Page 1024 - Belgrave Diaries(N)_Neat

1022

1935

Very busy day. Spent almost the whole morning at the Agency discussing the naval base & buildings.
Hewett came in later on. The PR does not like the vague way in which the navy behave. In the afternoon
I went out to see the Shaikh, taking Narayan with me in order to go over some accounts. Stayed out there
a very long time. Discussed the question of the naval base, the Shaikh is quite pleased about it but he
asked whether they would pay rent for being here, which would shock the navy who always expect to be
welcomed everywhere by everybody. Then we discussed the Shaikh's own accounts which interested him
much more than the question of the naval base. Sulman came in later on. Sulman did not seem to be
interested about the navy. A telegram came from Ibn Saoud thanking the Shaikh for the result of the
negotiations, I couldn't make out if the cable was sarcastic or not, but I suspect it was not intended to be
so. The flowers in the garden are lovely just now, masses of colour everywhere & the stocks are all out.
It is a sad pity that the season of flowers lasts so short a time here, when it gets hot they all dry up & die.