The sun., 1919-08-03
By CAPT. ALAN BoTT.

ii
I~Y the end of 1916 the Arab army
Tx was large enough and sum-
! IL GENTLY organized to under
lake more definite operations. Leav-
! ling the Mecca road undefended ex-
ceut BY small forces under command
III his brothers, Feisul prepared to
I Hsdyanco UP the Red Sea coast and
attack wejh, 200 miles to the north.
HHls stores were embarked on Brit
!, IN warships, while he divided his
3. little army of 10000 men into nine
~ sections. which were to travel indie
az pendently and concentrate at little
:, village half way to Wejh. From this
,et village he began a march over $50
en- miles of desert. containing not
ns single spring of water and only a few
\ snail wells. With him was Col Law
n renee
= The Bedouins who guided Feisuls
!, force over the dreadful march had no
h snort unit of time such as the hour,
~ and no short measure of space They
4. had no conception of numbers above
:, ten, and although able to find the wells
~ and roads without difficulty they had
= no means OF describing their position.
n Yet despite a thousand and one diff
p Xculties and hardship5 the Arabs arrived
Z before Wejh with the loss Of only
d few camels.
Ia n Wejh itself had been taken already
Il Hw a party brought from Yembo by
}. n British warships. but Feisul arrived
L m time to cut off the escaping Turks
o and capture the garrison's reserve
! Nmpplies.
. | Fcisul-inspired as always by Col
lawrence-now took upon himself
the difficult task OF obtaining the sup
port Of the desert tribes. This was
i far from easy. For centuries the
. Bedouins of Arabia had wandered over
their sands in small communities, mid
a maze of blood feuds and intertribal
: ouarrels. 1t needed several months
Of negotiation. infinite tact and di-
plpmacy and a certain amount OF
British gold before he succeeded.
Finally. however. he brought all the
important tribes of Arabia under the
, Standard of the Grand Shereef of
L.
proclaimed himself King of the
n Hedjaz. To-day-and this extraordi-
nary achievement is entirely the work
Of two men. Prince Feisul and Col
lAwrence-there is not single blood
eud between Mecca and Damascus.
Feisurs Diplomatic Triumph.
The greatest success of Feisurs di-
plomacy was the adhesion of Sheikh
Auda abu Tayi, chief of the Howeitat
tribe and the greatest OF all living
Arab warriors. This old chief has
been wounded IS times and married 2S
times; and he has since 1900 killed rs
men in single combat. These rs VIC
TINS Of his prowess were all Arabs,
for, in the words of Col. Lawrence,
he never enters Turks in his game
book"
Old Auda came to Wejh and swore
allegiance to the Grand Shereef of
Mecca. Afterward he sat down TO din
Fer with Feisul Half way through
the meal he rose and with an apology
left the tent. Col. Lawrence and the
other guests then heard a noise of
hammering and saw the Arab chief
Beating something with a large stone.
Auoa returned and, speaking in a
mumbling voice. asked pardon for
having eaten Feisuls bread with Turk
ish teeth. He opened his hand and
produced a broken set of false teeth
which had he explained, been made by
Turkish dentist from Damascus. For
n weeks afterward he could eat nothing
solid and lived unhappily until a new
wa LII. g.
Egyptian dentist.
The main objective of the Arab
army was now 10 capture Akaba, at
me northeastern extremity of the Red
sea for this was TO be its base when
Feisul extended his operations to Pal
estine and Syria A small force of
camelmen under the command of
Shereef Nazir was detailed for the
purpose. IT marched through the
Hedjaz hills and. dynamiting the rails
as It passed, crossed the Pilgrim Rail-
way and so to the painless central
eeseTt OF Arabia There II wandered
LOT weeks and lost many men from
hunger and thirst. The pains, of
thlrst were especially intense, for
When the Arabs approached Maan
they found that the Turks had blown
up The wells in the desert.
finally, however, they occupied the
railway near Maan. destroyed several
bridges and came into contact with
me enemy between Maan and Akaba.
throughout July they fought the
turks in heat that made movement
torture. THE burning ground" says
Col Lawrence, scared the skin OF the
porearms OF our snipers, and camels
vent as lame as the men with the
agony OF the sun burned fiints,"
Turks Flee In Panic.
Aemm@d into valley, the Turks de-
!Fnded themselves until evening. Just
f''er sunset old Auda, with fifty horse
men, charged down a crooked hollow
over some rising ground. shooting from
the saddle as he came. The Turks,
seized with panic. broke and scattered.
and the remainder OF the small Arab
iorce dashed down from the hillsides
as fast as their camels would bring
mem. Some Of the Turks escaped. but
me Arabs captured and killed more
ulan their own total numbers. They
swept along the great road which the
turks had constructed for the invasion
" Egypt and entered Akaba in tri-
umph
IA month lalar EFof.,.f a. -. a., aa..k.