Page 363 - Belgrave Diaries(N)_Neat

361

1928

Monday 23rd [January]

Court. Wrote 18 letters to electric light companies in India asking if they were interested in the lighting of Bahrain.
Went up to the garden for an hour before tennis & planted out a lot of seedlings, poppies, stocks & cosmos. Cold gray
day, disagreable. Tennis at the mission. Arabic newspapers full of the Persian claim to Bahrain, also an article about
Alban & various local politics. The papers have written a lot about him as a sort of second Daly. Nobody here takes
the Persian claim seriously.

Tuesday 24th [January]

Meeting of Muharrak Beladya. A good wind for sailing across but tide out when I returned, at 1 oclock. Quite a good
meeting, much time taken up over question of moving the taxi stand, one member objected as he owned the adjacent
coffee shop patronised by taxi drivers, an obstinate old Persian.

In the afternoon the Shaikh called delaying us from going early to the tennis party at the wireless,
however we left when he did. Quite a good show. They have made a new court & the party was the opening occasion.
Played two setts, all the English people & the Shaikhs were there & a very good tea. The head man of the wireless is
English but has a chi chi wife, nearly black, a stout young woman with an old mother who would pass as English,
except for her accent, & a small girl who is perfectly white. They had really done it all very well & it was quite a good
show. The Shaikh seemed to enjoy it very much, afterwards they offered us whisky & soda or port! Smith, of the
Bank, & the doctor have rather annoyed everyone by joining the wireless tennis club which consists mostly of Goanese
clerks, etc.

Wednesday [25 January]

Wrote letters & office work in the morning. de Grenier arrived, we motored down to the Customs to meet him. He
had a sort of reception in his upstairs office attended by Indians & Arabs, coffee & some speeches. Brought him back
in the car to the house as he is staying with us. He looks very well & very fat - evidently shed his beard in England but
is now growing it again. The Shaikh came in the afternoon. de Grenier came down and saw him, was very nervous &
his Arabic rather rusty, began telling the Shaikh about the fogs in England but used a word meaning "flies" in Arabic.
The Shaikh got more & more surprised at it being necessary to light the lamps in London owing to the thickness of the
"flies" eventually he pointed to one on the window - & de Grenier remembered the right word! de G embraced the
Shaikh on the neck, rather to his surprise. Tennis & Bridge at the Spences. Very cold playing tennis. After dinner I
had a long talk about the business of de G's leaving. He took it very well, myself I think he has every reason to be
angry as he is being treated extremely shabbily indeed. de G has a heavy cold.

Thursday 26th Jan.

Went round to the meeting of the Meglis Urfi, the sort of commercial law court, to support the newly appointed
president, a Shaikh of the Khalifa family. There are ten members each week. Told them what the arrangements were,