TCD MS 10516 folio 11 verso
[1st August 1916] unsuccessful tonight.
Wednesday: August 2nd 1916: Chaibaish
Left Kurna with Newland at 5.30 p.m. in the stern wheeler, Mozafari. She is a small flat-bottomed river-boat, commanded by an Arab skipper and well scarred by the bullets of snipers. She had, originally, I believe, been captured from the Turks. Now dents appeared on her sides and funnel; in places the taffrail was completely severed.
We steamed up the Euphrates in the face of a delightful breeze. The heavens were dimmed with clouds of dust. The sun gleaming like a metallic silver* was tempered by the fine sand suspended in the atmosphere. (The phenomenon of dense clouds of sand in the evening sky is discussed in Natural History observations).
*disc