Page 1946 - Belgrave Diaries(N)_Neat

1943

1945

Tuesday 22nd May

Fort. All three Shaikhs came in, Sulman b Mohd called asking for his wife to be sent to Jerusalem, a
ridiculous idea. Col _ USA in State Department caled on HH - in an open necked shirt, he talked Arabic &
got on quite well, Godfrey came in to say good-bye but had to wait rather a long time as there was a talk
going on between HH, the uncles & Daij about another marriage row in Hedd where, as usual, a father of the
Saada tribe wished to marry off his daughter outside the tribe & the others objected, this constantly happens
& always causes a situation, by Shira it is legal but tribal customs forbids it and HH in these cases supports
tribal custom & instructed Daij, in whose court the case came, what line to take. Went to Budega in the
afternoon, grapes show good promise. Horses looked very well.

Wednesday 23rd May

The Police went to Idari, I drove out to see them there, they much enjoyed it especially the small band boys
who were like frogs in the water. Had a long sitting with Mrs Sawaf to discuss the Girls School exhibition
which starts on Sunday. Went away to see Leigh & to the customs, there is a possibility of our getting some
second hand cars from India, we are desperately in need of cars. The weather is very pleasant, a breeze most