Page 38 - Belgrave Diaries(N)_Neat

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1926

Rather a hot unpleasant day & a lot of work at the office. Court in the morning which kept me a long time, so late for
breakfast & for dinner too. Can think of nothing to write. The diving season begins in a few days so crowds of cases
before the Courts, boat captains suing their wretched divers, & a few divers daring to complain against the
masters. I told one white bearded old jew that he was a shark - he seemed delighted with the idea! One can spot
a "Narkhuda", boat captain, & more so a "land narkhuda" actual owner of the boat, from a mile off, they are
usually corpulent handsomely dressed personages with a bit of a money lender look about them - actually slave
owners. Daly has done wonderful things for the divers, insisting on their having proper accounts & passing laws to
that effect. The system has been going for a couple of years now, & they are just beginning to understand it. The
divers are really just like animals, mentally, & unintelligent ones at that.

Wednesday [19th May]

Usual busy morning. Went out with the Dalys in the car to Ali, a village some miles out among the palm gardens
where we had tea, & awfully good ices from Mrs Daly's ice machine. We walked about among the tombs. There are
many thousands of them covering an area of many miles. Each in a big mound, in the centre a rough chamber of
stones - but all that have been opened have apparently been rifled centuries ago by Arabs. A pretty place, & a lovely
sunset with tombs in foreground, huge strange mounds, then a line of dark green palm trees, & a glorious sunset.
Dined with de Grenier, also present, as usual, the Spences & Major Holmes. A very lengthy & rather too elaborate
dinner, hideous bad taste, a so called "eperge" full of ghastly artificial flowers - drooping & dusty, about eight
courses, & after that he wanted us to play ping pong. I had heard of this habit & previously determined not to - so