It seems as though the hot weather has started in earnest as today was grilling. We took the men for a route march to Mese this morning and halted there for a bit before coming back; it was very interesting watching native fishermen casting their nets. I gave the men some semaphore from 11:30 to 12:30 and again from 2 to 3.
I had a good pile of letters to censor this morning as a mail goes out tomorrow. It seems as though we are going to have our work cut out as nearly every man is in love and he tells his lady that he intends to write to her every other day.
I took a few photos this afternoon. We found an old native with four or five camels, one of them a white one. He posed for a photograph and then came and asked for a "baksheesh", the old scoundrel. We had to give him something. Any excuse is good enough for a "baksheesh".
I can now manage to spout out a few of the commonest Arabic words and seem to be understood fairly well. Took my photos up to the town to be developed this evening, one hardly ever goes up a street without seeing a fight going on, and all within sight always seem to find a excuse for joining in, but they never seem to do any real damage to each other.
We've been worrying tin hats again about being sent on to our batteries, and hope to hear something in a day or two. They say our division (52nd) - also the 53rd and 54th - are under orders for France, but it may not be for a month or two yet. I think there is very little chance of a scrap out here now, except against the Senussi on the Western Front, and the African troops are busy finishing them off.
Houghton brought me an anklet which he had got off a native woman's ankle this evening; an interesting thing to have, they all seem to wear them.
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