Page 7 - Personal Column (Charles Belgrave)_Neat

ever unusual this may be in the case of bridegrooms. Driving up to
Coast of Africa, the ‘White Man’s Grave’. I found it difficult to convince
them that the Gulf was probably not so bad as it sounded. London I told my bride that I did not suppose that we should stay in
Bahrain for more than ten years, at the most. I wonder what she would
Marjorie had never been abroad, except for a few visits to Europe,
but she showed no signs of alarm or despondency at the prospect of have said if I had prophesied that we would spend thirty-one years in the
Persian Gulf!
making her home in a completely unknown place, thousands of miles
We stayed five days in London and then set off on our honeymoon
from England, among a race of people whom she had never met, whose
journey to Bahrain: by train to Switzerland, where we spent several days
language she could not speak. I suppose neither of us realized how
at Montreux, my home town, where I had friends and relations; then by
primitive and uncomfortable living conditions were going to be during
our first few years in Bahrain. I had lived quite happily in many strange Simplon Express to Trieste, where we embarked for Alexandria on a
places, in tents, in African hiits and once, for some time, in a cave, but Lloyd Trestino ship. After a night in Cairo we went by train to Haifa,
crossing the Canal at Kantara, a place I had known well during the war.
she had never had to ‘rough it’.
Haifa was a quiet, pleasant little village, with one small hotel—oil had not
Before Daly went back to Bahrain he told me chat l could spend ^200
on furniture for my house, but he gave me no idea as to what size the yet made its mark there. We left Haifa in one of the cars of the Naim
Transport Company for Baghdad, via Beirut, Tripoli, Palmyra and
house would be. In fact, no house existed, but when Daly returned a
Ruiba Wells. Today this company operates a service of big air-con­
building was designed by him and work was begun. I went to Hamptons
and bought sufficient good second-hand furniture to furnish the house ditioned coaches and the journey is made in one night in comparative
comfort, but in 1926 we travelled in open cars, with inadequate canvas
for many years to come and which, after thirty-one years, looked much
hoods, and we picnicked in the desert. It was hard going and very
better than the more expensive new furniture which was added later. Ac
uncomfortable.
that time very little could be bought in Bahrain, so I ordered a year’s
We shared a car with Mr. Wedgwood Benn, who afterwards
supply of groceries and tinned goods. I made one or two mistakes in the
became Lord Stansgate, and his wife. Having very long legs, I sat in front
orders: instead of getting a dozen tins of baking powder I ordered a gross
and the three passengers at the back took turns in falling asleep on each
and the same number of tins of custard powder! My Nyasaland cook in
other’s shoulders. Our driver was Norman Naim, one of the two
Africa had a passion for both these things, though milk and eggs were
Australian brothers who, soon after the First World War, started the
very cheap in Tanganyika, but in Bahrain we never used custard powder
desert transport company which eventually brought them fame and
and rarely needed baking powder.
fortune. But when we crossed the desert, travelling ‘by Naim’ was still
Before our wedding we spent much of our time meeting and staying
an adventure, especially as the Druze tribesmen were then in rebellion
with friends and relations—and being given a great deal of well-meant
against the French and there was constant danger of attack.
advice. I remember, when dining with the Wingates, that Lady Wingate
Most of our fellow-passengers were members of an international anti-
told Marjorie that she should always a wear long chiffon veil over her
narcotic commission, on their way to Persia to study the opium industry,
sun-helmet, and that she must on no account allow a manservant to enter
which was a very flourishing concern. The leader of the party was a
her room. I don’t think she ever wore a sun-helmet in Bahrain; and as
professor of unknown nationality, he spoke no language which anyone
there were no women servants, it would have been very difficult to have
understood. He was a keen botanist and constantly stopped the convoy
taken Lady Wingate’s advice about an all-male staff. When we first lived
in order to get out and collect desert plants. The cars had to stop when he
in Bahrain all the men and some of the women wore sun-helmets in the
intimated that he wished to descend, because nobody knew whether he
summer. Today they are seen only on official occasions when people wear
wanted to get out to collect plants or for more natural reasons. The other
uniform. Young soldiers, sailors and airmen work in the sun wearing
passengers found him extremely tiresome, and, owing to the delay which
nothing but a pair of shorts and canvas shoes. Yet the climate has not
he caused, we arrived at Tripoli after dark.
changed and the sun is just as hot as it was in 1926.
The Tripoli hotel was small, squalid and very over-crowded; we were
We were married in St Mark’s Church, Kemptown, Brighton, on
given a little room, opening out of a larger, room in which the narcotic
February 27th. It was a big wedding and I thoroughly enjoyed it, how-
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