Page 6 - Belgrave Diaries(N)_Neat
P. 6
5
1926
Good Friday [2nd April]
Spent the morning with Daly in his office. He talks & I take notes. He wants to get me au fait with all the politics &
the endless intrigues of the place before he leaves. One of the most awkward people is the Director of Customs, de
Grenier - (Smith) who is a fool & a knave & gives endless trouble but they hope to shift him. In the afternoon people
came to tea & tennis. Mrs D has her "day" on Fridays. A crew of American missionaries, very American & rather
awful, a couple called Spence, shipping people, quite decent, a bank manager, & de Grenier, an awful looking person
with a beard, fat & unhealthy looking. I didn't take to him. None of them were in the least "proper people" but all
seemed quite friendly. Socially this place seems a wash out. I liked the Spences most. Took a walk in the town after
they had gone we looked in at the house. Its not up to much but I think I shall be able to make it quite nice. The view
over the water at sunset time is gorgeous, & crowds of sailing boats going to & fro, & to the other island, Muharrak,
where the Sheikhs old father Sir Isa bin Khalifa, who was deposed, sits in his castle & sulks, & tries all the time to stir
people up against the present ruler, assisted by his wife who is an alarming old lady of seventy who used practically
to run the whole island, executing people, beating them & taking their property without even any show of a trial. He
was offered a pension but has refused to touch it at all, altogether a most inconvenient personage. I shall have to call
on him.
Saturday 3rd April