ght exert in Egypt and elsewhere in the East. As will be remembered
he proceeded to the Aegean himself at the beginning of November to
take stock, but he soon decided for evacuation after examining the
conditions on the spot. The whole question remained in abeyance for
some three weeks.

My own experiences of what followed were so singular that a careful
note of dates and details was made at the time, because one realized
even then that incidents of the kind require to be made known. They
may serve as a warning. On the 23rd of November my chief, Sir A.
Murray, summoned me, after a meeting of the War Council, to say that
that body wished me to repair straightway to Paris and to make General
Gallieni, the War Minister, acquainted with a decision which they had
just arrived at--viz., that the Gallipoli Peninsula was to be
abandoned without further ado. The full Cabinet would meet on the
morrow (the 24th) to endorse the decision. That afternoon Mr. Asquith,
who was acting as Secretary of State for War in the absence of Lord
Kitchener, sent for me and repeated these instructions.

I left by the morning boat-train next day, having wired to our
Military Attache to arrange, if possible, an interview with General
Gallieni that evening; and he met me at the Gare du Nord, bearer of an
invitation to dinner from the War Minister, and of a telegram from
General Murray intimating that the Cabinet, having met as arranged,
had been unable to come to a decision but were going to have another
try on the morrow. Here was a contingency that was not covered by
instructions and for which one was not prepared, but I decided to tell
General Gallieni exactly how matters stood. (Adroitly drawn out for my
benefit by his personal staff during dinner, the great soldier told us
that stirring tale of how, as Governor of Paris, he despatched its
garrison in buses and taxis and any vehicles that he could lay hands
upon, to buttress the army which, under Maunoury's stalwart
leadership, was to fall upon Von Kluck's flank, and was to usher in
the victory of the Marne.)

A fresh wire came to hand from the War Office on the following
afternoon, announcing that the Cabinet had again been unable to clinch
the business, but contemplated a further seance two days later, the
27th. On the afternoon of the 27th, however, a message arrived from
General Murray, to say that our rulers had yet again failed to make up
their minds, and that the best thing I could do u