TCD MS 11290/11 folio 1 recto
[Copy] 19th December [1917]
Dear Mother,
I got your woollen waistcoat the other day and haven’t had it off day or night since I got it so you can see how useful it is.
It has been very cold day and night for the last fortnight with sometimes a touch of frost at night. To-day it is warmer, but we have the wet which is far worse. We may expect this sort of weather till the end of February when it gets much warmer and the rain stops except for showers which go on till May.
I haven’t had time to go to Jerusalem yet as we have been very busy on road work and I shall have the job of recruiting local labour which gives me great fun. As soon as things get a bit slack I am going to apply for a week’s leave and go to Jerusalem. I will wander around till I get tired of it there, and then I propose an expedition to the Ghor, which is what they call the Jordan Valley. There are all sorts of game to be had here and I am bringing a rifle and, if I can get it up, my gun as well.
I brought in a rifle the other day which I picked up, and I’m going to hunt partridge with it to get my eye in for the Ghor.
Recruiting local labour was a great effort, I and