Page 620 - Belgrave Diaries(N)_Neat

Sunday 14th December

Meeting about the Tesquam. Shaikh Sulman and Shaikh Rashid attended it and about a dozen leading pearl
people. It lasted for about four hours and there was a good deal of argument and excitement. We finally
arranged the amount at 45 and 55 rupees as compared with 100 and 80 last years, for a diver and a puller
respectively. I hope it will be suitable to everyone but I expect some people will complain, they always do
over the advances every year, either the divers say they are too little or the merchants say they are too high.
Played tennis at the Agency, some afternoon, the Patric Stewart, the Telegraph boat is in with a man who
represents the new company who are taking over the present Indo European coy. We had quite a pleasant
afternoon, there was another man there who I have met before called Mc Gavin who was at one time acting
as Political Agent here in Bahrain. He was very amusing on the subject of the American Missionaries in those
times.

Monday 15th December
Court, very long morning, we sat till 2.15 and then had not done all the cases on the list. Drove out in the
afternoon and had a look at the work on the sea road and the two gardens, we are making a drain from the
Palace garden which I hope will carry off the spare water. Parke came in in the evening, also Mrs Holmes and
Prior. I have a bad cold which is a great nuisance, they take so long to shed out here.

Tuesday 16th December

Stayed in my upstairs office all the morning as I had a bad cold. Various people came to see me but I did not
see them. M went to the Mission, I remained at home.

Wednesday [17 December]

Heavy cold so stayed in all day and saw nobody.

Thursday 18th [December]

Court in the morning. In afternoon we and the doctor went over to Muharrak in a launch and looked at the
new Quarantine building which is getting on very well. It is on a sort of neck of land sticking out from the
town on which the old fort used to stand, we have pulled down most of the fort only leaving one of the
towers which was fairly intact. Then we went to Muharrak and spent an hour in the bazaar looking for one of
the wooden brass studded chests which they sell here as a wedding present for de Grenier. We saw a lot but