lesale requisitions of grain, fodder, and other supplies. These
things had caused profound discontent and had roused among the fellaheen
not merely passive dislike but active hatred of British rule.
Authoritative English experts on Egypt were seriously alarmed. Shortly
after the riots Sir William Willcocks, the noted engineer, said in a
public statement: "The keystone of the British occupation of Egypt was
the fact that the fellaheen were for it. The Sheikhs, Omdehs, governing
classes, and high religious heads might or might not be hostile, but
nothing counted for much while the millions of fellaheen were solid for
the occupation. The British have undoubtedly to-day lost the friendship
and confidence of the fellaheen." And Sir Valentine Chirol stated in the
London _Times_: "We are now admittedly face to face with the ominous
fact that for the first time since the British occupation large numbers
of the Egyptian fellaheen, who owe far more to us than does any other
class of Egyptians, have been worked up into a fever of bitter
discontent and hatred. Very few people at home, even in responsible
quarters, have, I think, the slightest conception of the very dangerous
degree of tension which has now been reached out here."

All foreign observers were impressed by the nationalist feeling which
united all creeds and classes. Regarding the monster demonstrations held
during the summer of 1919, an Italian publicist wrote: "For the first
time in history, the banners flown showed the Crescent interwoven with
the Cross. Until a short time ago the two elements were as distinct from
each other as each of them was from the Jews. To-day, precisely as has
happened in India among the Mussulmans and the Hindus, every trace of
religious division has departed. All Egyptians are enrolled under a
single banner. Every one behind his mask of silence is burning with the
same faith, and confident that his cause will ultimately triumph."[173]
And a Frenchwoman, a lifelong resident of Egypt, wrote: "We have seen
surprising things in this country, so often divided by party and
religious struggles: Coptic priests preaching in mosques, ulemas
preaching in Christian churches; Syrian, Maronite, or Mohammedan
students; women, whether of Turkish or Egyptian blood, united in the
same fervour, the same ardent desire to see break over their ancient
land the radiant dawn of independence. For those who, like myself, have
known the Egypt of Tewfik, the attitude