Page 80 - Belgrave Diaries(N)_Neat

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1926

cable saying it was likely to be offered to him. Mail, not a great deal, but two very nice books from Col Swayne, by
himself.

Tuesday [3rd August]

Haji Sulman, the Head of the Police, was shot at last night, & wounded, only just escaped being killed. He was shot at
by one of the Police, with a revolver. In the morning I went over the plans of the sea wall & called on one of the men
whose ground it cuts through. He was quite amiable & we arranged everything satisfactorily. While calling there I
bought a nice pearl for Rs 30, a birthday present for M. There was a pearl merchant from Kattar, a rascally old fellow
who as I heard later is known to have murdered two wives, a real Blackbeard. He was interesting though & had some
perfectly lovely pearls, bags of them of all qualities, some very fine & big, others seed pearls, & some badly shaped.
Quite a lot of black pearls, which I think are rather disappointing. The yellowish pink ones are cheapest & the white
ones most valued, shape counts for more than size. He was trying to sell the whole lot to the owner of the house. After
tea played tennis at Spences. All the mission people were there - unattractive in hot weather, very hot morning, very
damp. The natives show the heat almost more than Europeans.

Wednesday 4th August