One hour later. A barge lay alongside the preesten. Six hours later. The bat talion arrived on the beach, from a village not three thousand yards away, with forty droskies, conveying their fighting equipment. One hour later. After tremendous effort the whole of the battalion, plus fighting equipment, was crammed on board the barge. Tired, thirsty, pouring with perspiration, and not in a particularly good temper, the wretched N.T.O. asked the Russian battalion commander if that was all. "No, no-the drosky with our piano has not arrived yet." Eventually the battalion arrived on the left bank, and the officer commanding that sector, pursuant to an order from Brigade, rendered a report on the Russian Colonel. It speaks for itself. It read thus: - "The officer commanding the North Russian Regiment arrived here at hours. He was then sober. He appeared to be dazed and stupid. This, however, is his normal expression." The Russian soldiery themselves were entirely bored with the whole of the proceedings. Their general attitude was one of complete disinterestedness. Then nearer the line the more listless they appeared to become. Yet once installed in the line, they found an urgent necessity to visit the Y.M.C.A. canteen, about three miles away. Less rifle or any warlike weapon, they left the line, and unless discovered by a British soldier, remained away half a day or more. As the Russian officers hardly ever visited their front or support lines, the men's absence was never a matter of concern. It is small wonder, therefore, that Russian companies were always sandwiched in between British companies, and a British platoon put behind the native portion of the line in close support. It must not be assumed, however, that all Russian troops operating in North Russia were were of the same lamentable standard. They were not. During the closing stages of the campaign use was made of C's cavalry, composed of Russian officers and men, with 8 British Colonel and a few British cavalry officers. There was small opportunity to test their fighting ability as cavalry, and they were used as mounted infantry. Their patrol work was not bold, though at times it was useful. Their ponies were amazingly hardy, and capable of remarkable endurance, despite the large weight carried, varying from 16 to 18 stene. man was superior to the infantry. He was cleaner, possessed of slight self-respect, and with a regard for his officers as such and not as tyrants. The type of The artillery, of which a small force served with the brigade, was in every way superior to the other arms. They certainly possessed some esprit de corps, a quality entirely lacking in both the cavalry and infantry. But the most untractable fellow of all was the Russian river pilot. The Dvina, towards the end of July, became abnormally low. The light fall of snow during the previous winter partly accounted for this in conjunction with the unusually dry summer. Navigation in the channel of the river became extremely diffioult. Craft aground for a few hours frequently caused the ohannel to alter. This en tailed constant rebuoying. The proposal to raise the height of the water in the river by means of a dam was shown to be unfeasible. The action of the river upon meeting an obstruction was to "silt up on the down-stream side of the obstruotion and to "soour a deep hole on the up-stream side. The result was that a fresh "bar" was created on the down-stream side and the depth of the channel was not altered. The unique feature of the whole of the Dvina campaign was that all stores, rations, and S.A.A. had to be conveyed from the base to the line by this changeable river. The Russian pilots, moreover, developed an amazing penchant for grounding barges. There was never a barge that eventually reached Troitsa that had not during its progress up river been aground for twelve, twenty-four, or even fortyeight hours. The ration barge, at one period, stuok fast on the Kurgomen bar. The whole brigade was in need of rations, consequently all the stores on the barge had to be off-loaded into small carbus barges, and then taken down to a deeper pool (Red Bank pool). Bolo prisoners, stripped naked, were used to push the carbusee from the bar into the deep water. The supplies were then loaded on to tugs and conveyed down the main channel to the forward supply depot. The officer in charge of this particular barge had a peculiarly unpleasant time. He was stranded on the sandbank for four continuous weeks. The loneliness finally told on his nerves. In desperation he left the barge and lived in the forest on the bank, in a camouflaged house composed of tarpaulins. This was chiefly due to his barge having been bombed in error by one of our own aeroplanes. A few days later his Russian escort to the Bolo prisoners deserted. He then retired to the barge, which he placed in what he termed a state of defence, with three Vickers guns he had discovered in the forest. He had no knowledge of how to fire them, but 88 he had no belts and no S.A.A. for them, even that knowledge would have been of little use. The evolutions of the motorboat owned by the D.A.D.8. and T. were an amazing sight on the river. The two peasants in charge were completely ignorant of motors. Furthermore, they knew nothing of the river, and, when operating the boat, watched neither the sandbanks nor the oraft they were ordered to go alongside. They usually ended up quite 300 yards past the barge they were bound for. Upon touching a sandbank the sole remedy of the socalled engineers was to go ahead, hoping thereby to get over. The usual result was that the vessel went high-anddry. The D.A.D.S. and T. lost his temper, the Russians grew sullen, and the final result was that the D.A.D.S. and T., his batman, his interpreter, and the Russian engineers, all stripped naked, would persuade the grounded oraft to float again. One morning the launch performed extraordinary feats. Attempts were made to go ahead. Nothing happened, except that the vessel drifted down-stream with the current. Upon an inquiry being made, the engineer quietly pointed out that he had dropped his two propellers in mid-stream some time during the previous evening! (To be continued.) INDEX TO VOL. CCVI. ABDUL, 210. ADVENTURE, THE LITTLE (being the ANTRANIK, 441. A Mission to Zanzi- À PROPOS DES BOTTES, 778. BABYLON, BY THE WATERS OF, 667. BALTIC COAST, FROM THE, TO THhe Den- "BARTIMEUS": 1909-1919, 297. THE LONG TRAIL, 108. Bolsheviks, Mr Bullitt's mission to VOL. CCVI.—NO. MCCL. 'Butler, Samuel: A Memoir,' Mr H. BY THE WATERS OF BABYLON, 667. CANDLER, EDMUND:- THE ARMENIANS, 226. "THE FRIEND OF FA HIEN,” 412. Coal, nationalisation of, 572-unbridled COMPANY OF TANKS, A, 63, 214, 401, |