On February 15, 1946, we accepted the invitation of Mr. Ahmad Abaza Bey, member of the Chamber of Deputies, to luncheon at his estate "al-Rab'aya" near Zagazig, where we spent a few hours that can never be forgotten. Ahmad Bey declared to me that Lebanon is the one country in which the heart of the Egyptian summer visitor finds ease. At four o'clock we went to Zagazig itself, visited the athletic club, and took tea at the table of Mr. Mohsen Abaza.

On Saturday we lunched at the table of Mr. Halim Abu Izz al-Din, Lebanon's consul and its pride in Cairo; then we went to the juvenile reformatory, where the Honorable Fariq Muhammad Haydar Pasha gave a tea party for us by command of His Majesty Farouk, God preserve him. There the boys performed most beautiful athletic exercises; they were dressed in red and white, so that every minute we saw our flag before us, and our whole being thrilled with delight and rejoicing. When we entered the hall prepared for the tea, we saw the Lebanese flags adorning the walls, embracing the flags of Egypt. At the end of the party the Honorable Fariq delivered a fine speech about the young men of the mission, and Mr. Hikmat Khidr thanked him in our name; then Sheikh al-Safi recited a mag-nificent poem on Lebanon and its President, Farouk and Egypt, and the friendship that binds the two peoples. In the evening we accepted the invitation of the famous singer Farid al-Atrash to supper at the Arizona theater on the Pyramids road, and we passed one of the nights of a lifetime.

On the next day, Sunday, February 17, we visited the Antikkhana, or Egyptian Museum, and our eyes beheld antiquities that the pen is powerless to describe. At four o'clock we called on His Excellency Ismail Sidqi Pasha upon his return from the oath-taking ceremony at the stately Abdine Palace, and he spoke to us of Lebanon, of its beauty, and of his love for it.

At five o'clock we accepted the invitation of the Faculty of Arts to a tea party that had been prepared for us. We seized the opportunity of the presence of the members of the mission that had visited Lebanon a short while before, and put to most of them questions about the impression their visit to Lebanon had left; their words were unanimous that it is an immortal and beautiful country. By happy chance we met there the Honorable Abd al-Rahman Azzam Pasha, who delivered a fine address to us.

In the evening we accepted an invitation extended to us by His Excellency Abd al-Aziz Talaat Harb Bey, and there we met the leading faces of Egypt, among them the Honorable Fariq Omar Fathi Pasha and Muhammad Husayn Pasha, head of the Torches Committee, who spared no effort to provide every comfort for the members of the Lebanese Torch mission.

On the following day, February 18, 1946, we went to the stately Abdine Palace to inscribe our names in the protocol register and to ask leave to depart, thanking His Majesty the King — God keep him — for the generous kindness and lofty attention he had graciously bestowed upon us. Then we went to the National Committee for Physical Training to thank the head of the Torches Committee, the Honorable Muhammad Husayn Pasha; then we paid a visit to the head of the Prisons Administration, the Honorable Fariq Muhammad Haydar Pasha, but he was absent. After that we proceeded to the Ministry of War, where we called on the Honorable Fariq Atallah Pasha, Chief of the General Staff of the Egyptian Army, who spoke to us of Lebanon and its beauty and of the possibility of his visiting it soon. Then we visited the Lebanese Legation and the Consulate to thank them for all they had done for us. A little before noon we paid a visit to the late lamented Ahmad Husayn Pasha, who received us with every welcome, saying: "Ever since you came I have been waiting

for you, young men; come and sit down, for I have much that I wish to say to you." Half an hour later we came out of his office in gladness and elation, for he was — God rest his soul — a man like no other men; and we were the last to visit the departed.

On the second day our stay as guests came to an end, and we made for Alexandria, the desert road being cut by sandstorms, and there we passed the night. On Wednesday we headed for Ismailia; the road was still blocked, so we passed the night there after attempting to cross the desert, and we sent a farewell telegram in which we expressed our feelings at Egypt's hospitality. At this time the tragic news had reached us of the death of His Excellency Husayn Pasha, so we sent a telegram of condolence to the Chief Chamberlain to be laid before His Majesty the King, God preserve him. On the morning of the next day we continued on to Haifa, meeting great difficulties on the road — the car nearly failed to get through because of the sandstorms — but God was gracious and we reached Haifa in safety. We con-tinued on the next day and arrived in Lebanon and its immortal hills, where we had the honor of an audience with His Excellency the exalted President of the Republic, symbol of independence and sovereignty, who received us with every welcome and congratulated us on our safe return.

We cannot close this report without setting forth the abundant benefits that resulted from this visit of ours: Lebanon was the axis of every conversation and the substance of every cheer, and our Egyptian brothers and the Lebanese colony spared no pains to provide for our comfort at every halt and on every road, foremost among them the mission's escort, Mr. al-Said Habib.

Long live Lebanon — cher-ished, independent, sovereign, and free! The rapporteur, François Khalil Ghosn

Beirut, February 27, 1946