Baghdad March 31 Dearest Mother. I continue my scheme of writing to you and you will forward letters to Father in Italy. I'm so glad to think of his being there and I hope he is having as nice weather as it is here. It's ideal. It was not such a very nice day, however, last Thursday when Lionel and I went to Kish for it blew too much. But the whole barren country was green - there never has been such a spring. We took with us an American professor - I am very polite to American professors hoping they may suggest to someone that we are promising recipients when you are thinking of giving £2,000,000 for a museum. We left at 6, had a capital car and got to Kish about 9.30. The division took us till noon; there wasn't so very much but what there was was good. The painted pots you saw in the Times are very very old but they are full of salt which while it dries out will take all the paint off. So I chose 6 for us on condition that I should be allowed to send them to Oxford and have them treated there. There were some good seals and a small headless and footless statue of a Semitic gentleman of about 2800 BC with his name written on his back. I tossed a rupee for him and got him. The American professor expressed himself to be much impressed by the fairness of the division. He comes from Yale and I rather hope that Yale, urged by him, may ask for a permit to dig Warka [Erech (Uruk)]. It's a very big mound which I could only entrust to a big, rich institution. We lunched, after which I packed up the small things and took them away. Before we left we looked at the temple they have been excavating in Kish - the old things come from a little mound 12 miles off. What they have got is mainly Nebuchadnezzar - walls 18 ft high decorated by deep niches. They would have to take it all away to find the earlier buildings but I am not sure whether they are going on at Kish; it has been rather disappointing. Babylon, near by, looted it I expect.
It was horribly windy coming back and we got in at 5.30.

Mr Woolley lectured next day, admirably as usual, and to a bigger audience than ever. We spent all Sunday morning together in the new museum (to be) concocting standards for wall cases, table cases etc. I think I now have an idea of my immediate wants, but lord knows how long it will be before they are all made and the building ready. I jog everyone's elbow as often as I can.

A young man called Reginald Mortimer lunched, on his way to Persia to stay with the Nicolsons. He writes in the New Statesman and elsewhere I dare say. I took him out after and showed him about a little. I had a pleasant dinner and bridge - Ken, Mr Monk (Customs) and Major Eadie.

On Monday morning, we were very busy conferring with M. de Jouvenel's Military Secretary, Colonel Vincent, a very nice man and quick at the uptake. He served with Lyautey in Morocco. M. de Jouvenel has had the bright idea of concluding pacts and alliances with all the neighbouring countries, but what he didn't realize is that from the point of view of the 'Iraq Govt there isn't anything anything in Syria with which to conclude an alliance - just the mandatory power and no native Govt of any kind whatever. Colonel V. quickly realized that there wasn't a question of agreements between High Commissioners as he had fondly thought. We had an immensely long conference over tribal affairs, I representing the High Commissioner who (in the person of Bernard) rightly did not want to take a weighty part, Ken and one Ditchburn in the Interior, and the Mutasarrif concerned (to whom we translated what passed into Arabic) appearing for the 'Iraq Govt and Col. V with a Captain Bounot from Dair [Dayr az Zawr] representing Syria. Col. Vincent realized the position at once and was very sensible about tribal matters, so that we have drafted a short and excellent agreement about tribal affairs which I hope will be used somehow. It can bear the signature of the 'Iraq Minister of Interior on our side and Col. V. is now racking his brain to consider what signature it can bear on theirs!

I dined last night with Bernard to meet the two Frenchmen and a few other people and this morning Ken and I had an hour with them to go through the agreement which I had meantime translated from the French and had typed. I took them out yesterday in the afternoon and liked Colonel V. very much. What beautiful manners Frenchmen have, to be sure. But we never talked about the position in Syria, it was a subject I carefully avoided, because there is not a position to talk of in polite conversation. I wonder what he really thinks of it.

I am going up tomorrow night to Qaraghan, half way to the Persian frontier, to spend Friday with Iltyd who is in camp there, riding about the flowery country. He says it is lovely. It is Good Friday and I hate spending a holiday in Baghdad where there is nothing to do. Iltyd is coming back on Friday evening - he is staying on a day longer so that I may go to him there. I should have liked to have stayed there for a day or two but I'm glad to get out for a day at any rate.

A strange little lady was brought to lunch with me yesterday by the respectable Air Commodore Dowding, an Hon. Mrs A.M. Meade. I couldn't make out who she was, she is not English but her accent is dimly Austrian, perhaps, overlaid with American. If the Air Commodore hadn't been so respectable I should have thought her an adventuress - perhaps she is, after all. She brought me warm messages from Mr Tilden Smith which I feel sure she must have invented as I don't think I have ever seen him though I've heard Father speak of him. She is going to Persia and I expect I shall never in my life see her again so it does not matter.

Darling I wonder what Mt Grace is being like. My dear love to Elsa. Your very affectionate daughter Gertrude

Sir F. O'Connor! think of that. What a long time ago he seems. You take my breath away by writing of 500 people doing the Pageant.

So the Chiddingfold house hasn't come off. It does not sound from you so very nice.

I am not going to send messages to Father about his views on the Coal Commission report because I hope he will forget all about it for a little and think of nicer things.