Memoirs of an Arabian Princess

Memoirs of an Arabian Princess
by Emily Ruete (Salamah bint Sa•d; Sayyida Salme, Princess of
Zanzibar and Oman)
(1844-1924)
Translated by Lionel Strachey.
New York: Doubleday, Page and Co., 1907.
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COPYRIGHT, 1907, BY DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY
PUBLISHED, SEPTEMBER, 1907
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, INCLUDING THAT OF
TRANSLATION INTO FOREIGN LANGUAGES INCLUDING THE
SCANDINAVIAN
AUTHENTICITY OF THESE MEMOIRS

THE work of which a translation is here offered originally came out as
"Memoiren einer arabischen Prinzessin." Published by a Berlin firm in
1886, it was immediately followed by an English edition, which seems
to have attracted little interest, both the German and the English
versions soon falling into obscurity and going out of print. When these
memoirs appeared, however, Germany's colonial ambitions were newly
fledged; the British East Africa Protectorate (which includes Zanzibar)
was still forming; the French had only recently withdrawn from the
joint control of Egypt and Lord Cromer's sway was but just beginning;
Zulu-land was an independent monarchy; the Transvaal and the Orange
Free State were recognised as republics; Italian troops were yet to be
severely defeated by Abyssinian blackamoors; nobody imagined that
Great Britain must one day put forth all her strength to subdue fifty
thousand Dutch peasants; a "Cape-to-Cairo" railway was unthought of.
Briefly, to the world at large the Black Continent and its peoples then
meant less than to-day.
In connection with these memoirs arises the question of their
authenticity. Historical events - like Bargash's long-continued dispute
of his brother Majid's succession - anyone might have got sufficient
details about for the purposes of a free narrative. But this book contains
intimate revelations betokening an extraordinary knowledge of Arab
life in general and of Zanzibar royal harem life in particular. Was the
alleged writer, then, actually a Sultan's daughter who escaped from her
country and went to live in Germany as the wife of a German merchant?
So romantic a supposal seeming to require confirmation, the translator
wrote to an English government official well-versed in matters
pertaining to the African colonies. He received this reply, whose full
import will only be appreciated after perusal of the memoirs:
"I have consulted a recognised authority - the best - who doesn't want
his name mentioned, but you can take the following as absolutely
trustworthy:
"The lady certainly did exist. Her name was Salamah bint Sa•d, and she
took the name of Emily when she turned Christian. She was a daughter
of Seyyid Sa•d, Sultan of Muscat and Zanzibar, and therefore a sister of

Majid, who succeeded to the throne of Zanzibar, and of Bargash, who
followed. Ruete was a German trader, and she unfortunately became
enceinte by him. She escaped from Zanzibar to Aden, where her child
was born, and where she married Ruete, who had also found it
expedient to leave Zanzibar.
PRINCE OTTO VON BISMARCK-SCH…NHAUSEN
"Ruete was killed in a tram accident, and she then took the title of
princess, to which she had a right by birth; whether she forfeited it by
marrying Ruete, I can't say. She was taken up a good deal by high
personages in Germany. Subsequently she appears to have done a good
deal of intriguing with Germans - Bismarck and others - who thought
they might make some use of her, but they eventually dropped her.
"She also carried on some correspondence with Sultan Bargash, but he
didn't fall in with her views, declining to recognise her as having any
status at all; she used to show her letters to the British agent. As for her
dealings with Frere, I can learn nothing, but I expect your information
is substantially correct."
PREFACE
NINE years ago I conceived the idea of writing down some facts for the
information of my children, who at that time knew nothing about my
origin except that I was Arabian and had come from Zanzibar.
Exhausted in body and in mind, I did not then expect to live until they
were grown up, did not think I should ever relate to them verbally the
happenings of my youth and the course of my fate. Hence I determined
to record my story on paper. My memoirs were not at first intended for
the general public, but for my children, to whom I wished to bequeath
them as a heritage of faithful motherly love. Finally, however, upon
urgent persuasion, I consented to have them published.