Page 433 - Neglected Arabia (1902-1905)

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r without supervision, I his time Dr. and Mr>. Thoms, Mrs. Zwemer,
1 and Mrs. Bennett were left at Bahrein, The others were at Busrah or
1 on the steamer that reached there Jan. ist.
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A PUBLIC SESSION.
: On Jan. 3rd the shore people came alongside in boats, while we
quarantine suspects clustered along down the ship’s ladder, and thus
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. ! was held our first business session, with much levity among ourselves
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?* ■ and evident amusement to the native passengers and ship’s crew. Offi­
i cers and committees were elected and an effort made to got all prelimi­
s naries, such as examinations and accounts, off the docket before the

regular session. Miss Scardefield was up for her first exam., and Mrs. 1
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:■ Cantine, Miss Lutton and Mr. Van Ess for their second, and I am sure
:i1 that all 'were thoroughly glad when the ordeal was over. The writer
I V often pities new missionaries under the strain of preparing for the
increasingly difficult language examinations, and yet he will always
labor under the disability consequent upon not having had. when he
came out, the spur and the goal which our courses of study now afford.
Our five days in quarantine were passed on board the “Madura,”
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busily and happily, in spite of the cold which seemed quite severe to us
Muscat dwellers, although it kept somewhat above the freezing point. 1
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And when we landed we were still fortunate in that our two weeks on
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shore were free from the cold rains and bitter winds that make the !
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Busrah winters rather trying. Our visiting missionaries were all quar­
P tered upon the Barnys, and we owe a great many of the pleasant mem­
ories of our visit to the care with which they ministered to our comfort
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in their cozy home.
VISITORS.
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c One of the pleasant features of our services was the presence of Dr.
Brigstocke, of the neighboring English mission at Baghdad, His ex-
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•: • perience and judgment were often drawn upon in our discussions, and
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! we were able to plan for some united effort in our common field. Miss
! Miller, who has been for some time working among the Mohammedan
i; women in this part of Arabia, was also present at some of our devo­
tional meetings.
EXPANSION.
In our business sessions perhaps the most interesting feature was
the reading of the station reports and those of the various special de­
partments of work. Nothing phenomenal was offered, but the story

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