MEMOIR (continued 9)
Reading edition
My sailors were so proud at having the honour of rowing him in our own boat, and of singing to him. I had a very good singer in the boat. Please send some little present for my Reis: he is such a good man; he will be pleased at some little thing from you. He is half Turk, and seems like whole one. Maurice will have told you all about us. Good-bye for the present, dearest Alick.
July 9, 1869: Sir Alexander Duff Gordon
To Sir Alexander Duff Gordon.
Helwan, Opposite Bedreshayn, July 9, 1869.
Dearest Alick,
Don’t make yourself unhappy, and don’t send out a nurse. And above all don’t think of coming. I am nursed as well as possible. My two Reises, Ramadan and Yussuf, are strong and tender and Omar is admirable as ever. The worst is I am so strong.
I repeat I could not be better cared for anywhere than by my good and loving crew. Tell Maurice how they all cried and how Abd el-Haleem forswore drink and hasheesh. He is very good too. But my Reises are incomparable. God bless you. I wish I had seen your dear face once more—but not now. I would not have you here now on any account.