1894] Terrence Bonrkc at Bizerta 155 



confraternity. They are making friends, however, with the Tuaregs 

 and the Negroid inhabitants of the southern oases. As to Egypt, he 

 professes to share my view of the danger and uselessness of our hold- 

 ing it. He told me that he had recently been given the opinion of one 

 of our high naval experts, and that it was to the effect that in case 

 of war with France the garrison in Egypt would have at once to be 

 withdrawn, and indeed the whole Mediterranean evacuated by our 

 fleet. To hold Egypt would not be possible. 



" I find it very difficult to carry on a conversation in the Tunisian 

 dialect, even the commonest Arabic words are either unknown here 

 or so travestied as to be unrecognizable. There is a fondness for 

 diminutives and for throwing the accent on the last syllable. Amidst 

 the more educated class a better Arabic is spoken, as also I believe by 

 the Arabs of the South and the Bedouins generally, but the Berbers 

 are nearly unintelligible to me. Terence speaks to all with the great- 

 set fluency, a vile patois but with precisely the native Tunisian accent. 

 His slightly falsetto voice completing his disguise as no European. 



" 23rd Oct. — Called with Terence on Rifault, the French President 

 in Charge, who told me nothing interesting, only the common banal- 

 ities used to strangers on such occasions ; and on General Leclerc, the 

 French commander-in-chief. This done, we took carriage with a pair 

 of mules for Bizerta, where Terence has a European house, a distance 

 of some forty miles in less than five hours. A long, dull road with 

 long stretches of brown fields, at this time of year empty of all life 

 except that of a few poor tents, with cattle grazing on the stubbles. 

 It is not till near Bizerta that the hills begin. 



"24th Oct. — At Bizerta. Terence's house here is less interesting 

 than the other, being modern and European in style. He has told me 

 about his domestic life in Tunis. The two women who keep house 

 for him there lived in his quarter and were very poor, and he has 

 allowed them to inhabit his house, which they look after in return. 

 At first, he said, the neighbours objected to these Moslem women living 

 under the same roof with him, but now they have accepted him in 

 their quarter and find no fault. Thus he has been able to lead a quite 

 native life, has learned the language (Tunisian Arabic) thoroughly, 

 and knows more of the people than any European in Tunis. Here in 

 Bizerta he manages his large property, takes contracts of all kinds, 

 speculates in oil, and acts as Her Majesty's unpaid Vice-Consul at an 

 office in the town. He seems beloved of all, and it is natural, for he 

 is kindly and quiet and full of intelligent talk, and he has that rare 

 virtue in an Englishman of being never in a hurry, or bored, or out 

 of temper, or too busy to see and speak to the poorest man that calls 

 on him. We went together to see a few details of his management. 



" 25th Oct. — We went round the old town, once a famous pirate's 



