Page 466 - Belgrave Diaries(N)_Neat

464

1929

Went to the Bank in the morning. Rather hot. Played Bridge. Mrs Straker made rather a good remark, they were
playing Madame Butterfly on the gramaphone, she asked me what it was, when I told her she said, "Oh yes, an old
thing, but they bring it up to date every year". Presumably she thought they put in a few new tunes each season.
Agency in the afternoon. Quite cool in the evening. Prior and I motored out to Idari and had a bathe after dinner.
Very pleasant. The water felt quite cool first going in, almost chilly.

Saturday [10 August]

Abdulla and Sulman came in the morning and we had a long discussion about the cases. I told them the result of my
call on the Shia Kadi. They suggested that I should send for the Bahranis and try and persuade them to appear at the
Sunni Shera court. It amuses me that they think that I have more influence with the Bahranis than they. If the Bahranis
wont appear, and I dont think they will, we will try and make a compromise. Went up to see the Shaikh in the evening.
He came in for an hour or so from Sakhrir to see some alterations to the upper stairs. He found them too steep and we
have put a sort of landing and changed the direction. He complained much about them. I found him sitting in Meglis
with a crowd of Bedus from the mainland all of whom came for what they could get. While I was there several of them
came up and whispered to him asking for money. Three black slaves of Ibn Saoud's came in with a letter from the
King and sat there for some time. The Shaikh made the usual remarks about Ibn Saoud, it always annoys me to hear
him doing this. When I arrived I found Ibrahaim bin Khalid, the chief murderer, sitting next to the Shaikh but looking
very uncomfortable and not speaking. He sent away the people and Sulman and I had a talk with him. He made a lot
of very smug remarks about justice etc etc and then said that he would think about it, we pressed him and he then
agreed that I was to send for the Bahranis and try to persuade them. He is quite silly about it all and still says that the
men did it entirely of their own accord, not by orders. Went along to the Police station and then to D.G's for a while.
D.G. wants to build a barasti on the landing ground, or near there, to sleep in, thinks it would be cooler than his house.
Really his own roof is as cool as anywhere else. Dined at the Agency to meet Shaikhs Abdulla and Mubarak. The
latter never opened his mouth, the manners of both were admirable, Mubarak had learnt at Basra, Abdulla was very
lively and amusing and evidently enjoyed himself. Pack and Seyd Sadiq were there too. One advantage of these Arab
parties is that they go as soon as the meal is over. Very hot damp evening but sleeping on the roof one does not feel it.
Ibn Saoud's three huge black slaves were rather impressive people, all Sudanese, originally.

Sunday [11 August]

Had the Bahranis in the murder cases in in the morning. ... expected they refused to attend the Sunni Shera Court. The
... in the Farsia murder case is really very convincing. He ... Ghattam shaikh was the man who killed his son and he
was ... about it, years ago he had been told he would receive ... .lood money but at that time and now he refused to
touch it ... .ldnt take money for his son's life, he then quoted, from the Koran, "an eye for an eye and a life for a life". I
was impressed by the old man as he is a poor fisherman and the amount that he was offered would mean comfort for
the rest of his life instead of hard work. He also said that if the Shaikh had any doubt of the matter why did he decree
the payment of this amount five years ago when the matter was first tried, a difficult question to answer. Shaikh
Mohamed came in to talk about Ghee and the Biladya. They held a special meeting about it but neither Prior nor I
attended. He had been out hunting for several days. He is I think a bad shot as he never seems to get much. In the
afternoon the Kozaibis called, the one who has just come back and Abdulla. Talked about ghee. Prior and I went over
to Gezireh, but as the tide was rather bad we had to do a good deal of wading, fortunately we took old tennis shoes as
the coral is horrid on bare feet. Had a bathe in the spring there and sat in the water for a long time eating fresh dates