Page 775 - Belgrave Diaries(N)_Neat

Monday 26th December, Boxing Day, 1932

Holiday, dreary morning, very mild and gray. Slept late as we were rather exhausted by the party
yesterday. In the afternoon we took James up to the Biladya garden to see the little baby bear which Prior
has sent up from India as a present to the Municipality. It is a dear little thing and quite small, James was
very pleased with it. They are making a good big place for it to live in. Afterwards they went on to a
childrens party at the Hakkens, I went home. In the evening we went to dinner with Major Holmes to meet
the Shaikh of Kuwait who is staying with him. The de Greniers and Mohammed Yatim were there. I disliked
him the only other time I met him but after seeing him again I change my opinion. He is the most up to
date Shaikh in the Gulf and very well mannered and pleasant to meet. He wore a long dark tight sleeved
robe and a white collar above it just showing and his white koffieh and gold agal, it was a very smart get up.
At home I hear he always wears a dinner jacket and collar and tie. He is a man of about forty or so and used
to be very fat but he went in for dieting so strictly that he is not now over stout, he is darkish with a slight
black beard but very intelligent eyes and very much alive. I sat next to him at dinner and we got on quite
well. He knows a little English but doesnt talk it really. After dinner we played Bridge and the Shaikh and
Mohammed Yatim looked on both following the game with great interest. He said he had flown in eleven
different types of aeroplanes but of them all he liked the flying boats best. D.G. was very oily with him and
made a few awful remarks. He does lick people's boots so. The streets in the town are still very muddy and
unpleasant to walk through.

Tuesday [27 December]

Fort in the morning, my car is out of order so I have to use the old one. Office. Settled some business
about old Shaikh Jasim's affairs, the ex Sunni Kadi, we had been administering his affairs but it is more
nuisance than it is worth so we have now handed it back to him though he is blind and incapable. Abdulla
bin Jabr came in and talked about Sh Isa's affairs as usual. Cold day but bright and sunny, we are having
fires in the evening every day now. Dinner party at the de Greniers. Quite a good party, they had 24
people to dinner so had to have dinner in the drawing room which is bigger than the dining room. Colonel
Loch and Mrs Thomson, a very pleasant woman who is staying with them, attended. Mrs Loch is much
better but still not appearing. It was quite a bright party and quite amusing, we danced, played games and
did competitions, no one had too much to drink. The D.Gs always have a party on the anniversary of their
wedding. Ham, the Bank Manager, sent a message at the last moment to say he had fever and could not
come. In the afternoon we went to the Mission party, they have a Christmas party every year and play
games and other tiresome things, it was just the same as usual, we left as soon as we could.

Wednesday [28 December]

Office. Very cold day, tennis in the afternoon but very few people turned up so we didnt get much play.
The Shaikh of Kuwait and Holmes and Mohammed Yatim came to tea and the Shaikh played Bridge, quite
well too and with great keenness. His manners are admirable on these occasions. Just after tea the
cannons sounded to show that they had seen the Ramadan moon and the Shaikh jumped up and dashed