I have a firm conviction we will not do anything in Egypt that will succeed, unless we fall into accord with France, which would not be difficult to do.
Arabi Pasha’s private secretary, who even Stewart with all his Job-like patience had to give up as a bad job, came to-day to say “he was starving,” so I have given him £10 a month again. How he ever got on with Arabi is a wonder; he and Stewart used to spend hours, hob and nob, translating Arabic letters, and then Stewart found out that the man had just exercised his own imaginations and taken not the least pains to give the sense of these letters’ contents.
The Shaggyeh are breaking my heart with their family quarrels. I shall go to Halfeyeh (D. V.) to-morrow to see after them. They captured five men who had been pardoned, and had gone back to the Arabs, and want me to kill them, which I refuse to do, for who are the rebels? we or the Arabs. I am responsible for the judicial murder of the two Pashas; beyond this I have put no man to death.
I think Colonel Stewart is hard on our men as to their cowardice; they are not heroes, I grant, but they are not, to my mind, entire cowards; “they do not see it,” that is all; but if they are put in a position where there is a chance, a fair chance of success, they will take advantage of it and be plucky. The Chinese are of the same temperament. “No two piecey man can stay one place, supposing you come, I must go.” This is an acknowledged maxim in the East.
A spy came in, and says that Sheikh el Obeyed has news in his camp that Abdel Kader Pasha (what a bother for Sanderson all these Abdel Kaders who he may mix up with the one of Algier) is with troops at Kassala.
Two more mines exploded at Omdurman when they were being taken up to renew the fuses, but did no harm.
I saw the Shaggyeh chief Abdul Hamed to-day. He says that Said and Ibrahim Hassan Pashas[74] were not guilty, and that the Arabs looted their houses when they heard they had been killed by me, which they would not have done had they been really in communication with them. I shall send for their families and give them each £1000, which is all I can do.
The Towfikia went up and had her usual fight with the Arabs.
Report is that a soldier has taken the breech pieces of the two Krupp guns with the Arabs, and has run away, rendering them useless.
If Abdel Kader is at Kassala what on earth are our people about not to tell me, for of course I could help him. We seem to have lost our heads in the Intelligence Department, though it costs enough money.