Page 784 - Belgrave Diaries(N)_Neat

Went down the bazaar in the morning, ordered a new thin suit, my stock of clothes for the summer is getting rather
low, the last suits I got at home were ready made & fitted badly & are nearly worn out. The local tailor is quite good
& can copy well. Tea & tennis at the Agency, they had about 20 people & one small cake & a plate of marie biscuits -
however as they have been away I expect the household was disorganised. Very nice day, cool & windy.

Saturday [27th May]

Motored out to Sakhrir before breakfast. Got there quite early, it was delightful motoring in the morning over the
desert. I found the Shaikh sitting on the long mud bench in front of the mosque with about thirty Arabs sitting in a
long line in front of him, he was talking to them about "movies" and saying how wonderful they are, he saw Mrs
Lock's one at the Agency, he then told them about "talkies". Some of his servants had seen the film which Mrs L took
at the Coronation time, they complained that they moved too fast. He sent for Shaikh Sulman and we read to him the
draft of the letter about the oil question. He was quite intelligent about it & suggested a few modifications which we
put in. Motored back & spent most of the morning rewriting it while Sulman dealt with the court. In the afternoon
took the family out to Sakhrir as the Shaikh had some so-called horse racing on the plain beyond the house. I thought
it a very boring show but James enjoyed it. The Locks were there and a good many Arabs. They cantered up & down
in the usual way & one man did some trick riding, standing on the horse's back etc. James picked up rather nice little
boy, one of the Khalifah, a grandson of Abdulla's, who came & sat in the car with him, both were very talkative and
neither understood much of what the other said. The de Greniers came in to play Bridge & stayed on for dinner, we
had some good Bridge. All the Shaikhs were out there & I left the draft of the letter with them to discuss. The Shaikh
enjoyed the entertainment very much though really it was a very poor affair & only about half a dozen horses took
part in it. It was very cool & pleasant.

Sunday 28th [May]

The Shaikh & Abdulla, Sulman & Mohammed came in & I went with them to the Agency where we talked about oil.
Lock does not shine on these occasions, he speaks in such a slow low voice that none of them understand and being
very deaf he misses most of what they say. The Shaikh began quite well and spoke for a few minutes saying that he
had made no definite agreement, then, having said his bit he leant back on the sofa looking very sleepy & left the
talking for us to do. Mohammed read my draft letter, which sounded quite good, and I translated it for Lock who
made a few minor suggestions. Just at the end Abdulla spoke very plainly about the urgent need for money and got
quite hot about it. Then they came back to my office & stayed till 11 oclock when I managed to get away & have
breakfast. The Shaikh seems to have lost all interest in the oil business although it is such a very big thing. Rewrote
the letter again in the morning while Sulman took the court & arranged to send it out to be signed by the Shaikh in
the evening so as to go by the up mail as it is all very urgent. Slept in the afternoon. Lock came over just before we
went out, he told me that Lady Willingdon is coming through by air on her way home in a fortnight. Lock is going
down the coast on one of the sloops. James & Nanny went to see the head mistress of the girls' school & they
watched the boys rehearsing a play which is to be acted at end of the term, James much enjoyed it. Bridge at the de