Page 198 - Life of Gertrude Bell

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GERTRUDE BELL
authority of the Foreign Office in those regions he reported
through Constantinople to Sir Edward Grey) to Bushirc, while
Cox went to Simla to take over Sir Henry McMahon’s job as
Foreign Secretary there. Lorimer was killed in his office by a self-
inflicted shot through the head sustained, remarkably for so ex-
perienccd a soldier, while cleaning his gun. As for the intrepid
Captain Shakespear, he had taken one look at the High Command
in Basra as he passed through on his way to meet Ibn Saud, and
decided that if he had to serve under them he would be court-
martiallcd within a week. Already he was a legendary figure
among the young officers and ‘Politicals’ who came to the area at
the beginning of the war. Without Lorimer or him, however,
there was nobody who was capable of dealing with Ibn Saud or
of coping effectively with the tribal leaders in and around lower
Mesopotamia. Captain Leachman, who had been appointed to
succeed Shakespear and who was now one of the political officers
on die spot, was the bravest of men, but irresponsible. He was
regarded as the most insubordinate of officers, and he attracted
the worst elements of the Arab community whom he cursed
roundly in his colourful dog-Arabic.
Thus Gertrude had to start virtually from scratch in her
assessments of the Arabs who could make or mar the work of the
administration. Not the least of the problems confronting it was
that of accommodating the ruler of Najd, whose influence with
the tribes was immense, without upsetting the vain and ambitious
Sharif of Mecca. At this stage Gertrude had not met the formid­
able Abdul Aziz bin Abdurrahman al Saud, but she had heard a
great deal about him and in response to repeated requests from
Hogarth she sent him for publication in March, soon after her
arrival, a sketch based on notes supplied by Dr Harrison of the
American Mission in Kuwait and Bahrain, who had been to
Riyadh to treat the Amir for a minor ailment at the end of 1915 •
It was a naive account. ‘He possesses great personal charm, with
a ready and attractive smile. He is a great kingly-looking man
like an Assyrian picture. He says, seemingly with pride, that he
has been married 65 times; each wife lasts about three days; he
divorces each one, giving them to his shaikhs or to his ordinary
followers. In civil matters he shows unusual kindness and
patience; his internal policy is good and strong. His external
policy consists in flirting with the Sharif of Mecca, and in punish­
ing Ibn Rashid whenever he can. He is capable of doing so unless