threaten to burn it down & commit unheard of outrages on the proprietor should they ever get near either.[1] Surprising ingenuity was displayed in obtaining variety with such limited means. Bully beef was converted into a substance & called "rissoles" often seasoned with herbs gathered in the gully ( I was never quite sure of the botanical knowledge of the men in their selection) and the hard biscuits were crushed by shell cases & with the addition of water made into a pap which went by the name of bergue. Water of course was one of the greatest difficulties. A pannikin per man per day was the allowance for the first week or two being dependent on the meagre wells of the gully where the supply trickled & was probably infected. Often as I returned from burials at 1 & 2 a.m. have I seen long queues of "undisciplined Australians" who had been waiting patiently & orderly for four & five hours for the filling of their water bottle. Sometimes on the return journey the vessel containing the precious liquid would get knocked & then the language! Could any person raise an eyebrow at it under such circumstances.
- ↑ Under the heading rations must come the word Rum. In the case of a few it was a mystic monosyllable looming disproportionately on their mental horizon. But who am I, who knows how a weak solution of the same with hard biscuit & jam at 2 a.m. after hours of burial work gave comfort & sleep, to inveigh against it?
