1896] AH Pasha Sherifs Stud 245 



in those days, it never was as bad here as it is now at Constantinople, 

 but all the old-fashioned ideas of liberty and humanity are fast dis- 

 appearing from the world. Abdu and I find ourselves almost alone 

 in our views. The best effect my article has had in England has 

 been to make John Morley pronounce himself in favour of coming to 

 terms about evacuating Egypt. His speech on this head is a para- 

 phrase of my article. 



" Mrs. Morris and her daughter May have been staying with us 

 here at Sheykh Obeyd for the last 'ten days. 



"13th Dec. — We went in yesterday to Cairo to see AH Pasha 

 Sherifs horses which, with the rest of his property, are to be sold by 

 auction on Thursday. We shall probably bid for three or four of the 

 brood mares, and so save a remnant from extinction, sold to us pri- 

 vately before the auction. 



" lyth Dec. — The luck of the thing is that AH Pasha's affairs, being 

 in the hands of trustees, it is to spite them that 'the old man is willing 

 to sell privately to us. He insists on his right to dispose of them as 

 he pleases. When he had received our cheque he sent the mares off 

 in 'the dark at four in the morning. Now there has been a row be- 

 tween the old man and the trustees. AH Pasha declares that not an- 

 other horse shall go out of the stable without his permission. Mutlak, 

 who arranged the whole thing for us, found him this morning sitting 

 at his window which overlooks the yard of his palace and the stables, 

 with a Winchester rifle loaded at his side, with which he swears he 

 will shoot anyone who ventures to come near these. The old man 

 is considered mad by his relations, and his sons have had him inter- 

 dicted and his affairs placed in Sabit Pasha's hands as trustee, but 

 we have got the mares and they are beautiful. The mere name of 

 having purchased them will be worth much to our stud, for they are 

 celebrated the whole East over, and I don't think the trustees will care 

 really to dispute our purchase. Abdu tells me that according to the 

 terms of the interdiction, AH Pasha may do what he likes with his 

 moveable property, and Carton de Wiart, the leading lawyer here 

 whom I have consulted, gives me a curious account of the reason of 

 the interdiction. It was a little political job of which there are so 

 many done at Cairo. When AH Sherif, two years ago, was involved 

 in the slave trade prosecution, feeling ran high between the Khedive 

 and Cromer about it, for in reality our people took advantage of the 

 old man's age and infirmities to force on him an apology which he 

 might perfectly well have refused, for he had done nothing illegal. 

 Cromer, seeing he had been in the wrong, agreed therefore to the 

 following arrangement by mutual concession. On his side he con- 

 sented to the dismissal of Shafer, the anti slave-trade official who had 

 brought the action against AH Sherif; and the Khedive on his side 



