to meet the heavy additional duties thrown upon it by the defence of the frontier and Suakin. Economy is therefore strictly the order of the day for both armies, the responsibility of which falls upon my shoulders. I have come in for the cold fit: if only two or three of those millions were forthcoming which have been so shamefully squandered by the mismanagement of Gladstone's Government ever since I have been out here! There are, however, causes for far greater anxieties in Eastern Europe, but I cannot help thinking that the Czar will content himself with what he can gain by carrying the game of bullying to the extreme without actually going to war; the game, however, is a dangerous one and may land him in difficulties, which he will be unable to get clear of without war.
To his Sister
Cairo, November S, 1886.
My dear Minny, —... Last night I went to an entertainment which would have amused you — a regular Arab dinner given by a certain Sheikh, a man of very old family and great influence. He very goodnaturedly supplied us with knives, forks, and spoons, so that we had not to eat and pull the contents of the dishes with our fingers — a very disgusting performance. We had fourteen different dishes, all well cooked, and many of them very palatable. Arab music was played during the hour we had to sit before dinner, smoking and drinking coffee. Our host, according to Arab custom, did not sit at table with us, but moved about seeing that we were all attended to — in short, waiting upon us. The idea is a pretty one, savouring of genuine hospitality, primitive, one might almost say poetic. I can't say that, in spite of the goodness of the dinner, I managed to satisfy hunger; the ingredients of the dishes, although good, were strange to the European palate. The house is thoroughly Oriental, very handsome, and possessing the prettiest courtyard I have
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ever seen. We sat down about half a dozen English and as many Arabs and Turks.
Cairo, December 6, 1886. — The Dervishes ran away the other day like lampUghters when the Haifa garrison went out at them, and they are, I believe, still retreating; the farther they go the greater chance of our seeing each other again in the spring or early summer. I must have a change this next hot season, even if I don't come away altogether. My present impression is that the Dervishes will not come back again, and that their hostile intentions have collapsed, for this time at all events.
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fear that for lack of means I shall have to lower him again to his former mud, never perhaps to leave it again. It will be a pity, and also a great disappointment to me, for I have had this project in my mind ever since
I came out here.... is here on a mission (!)
with two or three other ladies, and what on earth they contemplate is more than I can say. Of all things to avoid in this country is proselytising; it does an infinity of mischief to make even the attempt, and it never gets beyond that. I have rather a horror of this sort of mission work (would-be) carried on by ladies in this part of the world. There are, however, two excellent old ladies here, the Miss Whateleys, daughters of the celebrated Archbishop of Dublin, who now have been out here doing real good for the last twelve years in carrying on a school for native children, whom they educate in useful learning; but no interference with religious subjects takes place, and that is one great source of its success....
Cairo, Easter Monday, 1887. — I leave on the 25th of this month by Marseilles, and shall be with you about the 21st.
Cairo, September 5, 1887. — Since returning to Cairo I have been back again to Alexandria to meet [sic] a pleasant invitation which some Greek friends of mine gave me for an annual Fete which they give among themselves. It began at 5 p.m., and I did not get home till two o'clock the next morning, which was more than I bargained for. The scene of the F^te took place almost within sight of the Bay of Aboukir, where Nelson fought his famous battle of the Nile, one of the finest exploits in history, and where our troops landed three years later — also a fine exploit — to fight the battle of Alexandria. I am very fond of all that ground, and any Englishman ought to be proud of the deeds performed in those parts, both by land and sea, by our sailors and soldiers. What they did then
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