Page 744 - Belgrave Diaries(N)_Neat

1932

that the monsoon was not going on, which I agreed, but later I heard it lasted till September. Went round to the Police station
and then took a walk round the whole sook with Haji Sulman, it looked rather empty. Went over to the Agency before lunch
and talked about the Shaikh's Indian idea and also about some agitation which I hear is being got up against a decision of the
Biladya that in future owners of property are to be responsible for paying municipal taxes, not the tenants. I have always urged
this. Went out to Ain al Hakim and had a bathe in the evening. Yusuf Fakroo has imported a lot of short weight rice which I
mentioned to the Shaikh who, before I let on who it was, spoke very disapprovingly about it, but then said that it is a matter for
the Agency, which is of course absurd.

Sunday [17 July]

Court. Didnt go out in the afternoon but after tea Prior and I drove out to dine with the Shaikh, a place about half an hour
beyond Sakhrir. We arrived after dark and found quite a big company out there, a lot of the Khalifah and one or two
merchants. He has built a really very nice meglis rather the style of the one in his garden at Senna, a long high room with a
wide pillared veranda on one side standing on the top of a little hill. The pillars and steps were rather nice. We sat on the
veranda and had dinner outside. They talked of pearls and pearl buying and of how excited some of the pearl merchants
become over bargains, how they pull eachothers beards and literally knock eachother about and in some cases swear by the
oath of divorce, which as they said made bargaining impossible as after that there was an end to any going back. The Shaikh
always seems to know curiously little about these local customs, he did not seem to have heard of the method of bargaining in
which the two men put their hands under a cloth and make signs with their fingers to show the bids so that nobody present
knows how much is being given. Then the Shaikh talked for a long time about some tricks he had seen in England at, I think,
Maskelyne and Devan ts, which astonished them all very much, I dont think they believed it at all. Had an indifferent dinner
almost in the dark and very tough chickens. It was very cool and pleasant out there and quite dry. On our way home Prior and
I went down to the Ain al Hakim and had a bathe to get off the taste of mutton and when we got back I went in to the Agency
and had a shandy.

Monday 18th July

Court, Siadi case all the morning, both parties got very cross and rather impudent. Shaikh Sulman was very fed up with them
all. Very hot day. Slept in the afternoon and then went out to Senian with the dogs after looking in at the Fort again, I go
almost every morning before breakfast. D.G. came in and stayed till dinner time. Two flying boats arrived and Prior asked me
to come over after dinner to see Welsh about business, went across and discussed to Imperial Airways arrangements, they now
much prefer the idea of landing at Muharraq as it is a better aerodrome, in fact it could hardly be improved upon, said I would
see about leasing a house somewhere on the edge of the plain, there are a lot of big empty houses on the shore out there. Very
hot night, Welsh after saying, for about an hour, how cool it was after Basrah now complains of the great heat and dampness
here, he is the style of person who gets very hot and shows it. They seem to have fixed up their stations down the Oman coast,
they are paying one Shaikh Rs 20,000 a year for a landing ground so I certainly wont let them have one here for nothing.

Tuesday [19 July]