Page 1166 - Belgrave Diaries(N)_Neat

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time and the game seemed to stop frequently owing to the discussions, but we were told that was part of
the game! After tea I took L over to call at the Agency. He is terribly heavy on hand.

Saturday 7th March

Fourth day of the holidays, didn't go out in the morning. Worked on my report & picked a big bowl of
sweet peas, the biggest bunch I have had yet. In size they compare well with ordinary ones at home but the
stalks are short. M went to call on Sh Ayesha at the palace, and found all the mission ladies there. Abdulla
bin Jabr came in. Rather a chilly day & very dull. In th afternoon I had a talk to Loudon about the sea road
& then we took him out in the car, to the bazaar & then to Idari & on to the tombs. DG came to dinner.
Steele came round in the morning.

Friday 13th March

Went down the bazaar in the morning, ordered some stuff to cover the matress and garden seat for the
new veranda & then to the Biladya Gardens. Nice weather but getting hot. Painted the seat after lunch.
The new veranda will be awfully nice in the summer & much cooler to sit on than the roofed part, which is
very low & so rather hot, one of the trees in the garden comes up through the floor & has a space to allow it
to do so - quite unusual. Went for a drive in the afternoon. The country is not very green as there has been
little rain this year.

Saturday 14th March

Fort - Court. Went over to see Loch who has been ill & was in bed with a sore throat. He showed me
letters from home saying that Major Holmes is coming as representative of a new British oil concession
Company to negotiate for a lease or concession over the ground outside the Bapco's area. He is the
approved agent of the new company & comes with the permission & approval of Brit Govt - all very funny
as for a long time he was their bete noir because he represented American interests. Drove in afternoon.
The Sunni Ulema came to see me about the Wakf department. Went over to see Loch about a man at the
school who got rough & had fist fights.