Cadet J. Lumsden, Seaforth Highlanders, of whom we reproduce a photograph, writes an interesting letter to his mother of a trip down the Nile during the Christmas recess in his Cadet School in Cairo. Cadet J. Lumsden is the son of Mr and Mrs J. Lumsden, Balvaird, Muir of Ord. He was educated at Muir of Ord and at the Dingwall Academy. At the outbreak of war he immediately enlisted in the Seaforth Highlanders, and, after training at Bedford, he proceeded with the battalion to France in November, 1914. He took part in the battle of Neuve Chapelle, where so many of the gallant sons of Ross fell, but he was not so fortunate at Festubert in May 1915. There he was severely wounded and sent to “Blighty”. After spending six months in hospital he was able to report for further service. This time, on being declared fit, he was posted to the premier battalion of the Seaforths in the East. In both Mesopotamia and Palestine he saw much active service. Subsequently he was sent to a Cadet School in Cairo to prepare for a commission, and he was there when the Armistice was signed.

Coy. Sergt.-Major Lumsden, another son of Mr and Mrs Lumsden, has just returned from Germany, where he had been a prisoner of war for nine months.

In his letter home, Cadet Lumsden writes from Luxor as follows:- “I am having a few days hoilday – the time of my life – in this, one of the most interesting places in a country full of interest dating back for ages. We cadets are having a half-term holiday of seven days and I invested the little money I had to spare in a journey, the experiences of which I shall never forget not regret. Well, Luxor, where I am just now, is 450 miles south of Cairo, and we arrived after an all night train journey. The climate is altogther milder than it is in Cairo, where I left, it was decidedly chilly, especially at nights. We were met at Luxor station by a guide and the inevitable complement of native attendants, and a two horse buggy. We drove through the town to the Savoy Hotel, a fine building standing in its own grounds on the banks of the Nile. It is a lovely place, but the best bit is to see the sunset behind the hills away across the beautiful valley of the Nile, each feature lending its particular colour to the water of the river stretching from one’s feet a distance of three-quarters of a mile to the other bank. The land on the banks of the river is cultivated with extreme diligence, water being supplied by countless irrigation canals and channels.