Page 399 - Belgrave Diaries(N)_Neat

397

1929

Friday 4th Jan.
Went down the bazaar in the morning. Saw Ahmed bin Khamis who we managed to avoid. He had called at the house
earlier on and I said I was out. One bars visitors on Fridays. Went to the Bank and played Bridge. Quite a pleasant
day. In the afternoon the finals of the tennis tournament were played at the Agency. Quite a big party, all the clerks
and the Goanese were present as well as the Americans and all the English. Parke and his partner won, as everyone
expected. The Shaikh and Abdulla were there. Abdulla looked very well and wore a most gorgeous deep yellow
embroidered robe. It was rather a comic party as Mrs Barrett took absolutely no notice of the Goanese women who
after all were her guests. She is very bad at things of that sort. Afterwards played Bridge. Parke and de G had a bit of
a row over cards. We played with the Strakers. The police caught a nasty fellow called Khalid bin Feraj who was
deported by Alban for writing violently anti English articles in the Cairo papers. But apparently the Shaikh gave him a
letter telling him he could come back. The Shaikh is really too feeble. Anyone who ..thers him can get what he wants
out of him. I wrote to Barrett about him but he is as weak as the Shaikh and said we ... better let him go.

Saturday 5th [January]

Court. Went down to see the Shaikh at the Joint Court. Talked about the Kadis. He told me to go and see them and
settle with the old man and Shaikh Abdulla and Al Medani. Talked about a man who we deported for anti English
newspaper propaganda who has come back without permission. The Shaikh was very soft about him and said because
he was ill there was no harm in him coming back. Barrett didnt support me about it. Went out in the car for about ten
minutes to give the dog some exercise and then went over to the Agency and played tennis with the Shaikh's young
sons and one of his nephews. Rather boring as only one had the slightest idea of hitting the balls the others were
hopeless. They looked rather absurd flopping about the court in their long robes and wearing heavy shoes. Their head
cloths were so in the way and often blew round their heads so that they could not see. Parke was there afterwards and
we had some bridge.

Sunday 5th Dec. [January]

A special meeting of the Biladya in the morning. The Shaikh did not come to it so I took the chair. It was very noisy
as there was a row between some of the Persians and Arabs. De Grenier came as it was about some Customs business.
He was terribly pompous and made a speech that nobody understood. Quite unnecessary but he enjoys that sort of
thing. Afterwards went out to call on the old Kadi to tell him that the Shaikh wished to appoint him as Kadi. I liked
the old man. He is very old, rather shaky and has one eye, but the one eye is a very merry one and he talked in a very
sensible way and seemed quite amenable. I took Haji Seggar with me. The old party wore a simply enormous turban
and looked rather like one of Arthur Rackham's dwarfs in the face, very battered and wrinkled but quite suitable to the
part in appearance. Motored back and had lunch then the Shaikh came in for a meeting of all the heads of the Arab
tribes in Bahrain to discuss the question of whether women should be compelled to marry their near relations,
preferably first cousins, as is the Arab custom. They all seemed to think that it should be compulsory. The religious
law is against it and I personally think they should be allowed to marry whoever they want, but the Arabs dont agree.
The Shaikh seemed very tired and came upstairs afterwards and sat for some time in the house. When he had gone we
went out for a drive and brought de G back for a late tea. Parke came in later on. He has had a row with Mrs Straker.
He ticked her off for driving her car without a licence and she got annoyed. His manners are bad and he is very tactless
and I expect he was rude. He said he told her that he would take out a summons against her and make a case in the