Sun Ap 4. [4 April 1909] Off at 6.10, Wetzel seeing me go and
complimenting me on the efficiency of my servants. Miss H.
[Halliwell] and Dr B. [Blunt] left 10 min. earlier in a carriage. We rode
back by Mahawil [Khan al Mahawil] and crossed the Nahr Musseyib
at 10.30. Here a peasant caught us up and begged us to arrest some
Arabs who had stolen a cow of his. I sent my soldier back with him but
the Arabs had vanished. About 10.30 it became very blazing hot.
The plain absolute desert, not a leaf. At 12.30 we reached Hasua[?]
where I lunched inside the big Persian khan, very grateful for the
shade. The baggage caught us up here and at 1.5 we went on again.
It got cooler in about half an hour. Quite flat plain with a few water
courses mostly dry. Fattuh told tales of Rejef Pasha, Mushir of
Baghdad. A pickpocket stole £T28 from Fattuh. He went to Rejef and
explained that he was a stranger and this had happened. Rejef had
all the pickpockets in the bazaars taken up and by a process of
elimination combined with bastinado narrowed down the possible
persons to 3 and then to 1. This man was repeatedly bastinadoed,
every time declared he wd give up the money and when set free
refused and said he knew nothing of it. Finally one of the soldiers
caught him by the leg to throw him to the ground, his trouser tore and
out fell £T26 - Fattuh's. He was imprisoned and when Fattuh came
back to Baghdad he saw him in prison and lent him £T1 and gave him
a dinner. Subsequently in Der [Dayr az Zawr] he also feasted him
and they are now great friends. On another occasion a Duftardar
drove to Aleppo [Halab] with a friend of Fattuh's as driver - I think the
man was driving one of F's carriages. At Ramadi [Ramadi, Ar] he
stayed 2 nights with a friend and his wife's gold ornaments to the
value of £T60 disappeared - so he said. He accused F.'s friend and
threw him into gaol for 3 years. Arrived Fattuh and heard the tale, did
not believe ... Urged by his friends who reminded him that he (Fattuh)
was a walad melih and partly by pity for the man who had a wife and 2
little children in Aleppo, F. sold one of his carriages or both and paid
the £T60 and freed the man. He then went to a letter writer and gave
him 1/2 a mej. (the usual sum being a piastre) for which he wrote to
Rejeh a letter fit to be sent to the Sultan explaining the whole matter.
Rejef summoned F., ascertained his identity and said "My son do not
fear, I will get back your money if I have to pay from Govt. coffers." He
then sent for the Duftardar, rebuked him for committing the man without
evidence, said the ornaments had probably been stolen at Ramadi
and made him pay back to F. the £T60. F. says never was such a
Pasha, never. He died a year ago. At 4.20 we came to
Mahmudiyyeh [Mahmudiyah, Al], a little place consisting mainly of
Khans for pilgrims and put up in one of them which Jusef had spotted
when they passed through as being the very place for me. It has a
nice upper corner room and a wide roof in front on which I have dined
under a full moon. The baggage got in at 5. Delicious night.