121
 

Baghdad to London.

Almost before we were tied up two or three kawwasah,
i.e., guards from the Consulate, followed by several
servants, came running down the steps to help us
disembark, and to tell us that the Bali6s Beg, or British
Consul-General, had instructed them to take White and
myself with our belongings up to the Residency. The
Delegate asked that the raft with the antiquities upon
it might remain by the landing-stage for the night, and,
having committed it to the charge of the soldier who
had accompanied us from Mosul, he departed to report
himself to the proper authorities. White and I then
followed the servants with our baggage through the
beautiful orange garden to the Residency, and just
before we reached the entrance to it we were met by
Colonel (now Sir) Adelbert Cecil Talbot, CLE., who
was acting as British Consul-General during Colonel W.
Tweedie's absence on leave. Colonel Talbot welcomed
us most cordially, and said that he had rooms ready for
us in the Residency, and that Mrs. Talbot was waiting
to give us tea. Neither White nor myself needed a
second invitation, and we accepted his offer gratefully,
and followed him into Mrs. Talbot's sitting-room, where
we were soon established in great comfort. Under the
influence of her gracious words of welcome, ruins, dirt,
dust, cold, and all the unpleasant incidents of a journey
of 300 miles by raft were soon forgotten in the English
home-like atmosphere of her room. Many hospitable
and experienced "Mem Sahibs" have graced the
Residency at Baghdad, but none could ever have taken
more thought for the comfort of her weary guests than
Mrs. Talbot did for ours. Colonel Talbot, himself an
accomplished Persian scholar and linguist, took great
interest in all Oriental archaeological work, and during