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128 THE SIEGE OF PORT ARTHUR
canvas which make up the tentes d’abri are
generally triangular-shaped, while in the Japanese
army they are square. A piece is about 3 ft. 6 in.
square, and is provided with holes and laces along
the sides.
In summer time the shelters are put up as
shown on the sketch in order to keep the sun
out and let the air in, and this was the way the
bivouacs looked during the first three weeks after
the arrival of the troops.
But in these regions there is no autumn. From
blazing hot summer to bitterly cold winter is but a
step. On October 3rd the change came. I had
been out to Shuishi that morning, and to the
lunettes to the south of this village which had
been captured a fortnight before ;
on my way to
the headquarters of the ist Division the sky
suddenly became overcast, and heavy clouds
came sailing swiftly across from north-east. In
a few minutes the whole sky looked black like
thunder, and thinking it was a heavy rain-shower,
I hurried as fast as I could to headquarters, where
I had scarcely arrived before the storm broke out
with the force of a hurricane, overturning tents or
tearing them to tatters, and playing havoc all over
the camp. I recognized at once that this was no
ordinary wind ;
it was my old acquaintance the
Manchurian dust-storm, and well I knew what
that meant. It was rather late in the afternoon,
and in such weather and over such roads I
wanted to be home before dark, so, mounting my
horse, I at once set out for our camp. And then
the veritable storm broke loose. What we had
had hitherto proved only the vanguard of the real
tempest. I saw the dust, like a yellowish black
wall blotting out from sight everything beyond it,
come moving towards me with the velocity of an
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