Page 252 - Belgrave Diaries(N)_Neat

250

1927

Wednesday 6th July

The Shaikh arrived at the Palace in the morning from Sakhrir & later came down to the offices to talk about allowances. He is
always being bothered to increase them & as they are over ½ the revenue its absurd. If any of the Ruling Family did anything
to earn their large salaries it would be different. Tennis at Mespers & then dinner at the Shaikh's, & a very good show. The
entertainment was on the roof, the dinner on one side & the other side spread with mats & carpets & cushions against the
parapet. There were about 150 guests & perhaps 100 servants & hangers on, quite the biggest Arab dinner party I have ever
attended. It really was very impressive & the building looked extremely nice & was much admired. Most of them wore white,
the Shaikh wore white with gold embroidery & gold dagger & headdress. He played his part well. There were 400 plates of
food, 14 sheep, 60 chickens, lots of rice, fruit, stews, jellies & little meat dishes. The actual meal lasted not more than 10
minutes, then the servants & others fell to & cleared it up, & I rather fancy some of the guests returned again. I think it will
cost about £60, a lot for one dinner. Of course only about a tenth part of the food is eaten by the guests themselves, then the
servants, then hangers on & poor people who come round when they hear of a dinner party, & also the harem who have a
dinner party usually on the same day. Afterwards Alban & I went to bathe in Idari & then down into the town to see the
Muharram doings. We went to the "Matem" of one Abdel Nebi Bushiri & were given seats outside where we saw
through the windows. A most interesting sight. Hundreds of men sitting inside so crowded that they could hardly
move, a lot of chandeliers with candles in them lighting the room & at one end a sort of high throne draped with green
banners, all the walls hung with black. First two men were reciting, then a sort of priest from Bushire spoke, extremely