Gladstone's government to attempt to detach the Arab tribes from the side of the Egyptian rebels, and to use his influence, backed by English gold, with the sheykhs of the Bedouin, to secure the immunity of the Suez Canal from Arab attack, and provide for its repair after possible injury at the hands of the partisans of Arâbi (Besant, Life, pp. 253–4). On his arrival at Alexandria, on 5 July 1882, he received instructions from Admiral Sir Beauchamp Seymour (afterwards Lord Alcester) [q. v.] to proceed to Jaffa, thence to enter the desert and make his way to Suez, interviewing the principal sheykhs on the route. On the 11th Palmer had vanished, but ‘Abdallah Effendi was riding his camel through the desert in great state, armed and dressed in the richest Syrian style, giving handsome presents to his old acquaintances among the Tiyâha, and securing their adhesion to the Khedive's cause against his rebel subjects in Egypt. The attitude of the sheykhs was all that could be desired; and Palmer reported in sanguine terms that he had ‘got hold of some of the very men whom Arâbi Pasha has been trying to get over to his side; and when they are wanted I can have every Bedawi at my call, from Suez to Gaza. … I am certain of success’ (Journal to his wife, in Besant, pp. 270 ff.). After three weeks' disappearance in the desert, during which he endured intense fatigue under a burning sun, and carried his life in his hand with the coolness of an old soldier, Palmer evaded the Egyptian sentries and got on board the fleet at Suez on 1 Aug. The next day he was in the first boat that landed for the occupation of Suez, and was engaged in reassuring the non-combatant inhabitants. He was now appointed interpreter-in-chief to her majesty's forces in Egypt and placed on the staff of the admiral (Sir W. Hewett). His work among the Bedouin seems to have given unqualified satisfaction to the admiral and to the home government as represented by the first lord of the admiralty (Lord Northbrook), and Palmer himself was convinced that, with 20,000l. or 30,000l. to buy their allegiance, he could raise a force of fifty thousand Bedouin to guard or unblock the Suez Canal. On 6 Aug. a sum of 20,000l. was placed at his disposal by the admiral; but Lord Northbrook telegraphed his instructions that, while Palmer was to keep the Bedouin ‘available for patrol or transport duty,’ he was only to spend ‘a reasonable amount’ until the general came up and could be consulted. How far the friendly Arabs would have kept their promises if the 20,000l. had ever reached them cannot of course be known. The prompt energy of Sir Garnet (now Viscount) Wolseley in occupying the canal probably anticipated any possible movement on their part; but the fact remains that they gave the invaders no trouble, and this may possibly have been due to Palmer's presents and personal influence. The bulk of the money never reached them, however, owing to the tragic fate which overtook the fearless diplomatist. He had been busily engaged for several days in arranging for a supply of camels for the army, but on 8 Aug. he set out to meet an assembly of leading sheykhs, whom he had convened to arrange the final terms of their allegiance. In accordance with Lord Northbrook's instructions, he took with him only a ‘reasonable amount’ of money—3,000l. in English gold—for this purpose, to begin with. He was ordered to take a naval officer as a guarantee of his official status, and out of seven volunteers he chose Flag-lieutenant Harold Charrington. Captain William John Gill, R.E. [q. v.] the well-known traveller, also accompanied him, with the intention of turning aside and cutting the telegraph-wire which crossed the desert and connected Cairo with Constantinople. Two servants attended them, besides camel-drivers; and a certain Meter Abû-Sofia, who falsely gave himself out as a prominent sheykh, acted as a guide and protector. Their destination was towards Nakhl, but on the way Meter treacherously led them into an ambuscade on the night of 10–11 Aug. They were made prisoners and bound, while their baggage was plundered. There was at the time an order out from Cairo for Palmer's arrest, dead or alive; but it is probable that the original motive of the attack was robbery. On the following morning, 11 Aug., the prisoners were driven about a mile to the Wady Sudr, placed in a row facing a gully, with a fall of sixty feet before them, and five Arabs behind them, told off each to shoot his man. Palmer fell by the first shot. The rest were despatched as they clambered down the rocks or lay at the bottom. The facts were only ascertained after a minute and intricate inquiry held by Colonel (now Sir Charles) Warren, R.E., who was sent out by government with Lieutenants Haynes and Burton, R.E., on a special mission, which ended in the conviction of the murderers. The fragmentary remains of Palmer, Gill, and Charrington were brought home and buried in the crypt of St. Paul's Cathedral on 6 April 1883.
A portrait of Palmer, by the Hon. John Collier, hangs in the hall of St. John's College.
