British Legation
Adis Ababa.
13 June 1914.
My dear Gertrude.

Last mail brought me your most interesting letter – a splendid three days letter – of you and of Turkish politics & Ambassadors and young Turks & old friends in Constantinople – It is profoundly interesting to me, more especially seeing that I may be soon going back to Turkey – I’ve heard however nothing of Basreh yet – perhaps its off – But its bad news – things look black, very black – the one light spot is that we have at last an Ambassador who sees his own way & can do without other people’s views – you teach me a lot dear queen of the desert as always – I am amazed but comforted to find that even Sir L. Mallet foreign office man as he is, is left to himself. As a policy if I was an Ambassador I should like it – on the plan of the General who begins his campaign by cutting the wire to London – but it must have been a bitter blow when they reversed his whole policy without even letting him know –

Your account of the ski expert who is to regovern Armenia sounds dismal – But they have Hawker there as Chief of gendarmerie which is good – I wonder if you’ll see Deedes – Hawker Deedes & I were to govern Armenia - but without skis –

Just now the danger is the Greeks – as for torpedoing the new Armstrong ironclad - I don’t know – but couldn’t she be sent out in Armstrong’s charge & with his men, as an English boat, & taken over in Turkey – even Greek Torpedo lieutenants would think twice before attacking her then – The Albanian news is too scanty – but that coup de main against Essad seems to me to be the wrong way round – was it necessary to turn the guns on him? – but I’ve only the telegrams & probably only ¼ of them – was Leskovik burnt? I see Zographos has made terms – He would have made them long ago if the matter had been properly handled – I guess that at Durazzo as before at Valona, the machine is paralysed – Italians against Austrians – but it ought to be of use to the Triple Entente – I hope we will not have to disembark troops – It is not our affair, so far as I can see –

I very much hope Lord Cromer is better. Your news sounds very grave, of course here we have none – I am now trying to do for Kitchener what Harrington tried to do for him – it was curious that he talked to me about it in London, as a thing not to be neglected – So far the Treaty has arrived and I somewhat changed it – Kitchener has accepted the changes & the thing is being laboriously translated into Amharic – I have arranged for one of the confidential men of the Foreign Minister to help # Zaphiro our confidential man to translate it - & so between us we have a channel which is useful 0 but the real thing is not yet.

I can’t write to you today – your letters are such a joy & pleasure to me – I do hope my dear you won’t lose your old friend Lord Cromer, for I know how much you will miss him – you next letter will be from London – no – I still hope for another Turkish one – you said you might write again –

I wonder if I go to the Shatt-el-Arab will Nejd politics come my way – I hope they may – for I can’t see how not - & perhaps the oil company - & so on – so thanks be to God for my beloved famous traveller who can give me the real view, the last touch – it will be strange if it is written in the book in that way – somehow I think it will be – it will be another bond between us, - as if we had need of them – but they are good –

For today I stop – I’m better, but can’t play polo yet – we won all the races but one, when my horse fell - & most of the seconds – a perfectly indecent & unpleasant series of victories – I shall send my ponies to East Africa and let somebody else have a chance –

But I wanted to say something about the Dutchman, the “real man” – Of course he’s wrong on insisting – He should accept gladly the Ambassador’s solution – One can only govern by taking all the blame & giving the Vali all the credit – by putting him forward on every occasion & letting him say that anything which goes wrong is the fault of the foreigner – what does it matter? When he gets impossible the Ambassadors will find you another - & they are very rarely really quite impossible – if properly handled.

I haven’t sent that letter away – I tell myself I will & must – there will be harder things to do even than that – “both hands I warmed at the fire of life” –

But today nothing of this – we just talk as I shall talk to you someday – of other things, other things all the time – that’s what we shall talk of – and why not, in god’s name – are there no other lives or other fires?

Where’ll you be now – you’ll get this in the beginning 1st week in July. That’s when they told me to be in London for Basreh – but I can’t be, its already impossible – therefore the thing is off –

London will be getting hot – you’ll be thinking about where to go next – Rounton I suppose – and visits – and the new book – good luck my dear Gertrude & peace and a book which shall please your soul & mine and “all the world in circle”.

Dick.