Page 343 - Belgrave Diaries(N)_Neat

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1927

M went over to Muharrak to call on the chief wife of Sh. Abdulla, mother of Mubarak's bride. The girl is only 12 years old.
Motored along Budeya road & met Spence at the APOC store site. The Hakkens & Dames to dinner, really quite pleasant.
Mrs Dame, though enormously fat, is a handsome woman & shows up well in evening dress. Dame is the doctor who replaces
Harrison. He was in the mission before & then on leave.

Sunday [11 December]

Went to a meeting at the Beladya about registering boats, discussed other things most of the time such as a motor bus out to
Rafaa, & making the road between Manama & Muharrak island. The people are very keen on the idea of making it. Went to
the Agency afterwards. Motored to Idari. They are going to mend the sides of the water channel which has not been done for
hundreds of years - & needed mending I should imagine centuries ago. Fahad al Bassam came in to tea, a nice little old man.
He likes coming here now & then. He compared Alban and Barrett, to the former's advantage. Barrett has a habit of passing
on remarks made about people to the subject of the remarks. Bassam once talking to Barrett said that the Shaikh cared for
nothing but hunting gazelle & would become like one! Barrett repeated this to the Shaikh who was very angry!

Dined at the Parkes, played Bridge. P talked all the time about the income tax at home.