This camp of interned civilians is situated on a rising ground beside the sea, 5 kilometres (3 miles) from Alexandria.

The camp contains 45 Ottoman civilians of military age, and 24 others; the latter are all elderly men, or have been exempted from military service owing to illness. There is one priest (imaum). We also found 400 Austro-Germans interned at Ras-el-Tin; many of them had been in Egypt when war was declared and could not get home.

Though our mission was to visit the Turkish prisoners, we made a point of concerning ourselves equally with the Austrians and Germans, and of entering into conversation with them.

Several Ottoman prisoners in the camp were making the pilgrimage to Mecca when they were captured by the Sherif's troops and passed over to the English authorities, who interned them. The camp at Ras-el-Tin was to be evacuated in a few days' time, and all the occupants were to be transferred to Sidi Bishr Camp, now prepared to accommodate 5,000 men. In this camp there will be a special section for civilians.

The commandant of Ras-el-Tin is Major F.G. Owens, who takes the greatest interest in his prisoners. Every day he personally receives anyone who has a wish or a complaint to bring forward.

The camp was visited in 1916 by the American Consul from Alexandria, and also by the American chargÉ d'affaires from Athens.

Accommodation.—The civilians interned in the camp of Ras-el-Tin are placed in tents. These circular tents, set up either on the sand or on a cement base, each contain three men. Those of the Ottoman prisoners form one sectional group of 24 tents. In the centre of each tent is a wire-work cupboard to contain personal belongings. The space inside the tent is ample for the three beds. Some prisoners are provided with matting and small rugs.

In the stone buildings surrounding the court a certain number of rooms are reserved which open upon a veranda. Each contains three beds. These comfortably fitted-up chambers are assigned to elderly prisoners or to those in weak health. The rest of the camp buildings are occupied by the administrative quarters, the kitchens, refectories, canteens, etc. The English guard is lodged under canvas in a special section. The camp is lighted by electricity.

Bedding.—The bedsteads are iron provided with a wire-spring mattress, a squab of vegetable fibre and a sufficient number of blankets. All the bedding is kept scrupulously clean.

Food.—The commissariat is supplied by a private contractor. A committee presided over by the camp commandant, and composed of delegates from among the prisoners, arrange the menus for each week. The kitchen is very clean, and the prisoners do not provide the personnel.

Here is the menu for Friday, January 5, 1917, the day of our visit:

• Breakfast: Porridge; milk; chocolate; butter; bread.
• Lunch: Haricot soup; ragoÛt of beef and potatoes.
• Dinner: Rice soup; hashed meat (moussaka), with vegetables; eggs; tea.

The prisoners' menu is extended on Thursdays and Sundays by an extra dish and cake of some sort. We examined the day's provision in the kitchen, and found it wholesome and appetising. When pork is included in the menu, which happens rarely, this item is replaced, in the case of the Turkish prisoners, by a dish of eggs and vegetables.

A second kitchen staff, installed in a separate room, prepares a special menu which the prisoners can have by paying for it. The commandant himself authorised the reservation of this kitchen to provide for such prisoners as possess ample means.

Here is the extra menu for January 5, 1917:

• Lunch: Italian dumplings; roast veal; salad and gherkins.
• Dinner: Soup "parmentier"; fish croquettes; braised beef with cabbage.

The meals are served at:

• Breakfast, half-past seven.
• Lunch, one o'clock.
• Dinner, half-past five.

Three canteens furnish all kinds of commodities to the prisoners—ham, sausages, preserves, cakes, chocolate, fruits, wine, beer, etc. The prices are exactly the same as in the English army canteens. A shop, run by a Bulgarian merchant, is permitted for the sale of tobacco, cigars and cigarettes. Besides this there is a Viennese who makes cigarettes in the camp itself. On Christmas Day the commandant made a generous distribution of cigarettes to all the interned men at his own expense. They can also obtain at the bar tea, coffee and other drinks. In point of fact, we made sure that the camp administration has organised the commissariat in a manner that meets all needs.

Clothing.—The men arrived in camp in their own clothes. When these began to wear out the administration furnished a new outfit, which consists of two flannel shirts, two knitted pairs of drawers, a vest and trousers of blue cloth, an overcoat, a police hat or a fez for the Turks, socks and slippers. The Mahometans receive Turkish slippers. All prisoners have a red scarf and two handkerchiefs. A well-found shop sells under-clothing at moderate prices, and articles of outfit, scent, post-cards and watches.

