Page 700 - Belgrave Diaries(N)_Neat

698

1932

Court, got finished earlier than usual. Motored in the afternoon along the road on the south coast of the island. I
wanted to look at the land where Holmes talked about making an oil refinery. In the evening we had a dinner party,
eight people, a very good dinner only the cook had cauliflour for the vegetable as well as choufleur au gratin which
was rather inartistic. However the cauliflours were out of our own garden and very good ones too. We had one table
of Bridge and one of Mah Jong and quite a good evening. Holmes, who was there, stayed on till half past one, it is a
trying habit he has of always remaining on for about an hour or so after a dinner party.

Friday [4 March]
Went round the new bank with Ham. It is getting on well and a very nice building, quite the best built in Bahrain. It
rained last night very heavily indeed so today the garden looks all clean and washed. It had got to look so dirty and
dusty lately. Then we played Bridge at the Bank and after lunch motored out to the Oil Location, as the Americans call
it. We ploughed through a great deal of water and when we arrived at top of Rufaa hill we gave it up as it looked like
one big lake down below, but one of the oil men passed in a car and said he would lead us by a dry way so we went and
got out quite easily. Had tea with the Skinners and then had a look at the derrick and saw oil coming up, but only a
very little and all mixed up in the mud and water. On the way back we got stuck in a bad hole up to the axles in mud
and water and it took us an hour to get out. We passed another stranded car and the people asked us to take a small boy
back to Manama which we did, a little fellow about three years old. He slept most of the time. We didnt get in till
after eight and very tired and covered in mud.

Saturday 5th March 1932

Shaikh Khalaf, the old man who used to be Shia Kadi, and was twice banished for bad behaviour and is now back
again, came in to call on me about a case which has been brought against him, during his conversation he said he was
exactly the same as what he called the "Pop", I then understood that he meant the Pope, he also said that there was no
religion in Manama but only in the country villages, the reason being that he has a following in the villages and none in
the town. He is a very conceited old man and never fails to tell me how honoured he ought to be for having been Kadi
of Bahrain for thirty years, he doesnt add that he was "unfrocked" for taking the money of widows and orphans and
also for taking bribes. Court, had a lot of big cases among them the Siadi case. Abdulla came in and we talked about
Shaikh Khalaf and his conceit. As a matter of fact with one or two exceptions I have found all the Arabs here
conceited and as a race I should think they were more conceited than any other. They never hesitate to blow their own
trumpets till one gets sick of it. Worked in the garden and then went a drive and up to the Fort after tea to play Bridge
with Parke, Ham was the fourth.

Sunday [6 March]

Meeting of the Wakf Department which took up most of my morning, a dull meeting and a good many members not
present. Their funds are very seriously affected by the present bad season. The Secretary of the Municipal Council
came in with the ballot boxes of a new bye election which we counted. Called at the Fort in the afternoon about a
claim by one of the Indian Police against the Superintendent. Finally the man after talking nearly an hour about a lot of