Item 04: G. O. Hawkins letters to his family, 2 January 1915-November 1917 - Page 4
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[Page 4]
One of his attendants produced about a quarter of an inch of wax candle which we lit for him and with this and our matches we tried to see things.
It was a weird procession which wandered round, stealing into dark corners where old tombs were hidden away. Burial places of some old sultan and his favourite wife and children.
Much of the walling in this holy building is covered with blue tiles (of ancient manufacture no doubt). Its name is in consequence of this fact.
There were some devotees in one part with their faces towards Mecca, praying for dear life quite unconscious of our presence. Our old villian [villain] told us all the history of the place in several languages broken to [shards?] to such an extent that we were unable to understand him. After a while we came to a [indecipherable] oblong space in the tiled wall and with the assistance of one of his learned friends the Gagool explained that a mirror once was fixed there. There was nothing strange in that we suggested, yes yes but that particular mirror had wonderful magic power, the poor blind had only to look in it and they could see. Silly old man of course if they could look they should be able to see, but he did not mean to be whitty [witty], he meant their sight was restored. "Where is the mirror now" we asked. Oh the French had taken it and it could never be found again.
How very sad, perhaps an Eye Specialist