224 RECOLLECTIONS OF FORTY YEARS. 



should be respected, and that they should be left in 

 full enjoyment of their properties. The Arabs had 

 struggled long and manfully against our rule, and it 

 was to be feared that the war would leave feelings of 

 rancour and prejudice in the breasts of those who 

 might be appointed to administer the tribes after the 

 pacification. But, by a happy selection, the army 

 which had vanquished the natives was entrusted with 

 the duty of governing them. It had learnt to appre- 

 ciate what was honourable in their character ; it had 

 become initiated into their habits and language, and 

 had opened its ranks to a large number of Mussulman 

 soldiers. It was, therefore, in a position to fulfil the 

 duty allotted to it not only with justice but, to its 

 credit we may add, with generous sympathy for the 

 vanquished. 



"Without being blind to the radical difference in 

 feeling and aptitude which mark the two races, we 

 have proved that there is no inseparable barrier 

 between the Mussulman Arabs and ourselves, and 

 that civilised Europe need not look upon them as 

 incorrigible barbarians. 



The Arabs who serve under our flag have gained a 

 brilliant position side by side with our bravest troops. 

 Under the conduct of the able officers who managed 

 the Arab bureau, they built houses which they gra- 

 dually began to inhabit ; they planted trees, con- 

 structed dams, extended their areas of cultivation, 

 improved their roads, and took the first steps towards 



