1895] Professor Vamb'ery 189 



Armenians in the provinces, just as the Emperor of Russia is extermi- 

 nating the Catholic Poles, and for the same reason, to govern the coun- 

 try more easily. The delay in settling the Armenian question, raised by 

 England, has prompted the Committee to more desperate measures. 

 It is a curious state of things, which Philip says can only end in the 

 deposition or death of Abdul Hamid. We discuss these matters daily, 

 Philip and I and McDonnell and Yorke. 



" On Monday I have arranged to go to Pera to stay with General 

 Blunt, and on Wednesday I depart for Egypt. 



" 5th Oct. — A long ride with McDonnell in the forest of Belgrade. 

 He asked me whether I thought Lady Currie would make a good Am- 

 bassadress at Paris. I had heard from Lady Galloway that Paris had 

 been promised to Lord Londonderry, and that in any case Philip would 

 not have it. McDonnell, however, being Lord Salisbury's private sec- 

 retary, doubtless knows best, and I trust Philip may have it. He told 

 me some interesting particulars about his chief, his many virtues and 

 his great tolerance for those who had none. McDonnell is a charming 

 fellow, with much of the Kerr eccentricity, for he is through his mother 

 a Kerr. 



' In the evening a large dinner party to the Russian and Austrian 

 Ambassadors. ... A sudden change of weather in the night, a violent 

 thunderstorm with heavy rain, and now a strong north wind. It is 

 time I was away in Egypt. 



"6th Oct. (Sunday). — A day of wind and rain, no one moving out 

 of doors till about sunset, when I took Pom out for a walk in the 

 Embassy garden. There have been great comings and goings between 

 Philip and the other Embassies, for they are preparing some joint ac- 

 tion on the Sultan to stop the rioting in Constantinople. Pom is more 

 communicative now than Philip, and I hope I have been able to in- 

 doctrinate him a bit in my ideas. 



" yth Oct. — The weather has cleared, and I drove in to Pera in an 

 open carriage, and am now in the house of my ' relative ' at 51 rue 

 Kabristan, an old-fashioned little box of a place with a bow window 

 looking over the Golden Horn. General Blunt has been some twenty 

 years in the Sultan's service, and received his promotion to the rank of 

 Ferik, General of Division, only yesterday — a fine-looking old man, 

 who has no other duty than to attend the Selamlik every Friday, and 

 wear a handsome uniform. 



" Professor Vambery came to dinner and Capt. Norman, and we had 

 a most interesting evening. The position here at Constantinople, ac- 

 cording to these, is this : The Armenians, having unquestionably be- 

 gun the disturbance, are now being harried by the joint action of the 

 police and the mob. The mob are encouraged, or at any rate allowed, 

 to break into the khans at night where the Armenians congregate, and 



