March 2 1, 1918 
Land & Water 
15 
of the etal-civil, wrote down "Lectvire faite/' ffipgating the 
words like a litany, and held out his pen. Whereupon John 
Lawrence and Marie Claire, his wife, and her maman and a 
great cloud of witnesses, .duly signed their names. 
"You're married, right enough. Jack," said Chipchase, as 
^he took his turn with the pen and gazed at the nine signatures 
Which preceded his own. " It's like a Summary of Evidence 
— you'd better take the old adjutant's award." 
And John Lawrence gave his wife a nuptial kiss before 
them all. WTiereupon Sergeant Chipchase, seizing the 
youngest and prettiest of Marie Claire's girl friends, kissed 
her also, explaining that this was the "custom" in England. 
This obiter dictum was so well received that he promptly 
kissed all the others, thereby wiping away all tears and 
putting everybody in the greatest good humour, 
* * * 
I knew Lawrence, and was in fact in France at the time of 
the wedding ; but it happened in 1915, and I had forgotten 
all about it till one day last summer, when I was spending a 
few day's leave in Dorsetshire. I had just heard that he 
had got a bar to his D.C.M. And, as chance would have it, 
my walk over the cliffs took me in the late afternoon into a 
village churchyard within a stone's throw of the sea, where 
I sat on the thick vturf in the shade of the cypresses. And 
while I mused in the declining rays of the sun my eye fell on 
a tombstone opposite me. 1 read the inscription : 
To the honoured memory of 
SERGEANT WILLIAM LAWRENCE 
(of the 40th Regiment Foot) 
Who after a long and eventful life 
In the service of his country 
Peacefully ended his days at Studland 
November nth, i86g. 
He served with his distinguished regiment 
In the war in South America, 1805, 
And through the whole of the Peninsular War, 1808-13 
He received the silver medal and no less than 10 clasps 
For the Battles in which he was engaged 
JROLEIA, VIMIERA, TOULOUSE, CIUDAD RODRIGO, 
BADAJOS 
(In which desperate assault being one of the volunteers 
Tor the Forlorn Hope he was most grievously wounded) 
VITTORIA, PYRENEES, NIVELLES, ORTHES, 
TOULOUSE. 
He also fought at the glorious victory of WATERLOO, 
June i8th, 1815. 
While still serving with his regiment during the 
Occupation of Paris by the Allied Armies, 
Sergeant Lawrence married Clotilde Clairet 
at St. Germain-en-Laye, who died September 26th, 1853, 
and was buried beneath this spot. 
1 got up and walked round to the reverse side of the tomb- 
stone. On it was inscribed the words : 
Ci-git 
CLOTILDE LAWRENCE 
N^e at St. Germain-en-Laye (France) 
D^c^d^e k Studland 
le 26 Sept., 1853. 
Was it merely a coincidence ? I do not know. 
Hit : By S. K. Vesey 
Distant View of Hit 
WE had 
beenca- 
ravan- 
ing for 
many 
days in the Mesopo- 
tamian desert when 
we came to Hit, the 
latest town to be 
occupied by British 
troops. From far off 
we saw the smoky 
vapours in which it is 
enveloped, and we 
smelt the sulphurous 
smell for which it is 
renowned. As we 
drew nighcr it seemed 
almost as if we Old Gateway, Hit 
were approaching 
some "Inferno" of Dante or Milton. 
The road from Ramadieh was very beautiful in its desert 
way, and just before lunch we passed through a fine gorge 
and rode to the top of a hill which commanded a view of 
the surrounding country. Desert everywhere, with little 
knobs and hills of sand. We camped that night close to 
the Euphrates, where river tortoises were disporting them- 
selves in the water. During the night there was a great 
noise of men and horses. No unusual occurrence, but this 
time it proved to be a Turkish colonel and his troop of sixty 
soldiers, who were out collecting taxes. They did not like 
to leave us unguarded in so solitary a spot, so they said, 
but as they breakfasted at our expense, their kindness 
was not as disinterested as it seemed. 
We started soon after dawn along a dreary way, with 
torrential rain descending at intervals. The sky was dark 
and gloomy, and mud and slime strove for the mastery 
underfoot. We encountered the postman who plied between 
Damascus and Bagdad. He was mounted on a horse, with 
two large saddle-bags tied in front of him. Occasionally he 
arrived at his destination intact, but, as a rule, his load was 
considerably lightened on the way. 
Our first impression of Hit was a tall minaret and black 
smoke ; but gradually a village, perched on a rock, evolved 
itself out of the gloom. There were rocky hills all round 
from which smoke issued, indicating where hot sulphur 
springs could be found. The ground was dotted with 
unpleasant -looking black patches. The retainers dabbled in 
these, returning with huge lumps of soft tar or bitumen. 
We camped outside the town, and a fire of bitumen was 
soon lit. It burnt splendidly, and warmed our chilled 
persons and drenched garments. All evening we were 
besieged by vendors of "antiques." The inhabitants find 
them in old Hit, and sell them to passing caravans. Next 
morning was finer, and we walked up to the town. It was 
entered by this picturesque gate. The streets were very 
narrow, with broken steps leading up to the houses. 
We saw bread being made in one of these houses. It was 
in a basket made of bitumen, and looked like porridge. 
There was also a fire in a hole with bricks built round it. 
A dirty girl came and washed her hands in dirty water, then 
took up a ball of dough, worked it into a flat substance, and 
plastered it against the brick wall.. In a few minutes it was 
cooked. In spite of these terrible processes, the bread was 
extremely good. 
Later in the day we visited the bitumen pools. Some of 
these were harmless, and one could dabble in them without 
evil consequence, but others were sticky, and the stuff clung 
to the hand like a black glove. Butter removed the thickest 
coating, but fragments adhered for days. Another pool was 
quite still when we arrived, but presently it began to dance 
and foam as if possessed by an evil spirit. The edge of the 
pool was all soft bitumen, but if gathered and laid on the 
ground it hardened in a few minutes. Further on there was 
yet another specimen of pool — sulphur and bitumen mixed — 
which is used as a bath by the natives. It is also said to 
cure any disease under the sun. Everything in and around 
Hit was made or mended with bitumen. Houses were 
patched together with it, boats were coated with it, and 
baskets made watertight. It was carried away in baskets 
on donkeys to the river, where it was shipped to Bagdad. 
They were a disagreeable mongrel-looking people, but very 
polite, and anxious to exhibit their town. Much of it was 
built on the ruins of an older settlement, for the bitumen and 
sulphur industry has existed from time immemorial. 
