Page 753 - Neglected Arabia (1916-1920)

I

6 NEGLECTED

way station, where in honor of the
Shah, the floor was carpeted and the
walls were hung with flags, while
palms and floral decorations trans­
formed the ugly trainshed into a
;• veritable garden, made a scene no
:
detail of which was lost on the young
man from Arabia. He tells the story
with extraordinary accuracy, consid­
ering that he was seeing everything
through the eyes of the unknowing
\ foreigner.
t On November 3rd the party went
to Glasgow, where on the 5th they
were entertained to luncheon by the
Lord Provost, Aldermen and friends.
i
Later they inspected the University
and the Art Galleries. The follow­
! ing day they saw the Forth Bridge,
i that marvellous cantilever structure,
with its total length of 5,330 feet
and its two main spans of 1.710 feet
each. One of the party took notes
SHEIKH'S CAR AND Gt'ARD.
of the particulars of the bridge. The
next wonder was a submarine.
It was a long motor drive from the Forth Bridge to the submarine
base and when they arrived, it was past sunset. Our Arab friends,
with one exception, had only one idea in their heads at that time, and
that was, the sunset prayer. So no sooner had they boarded the
submarine than the commanding officer was begged to find them a
comer in the cramped accommodations of the submarine, where they
might turn their faces Meccawards and testify that there is no god
!
i but Allah and Mohammed is His Prophet. The one exception. h°u e\ er,
l
and he was the same gentleman who had been so busy at the rort
Bridge, was too keen on the matter in hand to let the deman s ot
religion interfere. Notebook in hand he went the rounds, demanding
information down to the minutest detail, and industrious y w nting
everything down. The war is over or he would have lett the submarine
with blank pages as far as that vessel’s particulars were concerned.
I
‘ Sheikh Ahmed had his own troubles examining the submarine—he is
a big man, and well! submarines are not built tor ^ ig men. e
had to walk sideways most of the time, and some ot t e man io es
had to be left unpenetrated. , ,
The day before they sailed, the party were shown borne ot the
Glasgow shipbuilding vards and also visited the aerodrome a en r \\.
where they saw aeroplanes by the score. All ot the part) excep le
Sheikh himself made a flight, but for some reason or ot ier. . ime
got “cold feet” and contented himself with merely putting on thing
kit, entering one of the planes, and being photographed in situ.