2 JANUARY 1909, Page 9

The procuring of food became a great difficulty, for all

the local supplies were buried, and the roads and railways were broken up for so many miles outside the towns that it was almost impossible to bring in supplies. Even from the sea this was difficult, so much bad the coast-line altered, and so blocked were the harbours with wreckage of all sorts. The water-mains had all burst, and therefore even water could not be procured. In some places it was necessary to go four or five miles to find a spring. Lastly, came death at the hands of the pillagers, or of the soldiers dealing stern and necessary justice. The shock had also maddened so many of the victims that they cared not whether they were rescued, but let death take them almost without a struggle. Perhaps the most ghastly item in the whole dreadful story is that which tells of the clouds of carrion birds, ravens and crows, that gathered over the crumbling cities, eager to devour the unburied corpses. Some accounts speak of flights of these birds as having come from Africa. In some mysterious way they had gained news of the feast that awaited them.