T. E. Lawrence Correspondence – Page 453

To Hogarth Monday.20 Dec. (1915) Intelligence Dept. War Office Cairo. Newcombe and I got here last Tuesday, and Woolley with one Lloyd and Aubrey Herbert turned up on Friday. There wasn't an Intelli- gence department it seemed, and they thought all was well without it;- till it dawned on them that nobody in Egypt knew about Syria. Things the day we got here, so they changed their minds about sending us right back & made up their minds to collect in- telligence instead. It isn't very easy, but we have rather a travelled lot of people at it. It promises to be good fun. It seems Woolley did want to stick to the Army permanently, & coming out here only lent out; which is just as well. I suspect that things may move quicker than I thought. Grace had better publish that book in Jan-Feb when he can:- or when you can, I think it won't be too bad a job. It certainly was the filthiest manuscript made. The interest may shift violently to the North almost any day:- so far as we are concerned it has shifted already. But our Intelli- gence has the capital "I", and is a very superior sort of thing. I fancy there is a sort of ostensible which is a very annoying feeling. You might let me know if there is for this. Turkey has gone one better than ourselves by forbidding ingress & egress for people, whether it is well. The Syrian Protestant College is wailing by wireless to Washington. Precious useful place to appeal to! The only people whose news they won't cut off probably will be ourselves. I suppose censors are all rather liki that. There's one Thompson (I can't really know about his "..." ) who is a son in law of Pears from C.J. And speaks Turkish very well, in the office. Seems good. Grace says he's going to pay us for the book:- My doubts on the matter:- but persuade him instead to put a colour on the map, or something. Please don't put my name on the thing - the book - that is - Darbishire should sign the map. My advice very strong- ly is - rush it out.- Those mysterious wireless telegrams early in the war were in Greek:- no such thing to make a long fuss over. .T. Firie-Gordon is out here (R.N.R.) on the Swiftsure