it is, when 

 feasible, preferable to do so with all breeds and classes 

 of camels, even at the risk of giving a certain amount 

 of discomfort to the men ; for in reality it is an immense 

 economy in the end, not only in saving further and 

 greater discomfort both to men and animals, but in 

 saving the lives of numbers of valuable animals, or, in the 

 way which the ratepayer looks at it, large sums of money. 



In the Afghan campaign of 1878-79-80, march- 

 ing from Sukkur to Candahar, when my company 

 was escort to an elephant 40-pounder battery ; and 

 again from Candahar to Cabul ; and, lastly, from Cabul 

 to Peshawur, a tramp of twelve hours, especially on the 

 former march, was nothing. Frequently we were four- 

 teen and fifteen hours on the move, a couple of times 



