AN ORIENT MYSTERY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20583, 5 December 1928, Page 5

AN ORIENT MYSTERY.

COLONEL LAWRENCE’S LATEST. RUMOUR REGARDING DOINGS. MISSION IN AFGHANISTAN,. .The everlasting mystery of the movements of Colonel T. E. Lawrence, the “ uncrowned. King of Arabia,” was deepened recently by a statement circulating in well-informed quarters in London that he is engaged on a secret mission in Afghanistan attempting to -facilitate the negotiation of a treaty between Great Britain and that country. A few days earlier it was reported that he was in. Amritsar, pos'ing as a Mahommedan saint, and investigating Communist activities in the district. The opinion was expressed in authoritative circles that such an investigation could serve no. useful purpose, and that the story might have been circulated to veil his real mission.

It is in fact confidently asserted (says a London paper) that this Colonel Lawrence, the romantic figure who gathered the wandering tribes of the Arabian desert and led them against the Turkey is in Afghanistan studying Afghan life for the British Government. A trade treaty between Britain and Afghanistan is believed to be in the process of negotition. A military agreement may fellow. Colonel Lawrence, it is explained, is making an intimate study of the views of the hillmen, the morchants. and the peasants. He is living . With them, concealed beneath a madid, stain and the turban and robes he knows so. well. As “ Leading Aircraftsman Shaw ” at the Royal Air Force depot at Karachi Colonel Lawrence has led a life which has baffled his closest friends. He has vanished for a month at a time, and returned as unexpectedly as he departed. No one questioned him, and “Shaw”— famously silent—said nothing. A RUMOUR CONTRADICTED. It is some time now since Colonel Lawrence was seen at Miranshah Fort, a Royal Air Force detachment posti Then came the report that he was in .. [ l , lr^f ar — livin e disguise as a Fir ■’ or Mahommedan saint; watchin" for Bolshevist activity. He lived, so it was said, in a remote in a luxuriously-furnished house. Women brought their babies to him to be blessed and to secure advice on illness, that rumour lias since been contradicted. Amritsar is entirely free from Bolshevist agitators. It is a quiet; peaceful trading centre. “I have only just returned from India, where U lived in Amritsar,” Mr C. M. J. Barrington, an army reserve officer, writes to the Sunday Express. “Colonel Lawrence is not there—spying in Amritsar is valueless. There is nothing to spy P -4“ nt “F J 3 the k ?y city to i» C + am * Col °riel Lawrence was last heard of on the outskirts of the northern borders of that province. It was not realised that ,perhaps he had gone northwards through the mountains tojffie country of King Amanulla. Strange developments are taking place in Kabul, the Afghan capital, since the fr!wv° f hc ?' ng and Queen from their .travels abroad, -A hitherto scattered nation of_ 10,000,000 people is united. ■^Westontismg”-moved the! -.522257, haa i ec ° n, . c a «..-active,,unit id Sai ra r e of th ° -? ri^^'4a&Jßusßi a ,| ” Communist rule, 'atrctehes’’'to the? north. The mountain frontier of India lies to the south. Afghanistan is the barrier ’—its capital is the rendezvous for those who pass through. Colonel Lawrence us believed to be there, hidden, and watching. ' NEW MARRIAGE LAWS. I

Polygamy has been abolished. Colonel Lawrence will know if Occidental mar-' nage laws will lead to revolution or placid acceptance. He will hear the mut-" tarings of the wild and care-free tribes- 1 men who live unshackled in the hills In Afghanistan all roads and all gossip lead to Kabul. The old narrow afreets and foul-smelling bazaars are being destroyed. The inaolent customs of the are being shattered by Kin" inspired by his experience! in the West. If agitation springs up : among «ie,citizens of Kabul, mystified ,and-irritated by enforced changes they! .40.n0t understand, the Communists are’ there to nurse it. That would be part ; of the missmn of Colonel Lawronce—to. ° f * to *r h » •»

>f S Aircraftsman Shaw,” T^w e u — Was ha PPy- dishked bemg disturbed at .his work. Shaw, f said a companion recently, “ > s no . longer Lawrence of Arabia. Ho is just one of us, living our life, and roccivmg no special advantage because 1 { .*? pre , vl ? u ® »‘ecovd.” Wheq his missioii js ended Colonel, Lawrence will probably reappear suddenly at a'Royal Air .Force dejiot in bis regulation kit and resume his service duties.'