i88i] A JOURNEY IN THE HEjAZ 495 



preceded by the band of the Philomel, playing marches 

 and the English national air. The British Consul, who 

 is of recent appointment, and does not know the Arabs, 

 was greatly alarmed, but throughout the town there was 

 not one murmur of disapproval at the act which a few 

 years ago would certainly have produced. a serious riot. 

 Of course there is a great deal of prejudice still to conquer, 

 and it is only little by little that the most unreasonable 

 suspicions give way. From time to time one foolish step 

 throws everything back, as, for example, when the English 

 Consul lately excited the derision of the whole community 

 by hoisting the Consular flag in honour of the arrival in 

 town of the wife of his dragoman, a woman of notoriously 

 spotted character. But there is no doubt that English 

 influence is gaining ground, and the best informed natives 

 themselves declare that with a wise and energetic Consul 

 it might soon become paramount, and engage the affections 

 of the whole people. In Yemen the influence emanating 

 from Aden is still stronger, and my native informants 

 tell me that if England chose to follow the ancient path 

 familiar to the Arabic mind, by which strong and just 

 States have always attracted the voluntary homage of 

 adjacent tribes, acting as arbitrators, and maintaining 

 justice in causes referred to them, all Yemen in a few years 

 would be English without one blow struck. 



The Arabs are at this moment deeply interested in 

 the impending fall of the Turkish Empire, of which no 

 intelligent man entertains a doubt. They hate a foreign 

 yoke, but they know that their tribes cannot be saved 

 from anarchy and constant strife without the presence of 

 some arbitrator. The idea is certainly gaining ground 

 that England is the country whose protectorate would be 

 most acceptable and most fruitful in good results. You 

 must remember that I am not writing as a politician. I 

 express no opinion as to the duties which the course of 

 the next few years may lay upon us in the Red Sea. I 

 have simply tried to explain to you as accurately as I can 