Hygiene.—Drinking water, abundant and wholesome, is brought from the mains of the town of Alexandria. Besides the toilet lavatories, there are 4 bathrooms supplied with hot water and cold douches always available. The prisoners go in parties to bathe in the sea near the camp, under guard of British soldiers.

The prisoners do their own washing, numerous wash-houses being provided for the purpose.

The latrines are partly on the English and partly on the Turkish system, 1 to every 10 men, cleanly kept. They are disinfected daily. The floor and the lower part of the chambers are treated with cresol; the upper part is whitewashed. The sewers discharge into the sea. The sweepings are burnt in a special stove.

Medical Attention.—The sanitary condition of the camp is inspected at regular intervals by the Colonel, medical director of Hospital No. 21, Alexandria. Captain (Dr.) Dunne is resident in the camp; he pays a medical visit each day at 9 o'clock. Eight to ten prisoners out of the total in camp may present themselves for treatment, among them 1 or 2 Ottomans.

An interned Turkish civilian, Abrahim Assan, by calling an employee in a Constantinople factory, who speaks French and English perfectly, serves as orderly-interpreter.

An English Red Cross orderly assists the doctor. An Austrian dentist, formerly in business at Cairo, gives dental attention to the prisoners; he has a complete outfit of instruments.

The infirmary is well housed in a stone building. It contains a consulting-room, supplied with a full-flushed lavatory basin; a sick ward with 6 iron beds, mattress and coverings ad libitum; an isolation ward, and a dispensary.

Only slight cases are treated at the infirmary; serious cases are removed to Hospital No. 21 at Alexandria, situated within 10 minutes of the camp, a large modern hospital overlooking the sea.

On the day of our inspection there were in the infirmary 1 prisoner ill with bronchitis; at the hospital 1 tuberculous case and 1 with a wounded elbow.

The sanitary state of the camp has always been excellent. Apart from two relapse cases of dysentery in 1916, there has been neither trachoma, typhoid, typhus, malaria, nor any other infectious disease. This is explained by the fact that the interned civilians were not in bad health before their captivity, as was the case with soldiers who had sojourned in the desert, whom we saw in the other Egyptian camps.

There had been no deaths in the camp or at the hospital in Alexandria. The orderly, Abrahim Hassan, told us of his own accord that the sick receive the most assiduous attention, and have nothing but praise for the resident physician.

Religion and Amusements.—The prisoners offer their prayers daily. A mosque will be built for them in the new camp at Sidi Bishr.

Catholics are looked after by several Austrian priests, who used to manage Catholic schools in Upper Egypt.

For the Germans and Austrians there is a good circulating library, containing English, French and German books.

The prisoners have formed an orchestra, and organised theatrical performances, for which they have painted pretty scenery.

There is a cinematograph performance every evening. There are a piano and harmonium. A photographer, who had an establishment in Cairo before the war, practises his art in the camp.

Discipline.—The very occasional cases of infraction of rules which entail one or more days' detention in the police cells, have a special diet prescribed for them. The military authorities find the general conduct of the civilians quite satisfactory.

Exercise and Sports.—The prisoners have at their own disposal that part of the grounds lying between the tents and the barracks, a broad space where they can amuse themselves all day long with football and other games.

They have also a tennis-court, of which the Austro-Germans make more use than the Orientals; a committee of the prisoners arrange the hours for each set of players. Skittles are very popular. Fencing is eagerly learned; the English officer who teaches it being delighted with his pupils' progress. Lessons in gymnastics, like those in other sports, are optional.

Periodically a gymkhana is got up, with donkey races, gymnastic competitions, and the distribution of prizes.

Work.—No work is demanded from the prisoners.

Correspondence, Money Orders and Parcels.—Very few money orders are received. The interned Turks are chiefly illiterate; those whose wives are interned at Cairo, and who are allowed to occasionally visit them, seldom write, as they know them to be well treated. Parcels are seldom sent to the camp, and hitherto no philanthropic society has busied itself over the necessitous.

Prisoners' Aid.—The only plea which has been addressed to us by means of the Ottoman interpreter, who speaks French and English extremely well, comes from a certain number of destitute prisoners. They wish to have, in addition to the complete outfit with woollen overcoat supplied by the English Government, a change of warm garments, which they have not the means to buy. Many find it difficult to wear the kind of foot-gear in ordinary use—the heelless leather Turkish slippers—and wish for laced shoes such as they wear at home. We asked the interpreter to make out a list of names of the needy; and after submitting it to the commandant of the camps for verification, we decided to send him from the Ottoman Red Cross Fund the sum of 2,000 francs, to provide these prisoners with the extra garments which they require, and with shoes and tobacco.