12 
LAND 6r WATER 
October 17, 1918 
Our Arabian Allies 
ARABS AT WORK 
Making Bricks (or Camp Construction 
It is to be noted that this study of theforces at commcmd 
»f the King of the Hedjaz was written before the recent 
fidvance took place, and the suggestion that Arab troops 
should get astride of . the railway between Medina and 
Damascus has since been carried into effect. The article 
itself is an illuminating study of Arab character and 
tendencies, written frdtn intimate knowledge of the subject. 
CERTAIN officers occupying quarters in Beersheba, 
immediately after the capture by our troops, had 
their attention drawn to an artistic effort, 
obviously that of a German officer, on the wall of 
the tenement. It depicted in the lines of that 
gross caricature, at which the Hun is an adept, a series of 
figures on the march who were apparently intended to 
portray an Australian, an Indian, an Algerian, an Annamege, 
and a Bedouin, and it was subscribed "The Army of 
Civilisation," 
The irony of this little sketch js a symptom of the acute 
sense possessed by our 
enemy that whatever 
his prestige in Europe, 
outside it. in those con- 
tinents which hold the 
future heritage of the 
dominant races his im- 
portance is practically nil. 
And one of the greatest 
disappointments he has 
had to endure is, after 
successfully placing his 
foot on 1;he neck of 
Turkey, and imagining 
that he had thereby 
secured the gate of the 
teeming East, to find 
the long dead and for- 
gotten Arab race rising 
out of the dust to thwart 
him. For, at best, he 
hoped now to conquer 
both Egypt and India — 
at least, he expected to 
consolidate his power as 
far as Bagdad, and render 
the Red Sea intolerable 
as a thoroughfare of our 
commerce. But, thanks 
to a policy initiated long 
before the war by a master 
mind which foresaw the 
necessity of a counter- 
mine to the German 
diplomatic triumphs of 
Constantinople, the Arab 
had by the time the war 
broke out, practically de- 
cided to throw off a yoke 
which had always been 
light, and to join hands with the Power that had always 
been the best friend of Islam. 
The benefit we have derived from this alliance has been 
important and cheaply bought. The Red Sea has been a 
perfectly safe highway, the expeditions to Palestine and 
Mesopotamia have been greatly facilitated, and, above all. 
the sentiment of Mohammedan India has been kept whole- 
some and loyal. To those who carp against extravagant 
war expenditure it might be added that all this has been 
achieved for a sum considerably less than a single day of the 
country's general expenditure on the war. 
Take the military operations. Their campaigning is 
unaccountably timorous and tentative. There seemingly at 
their mercy lies the last Turkish stronghold in Arabia, the 
city of Medina, with its hungry and diseased garrison depen- 
dent on a railway which is equally at their mercy. Of course, 
it may be urged that this would be a formidable operation 
for which the Arab levies are neither fit nor armed. Let it 
be granted. Why, in that case, should they not get astride 
the railway in some 
strategic position, and 
finally put an end to aU 
communication between 
Medina and Damascus ? 
The whole Arab forces are 
free to operate on the com- 
munications of the enemy, 
and yet not even this seem- 
ingly simple objective has 
•been achieved.* 
The Arab is no coward. 
When the initiative and 
the leadership is forth- 
coming he is capable of 
the most amazing exploits, 
and will' face superior 
forces with the most ad- 
mirable courage. The 
story, of the capture of 
Akaba, when it comes to 
be written, will be an 
instance of this ; and 
there are others. But 
whence came the initia- 
tive that inspired and 
carried through these 
exploits ? Did it come, 
for instance, from that 
dignified sheik in khaki 
with the crossed sword 
and scabbard on his 
shoulder, and with all the 
airs of a field-marshal ? 
Alas, no. You will pro- 
bably find on inquiry that 
this Arab general, though 
TWO COLONISTS 
These Hen are now acting as Officers in tlie Arabian Army 
• Tiiis was written before 
General Allenby's advance 
nortiiward. 
