Page 540 - Belgrave Diaries(N)_Neat

happened, Sulman won. Colonel Taylor left early in the morning. Tennis at the Mission and afterwards drove Mrs
Jordan back and went to their house for some time until he returned from sailing with Prior. All the others went to a
dinner party at Kozaibis at Rafaa but I refused as I felt really tired of Arab meals. Very hot and damp.

Tuesday April 1st 1930

Didnt go to the Biladya meeting at Muharrak. Saw a lot of people in the office. Wrote letters. Motored in the
afternoon and then to the Fort where we played Bridge. Mrs Jordan was the fourth, we had very good fortune and
made 20 points. Parke got very gloomy at losing so much, in the long run it works out fairly even as I found that in
four years playing here several times a week I was up two or three rupees only.

Wednesday 2nd April

Went down to the Joint Court. Some business about one of the Dawasir Shaikhs who the Shaikh insisted on giving
some money to encourage him to settle in their town of Bedya. He was very obstinate about it in spite of my telling
him that we are now fifty thousand rupees down on our Budget. This is the worst year there has been since I came
here. Ashraf, an Indian and owner of the chief shop in the bazaar, called on me yesterday having come back from
Bombay. He was very gloomy about the state of things down there, the merchants have not yet sold their pearls and
the increase in cultured pearls is hitting the whole pearl trade badly. He told me that they could now make them so
well that it is quite impossible to detect them without a machine. Naturally people who used to buy real pearls are
now buying these ones at a third of the price. Went to the Customs for some time. Drove round the golf course in
the afternoon and then Parke came in and stayed on to dinner. He is quite pleasant but he does let ideas run away
with him. Quite cool weather. We have got an Indian midwife up from India, sister of one who practises here. I hope
she will be a success, she is very large and fat but looks capable.

Thursday 3rd [April]

Went down to the Police station to discuss a new passport office which we are going to put up. Stayed there some
time talking to Parke and then went to the Customs. Returned to the office and interviewed several people, one very
tiresome old man a Seyed from Hedd came to call about a case. Hedd is a small town near Muharrak and there is no
Municipality and no Amir and the inhabitants have endless rows. Went to the school on my way back, stayed there
for some time in the class rooms. There has been rather a falling off in numbers in the Shia school. Motored out to
see a proposed road with Ali bin Hussein in the afternoon and then the Jordans came in.

Friday [4 April]