16 Zebehr Pasha [1889 



there are one or two pretty girls among them who have a deal of atten- 

 tion paid them. They wear no veils while at work, but are quiet and 

 well behaved." Zeyd, here spoken of, was a Bedouin from Nejd, who 

 had attached himself to our service, a man of imagination, a poet and, 

 like all the Nejd Bedouins, an enthusiast about horses. He was a con- 

 stant pleasure to us for this reason though repeatedly in trouble through 

 his little respect for persons and the inconsequence of his tongue. He 

 was also of value to us as a centre of Arabian gossip, including political 

 news, sometimes of importance. 



" Zeyd tells me that when he was at Damascus in 1887 he learned 

 that the French Government had written a letter to Ibn Rashid and 

 had sent it to Hail through Mohammed Ibn Abdul Kader, the Emir's 

 eldest son. It contained an offer of alliance, and to make Ibn Rashid 

 independent of the Sultan under French protection. Ibn Rashid, how- 

 ever, had forwarded the letter to Constantinople, and Ibn Abdul Kader 

 had been hauled over the coals by the Sultan, but had excused himself, 

 saying that as a French subject he could not disobey the order of his 

 government. 



" 10th March. — There is certainly just now a movement going on in 

 Egypt in favour of Arabi's recall, and I have received notices of it 

 from various quarters with a list of those who would act with Arabi 

 in forming a Nationalist Ministry. Also Ahmed Minshawi Pasha has 

 sent one of the principal Sheykhs of Tantah to consult me on the 

 matter, Sheykh Abdul Mejid, and a message has come from a number 

 of ex-officers from Arabi's army who wish to see me, but I have declined 

 this, as it could do no possible good and might make trouble; the 

 Egyptians have not spirit in them to revolt and if they did it would 

 not profit them. I am glad all the same to find that Arabi is not 

 forgotten." 



One visit only I record that winter of any great interest now. This 

 was one I paid with Lady Anne to Zebehr Pasha, Gordon's old enemy 

 in the Soudan, now held a prisoner in Egypt. During the troubles at 

 Cairo which had followed Gordon's death he had been arrested by 

 Baring by an arbitrary act of authority and sent on board a man-of-war 

 to Gibraltar, and there detained at the Queen's pleasure for two years 

 on no legal charge, for none was brought against him, and there he 

 might have remained for the rest of his days had it not been for the 

 interest excited in his case by Lord Ribblesdale who had made friends 

 with him at Gibraltar and brought his case before the House of Lords. 

 In 1889 he was newly returned to Egypt, and was now once more a 

 State prisoner of the Khedive, occupying one of the minor palaces on 

 the banks of the Nile. It is thus that I describe our breakfast with 

 him. 



