Page 24 - History of Arabian Mission 1926-1957

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Ira^.
a is the gateway to Najd and is in itself an important place, wi*..
Iraq has not been extensively toured since the Dykotras left that part a population of about 150,000, and fertility of soil due to a large number of r
of the field, but we have the following picture of the marsh country from very fine perennial springs. Dr. Dame is always treated with great courtesy
Cornelia Dalenberg in 1941: "Last spring I had the rare opportunity of a there, and his relations with the various officials throughout the year have
visit far into the marshes south of Amarah, the district from which a number been most cordial. Many patients came to him in Bahrain from Najd and lias a
of lepers came when we were taking care of then. The marsh Arabs and their with letters from the Kind, Amir Saud, and the Governors of Hasa and Kateef."
way of living fora a large part of the atmosphere of Amarah. The reed mats we
use are woven by them; the reeds that fora the skeleton framework of every hut From this time on Dr. Dame or members of his staff continued to make
in southern Iraq are cut and gathered by them; the buffalo cream and wild fowl tours regularly.
sold In the streets and market places here are their stock in trade. Families
and buffaloes live together on tiny Islands, and every island is equipped with j
a little boat in which even a small child con paddle about from island to A Summons From The Xing i
island. All these Arabs belong, as they say, to some sheikh whom they address
as "My Uncle," and these sheikhs were our hosts and gave us protection for the In 1932 he was requested by a telegram from the King to go at once to
nights ve spent among them. Taif, In the Hejaz, to treat a member of the royal family. He vent by launch
from Bahrain to OJelr, where a car awaited the party and donkeys were on hand
"It was among the rice fields of one of these sheikhs that I found one to take the baggage. "In two hours and twenty minutes we were in Hofhuf. We
of our former lepers who became a Christian, and who was discharged, symptom spent the day there calling on friends and waiting for baggage. Lorries were
free, before the government took over the work. How often I had listened to sent to the edge of the sand dunes to bring this. On the morning of May 22nd
her nostalgic tales of life in the island huts of the marshes. Wow I saw her we started the trip, almost across the peninsula in extent. We left Ilofhuf
cured, happy, living a normal life «gong her own people." about 8:30 with a Chevrolet touring car and two lorries. We carried petrol,
water and food sufficient to get us to Riadh if necessary, though we did
Hasa and Najd. replenish our water at two wells and bought a sheep for dinner at one of the
wells."
The interior of Arabia - Hasa and the great province of Najd - hav~
captured the imagination of the Mission and been its goal from the earliet They did not follow the usual caravan route between Hasa and Riadh, )
days. but went forty or fifty miles north of it to avoid the sand dunes of the Dahna.
Arrival at Riadh was forty-eight hours after leaving Hofhuf, and the Amir Saud
In reminiscing on early medical touring, Dr. Paul Harrison recalls was expecting them.
that he learned to sleep on a camel on one of his first trips. It was so hot
they could not sleep during the day, and they travelled by night. The King's ’ "The Amir Saud resembles his father more than ever," wrote Dr. Dune.
official camel man warned them before they left Hasa, "Death travels just be­ "He has the same cordial greeting for visitors and the same charming smile.
hind you I" and told them that no matter how exhausted they were, they must I was given the same room in the palace that I occupied in 1923* and at once
keep going so to reach water before the next halt. He also recalls: "The a swara of visitors and patients came in. .We were soon invited to lunch with
desert was a lonely place, but not nearly as lonely as Riadh after we arrived. the Amir and five members of the Rashid family, who are permanent prisoner-
It was hard to believe that the human heart Is capable of such an intense and guests and dine with the Amir daily. Then I saw the five young princes,
universal reaction of hatred. No one would recognize us on the street. No several more patients, and was taken by the Amir to his summer palace on the
one would speak to us, except indeed the King'when he was inside his castle, Wadi Hanifa, near Deraiyah, where his ancestors ruled years ago. The Amir and
and the occasional night visitors who came to debate religious questions. So a younger brother wanted examinations. We were 6hown around the Amir's very
we stayed at home, and treated the people who were sick. They would talk to fine gardens as well as the palace, and then departed.
us as long as no one was present who knew then and might report on their
association with the forbidden foreigners." "Our course now lay northwest in the Wadi Hanifa, the same road our
camel cam van had taken eight years ago when bound for Shukra. Here are the
By 1927, when Dr. Harrison and his wife and Cornelia Dalenberg spent xailns of Jubaila, where we filled our waterskins and drums, and further on
some time In Dammam and Kateef, they were able to take their Ford car with the mins of Ainain.
them and so divide their time between the two places. Not as much surgical
"One night we camped at Bir Afeef; bought a fat young lamb, got buckets
work was done on this trip as usual, but for breaking down prejudice it was of milk and feasted well. In Najd all sheep are black; we were now nearing
outstanding.
the Hejaz border and saw both black and white sheep; In Hejaz all sheep are
In 1929 Dr. Louis Dame received four invitations to visit Hasa. "^ne white."
was to treat Amir Saud, oldest son of King Ibn Saud and heir to the thronga The six hundred mile Journey from Riadh to Taif took two and a half
most gracious host and a frank, charaing personality, Another was to treat days - the whole trip from Bahrain, but six days. A camel caravan would have
the Governor of Hasa, who was suffering from melancholia after the death of
his son In a battle with some rebel Bedouin." ‘On the last trip to Hasa, taken from thirty to forty-five days. Several cars with royal servants mob
Dr. Dame was for the first time allowed to treat the public. the travellers a few miles out of town and sped back to the palace to announce
their coming.