Page 583 - Belgrave Diaries(N)_Neat

suffer a little as they behaved so badly at the beginning of the season. Things are certainly very bad this year
in the pearl trade, still there is no buying or selling and none of the foreign merchants have come here.

Tuesday [12 August]

Manama Biladya meeting. I was very late so missed most of it. They discussed the lunatic asylum again. It is
a new and very good idea and has been started by hiring a house in the town in which we shut up all the mad
people and put in a man and a woman to look after them and to feed them. My objection was that there
were always crowds of people looking in at the windows which was bad for the people inside. Agreed to
make a fence round it. Had a talk with Shaikh Abdulla about the diving question, he thinks that it would be
best to give them a few days longer onto the end of the season. He mentioned one of his sons, quite a boy,
who is being married again, he married less than a year ago and has since then got rid of the first wife and
taken another. Its in the family. Tennis at the Mission, slightly better than usual as Barden and the doctor
were there so the play was quite good. I have had the inside of my car covered, it looks very nice, also a
cover on the lamps and the spare tyre. Barden and Walker came to dinner and brought the news that a
telegram had come saying that the doctor's small boy, aged five, travelling up to Bahrain with his wife from
India, had gone overboard and been drowned, and a man on board who had tried to save him was also
drowned. A terrible thing, he was talking about their arriving only this afternoon. They were going to tell
him tomorrow as he was out at the wireless. M wore a very pretty new dress, one of the new long ones.

Wednesday 13th August 1930

Went to the Customs and called on Walker on the way to discuss the question of a mast with a light on it
which we are thinking of putting up at the end of the pier as a beacon. James is very seedy with his teeth and
doesnt sleep. He has a lot coming all at once. Dr Dame came to see him as the doctor was seeing nobody on
account of the news about his son. The Shaikh came in in the afternoon to the Palace but left almost at once.
I didnt see him. Motored out to see how they are getting on at the well, they have got down thirty feet,
partly mud and partly stone.

Thursday [14 August]

Court, took a lot of the date garden remission cases. They are very dull and a waste of time sitting for them.
Shamaal blowing, much cooler. Motored in the afternoon. Really no news.

Friday [15 August]

James was awake all night so we had a very disturbed time. Played Bridge at the Bank and in the afternoon
motored to the end of the gardens and back. Very worried about James. In the evening the doctor came in