Page 199 - Life of Gertrude Bell

ORIENTAL SECRETARY i8i
Ibn Rashid gets in alien support... When war broke out Ibn Saud
sat on the fence. Captain Shakespear brought him back to our side
but when Captain Shakespear was killed in a skirmish, Ibn Saud
behaved badly and created the impression that he was unreliable...
To his people he is quite a hero ...’ There was reference to the
influence of Shaikh Mubarak of Kuwait (who died in 1915) on the
warrior of Najd, and a remarkably misleading statement to the effect
that Ibn Saud had concluded a treaty with the Turks behind
Mubarak’s back. In compiling his account of these events in the
'bulletin for March, Hogarth wrote:
It is in the last degree undesirable that we should be drawn
into Central Arabian politics. It should not be forgotten that
of the two, the Sharif and Ibn Saud, Ibn Saud is 1) the less
powerful potentate and 2) far less able to influence the present
general Eastern situation in our favour. It is worth considering
whether a similar treaty (to that signed by Cox and Ibn Saud in
1915) could be made with Ibn Rashid, the rival Amir of Jabal
Shammar.

Some fundamental misconceptions of British policy in Arabia
were demonstrated in that paragraph.
In the summer of 1916, just as Gertrude had organised her office
at G.H.Q. to her satisfaction and had begun to settle in to her
work and a new social existence, she was struck down by jaundice.
She was back in circulation within two months, however. Among
1 the closest of her early friendships was that with the Reverend
John and Mrs Van Ess of the American Mission of the Dutch
1 Reformed Church. Mrs Van Ess, in her account of the ripening
friendship, wrote: ‘Her first task was to organise all the available
information about the tribes, and to compile a Gazetteer [bringing
up to date Lorimer’s earlier study of: the Persian Gulf area]. John
was very knowledgeable about tribal Iraqis from his extensive
tours of the marshes and desert during his first term, and she
constantly consulted him. Her erect figure, and her eager animated
face crowned with grey hair, became familiar in our home, and her
delightful human qualities, her sparkle and intelligence and zest
t for life, made her a most welcome companion.’ Often when Mrs
Van Ess came into her living room she found Gertrude and her
husband sprawled on the floor, with maps and charts spread out
around them and would compliment them on their goodness in
praying together. John Van Ess was probably the best Arabist