120 Tigrane on the Khedive [1893 



friendly to England as his father had been. Gladstone did not ask 

 whether the Egyptians wished the Occupation to be discontinued. 



" Colbeck, director of the Bank of Egypt, on whom I called, 15th 

 December, was quite as pessimistic on the English side. He said our 

 position at Cairo was becoming daily more ridiculous. Cromer could 

 get none of his reforms carried through ; he was opposed constantly by 

 the Ministry; the Khedive was irreconcilable. Much as he admired 

 Cromer he thought a change was necessary, as Cromer was without 

 power. Cromer was willing to take an Embassy, and wanted Portal 

 named in his place, but Portal was not clever enough, etc., etc. He 

 had heard nothing of a split between Tigrane and the Khedive or with 

 Riaz. 



" ijth Dec. — With Anne and Judith to call on Princesse Helene 

 and her brother, the Due d'Orleans, at Shepherd's. The Duke is a 

 fresh-faced, blond young man, good humoured, and good mannered. 

 He has travelled over much wild country, and I talked to him of his 

 experiences, especially in Somaliland, finding him sympathetic as to 

 the advantages of uncivilized life and a contempt of Europe. He and 

 his sister are on very pleasant terms together. On their return from up 

 the Nile in March they will come and see us at Sheykh Obeyd. 



" 22nd Dec. — To Cairo and lunched with Tigrane. I found him 

 very outspoken. He assured me that neither the Khedive nor anyone 

 else at Cairo held me responsible for the use made of the Khedive's 

 name in connection with my ' Nineteenth Century ' article of last sum- 

 mer, and he hoped I would write another. As to the Khedive's visit 

 to Constantinople, he declared it had not been otherwise than a success, 

 that precisely the same ceremonial had been observed towards Abbas 

 as formerly towards Ismail, that the Khedive had dined several times 

 with the Sultan, who had been most kind to him. I asked him about 

 the Khedive's proposed visit to England, but he told me nothing was 

 yet settled, and I strongly advised that the Khedive should not go, at 

 least as long as Cromer was here, for he would only be paraded as a 

 tame bear, and the thing be counted as a triumph for English policy. 

 If he insisted upon going he should at least go straight from Paris, 

 where he would be feted, then possibly English people would be polite 

 to him, but it was a risk. He denied there having been any split 

 between him and the Khedive ; Riaz and he were on the best of terms. 

 We talked very openly about the prospects of evacuation, and I told 

 him that in my opinion it had been mainly determined by the larger 

 question of peace and war with France, and the military advisability or 

 otherwise of having a garrison in a disaffected Egypt. Tigrane is a 

 clever man and a good talker, modest withal. 



" 26th Dec. — One Ibrahim Shaf ei came with a complaint arising 

 out of the Greek drink-shop established in the village of Merj. He was 



