Page 794 - Belgrave Diaries(N)_Neat

Saturday 1st July

Fort. Court. We sentenced Abdel Latif to six months hard labour, there was a big audience in the court. Shaikh of
Kuwait & Lock came to lunch. Lock hardly talked at all & when he did the Shaikh didn't understand and vice versa, it
made conversation difficult but I had no difficulty & the Shaikh talked a lot. He admired the room & the pictures &
things and our dessert plates, which are good ones, and altogether showed an intelligent interest in everything. His
manners are excellent. James came in and he & the Shaikh got on very well. He talks a few words of English and
understands a lot. Drove out in the evening. The Holmes came across before dinner & stayed a long time. In
afternoon Chisholm, an APOC man, came to call, we liked him, he is refreshingly different to the people here & quite
like people one meets at home. He has come about a concession over the additional area but I am not sure that it
would be good to have two rival companies in a small island.

Sunday 2nd [July]

Called on Shaikh Abdulla the Kedi in the morning before breakfast. The Shaikh of K left. Court. Drove in car & Bridge
at Russells.

Monday 3rd [July]

Fort. No Court. Office. Went to Agency for two hours & discussed various matters with Lock & in afternoon the
Shaikh came in and after tea we talked about a lot of things including money affairs and the land question. As usual
the Shaikh was very optimistic and said of course we should soon have lots of money from oil, however on the whole
it was a satisfactory interview. I stayed on some time after he left. M took James to Idari to swim. Skinner and
Chisholm, the representatives of the two rival oil companies, came to dine & we played Bridge, C plays very well
indeed. Cool day, breeze, sleeping on the roof now & it is very cool.

Tuesday 4th [July]

Windy day and sand blowing & the house full of dust & sand, but cool. The mail was due at 7 am but didnt come in all
day. Manama Biladya meeting, quite a lively one, discussed the midwife & various matters. Office, a lot of people to
see. Tennis at Mission, Bridge at Russells. Too windy to sleep outside.

Tuesday 4th July [sic]