§14. W. G. Palgrave. VII. The Literature of Travel, 1700–1900. Vol. 14. The Victorian Age, Part Two. The Cambridge History of English and American Literature: An Encyclopedia in Eighteen Volumes. 1907

The Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes (1907–21).
Volume XIV. The Victorian Age, Part Two.

VII. The Literature of Travel, 1700–1900.

§ 14. W. G. Palgrave.

A more quiet and leisurely, but equally intimate, picture of eastern life is found in A year’s journey through Central and Eastern Arabia in 1862–3 by William Gifford Palgrave, who, first as an officer in the Indian army and, afterwards, as a Jesuit missionary priest, had won so close an intimacy with eastern ways and tongues that he was able to live among the Wahabees of Arabia in the character of a Syrian doctor, in order to investigate the possibility of Christian propaganda in that region. His book, which bears no trace of this missionary purpose, is a pleasant picture of daily life and of intercourse with his Arab neighbours. Palgrave’s varied career finally led him into the British diplomatic service.