EQUIPMENT 247 



of spare equipment and spare material, in order to 

 grapple with, the constant effects produced by wear and 

 tear, and to admit of the repairing and refitting of 

 saddlery being thoroughly carried out. To do this, a 

 proper supply of saddles and carpenter's tools should be 

 issued, and competent men placed in charge of them. 

 Eope should be given freely, and without stint. The 

 inconvenience which I have frequently seen on service 

 from lack of this most useful and necessary article has 

 been woful. No unit, however small, should move 

 without a certain proportion of useful medicaments. 

 Medicine-chests ought to be made of a size and capacity 

 to suit the requirements of a section of 100 camels, and 

 should be in charge of the conductor, who ought to be 

 duly qualified to treat a sick animal. Oil and tar in 

 reasonable quantities are indispensable, while branding 

 irons and shears are always handy. 



With regard to the carriage of sick and wounded, Carriage 



-P " 1 l 



special arrangements should be made, and camels for wounded 

 the purpose ought to be very carefully selected for 

 their (1) strength, (2) steadiness, (3) staidness, (4) age. 

 The older and staider the better, and the heavier in 

 build the steadier they are in their movements. Worn 

 out and effete camels should on no account be used 

 as we did in the Bayuda desert, where the camels were 

 so exhausted and fatigued that they fell down from 

 utter weakness, while they were made to get up and 

 were dragged on behind the stronger ones, in fact 

 driven on by sheer brute force. Judging by my own 

 experience on that occasion, the agonies suffered by the 

 poor unfortunate sick and wounded men must have 

 been very terrible. Against the actual means of carrying 



