Miscellaneous reports and correspondence relating to Kuwait [‎25v] (50/87)

was expected yesterday and that the Amir and principal people had ridden to the
outskirts to meet me and stayed there till midday. 1 apologized, explaining that
my detention was due entirely to Turki's asking me to wait. Had breakfast
with 'Abdullahal Khalid al 'Abdullah, who succeeded his uncle 'Abdul ^zizal
'Abdullah this year. Had coffee and tea at houses of 'Abdul 'Aziz al 'Abdullah,
Al-Hamad, Abdur Rahman ibn 'Abdul *Aziz bin Zamil, all of the Beni Salaim, a
most courteous and refined family. They seemed to be men of the world, more
enlightened and civilized than any Arabs I have met, and with a charming
frankness and independence of manner. They are ideal hosts.
'Abdullah ibn Idris met me on the way. He had just come from the
Sherif's son, Faisal, at Ak ibah. 'Abdul 'Aziz bin Hassun tells me he was present
with Shakespear at tlie fight at Jarab, where he was wounded with a sword on
the shoulder and left for dead. He was eventually picked up by some of Bin
Sand's men and carried in 2 days tna Artawiyah to Zilfi. When sufficiently,
recovered, he joined the Sherif who at that time was on the side of the Turks.
After the Sherif had cast off the Turks, our friend continued in his service.
He spoke a lot about Lawrence with Faisal at Akabah and said he was
almost like a Bedouin—all tLe tribes knew him. Najdis were all called Agaili
down south and received pay from the Sherif at the rate of £ 6 a month.
Those employed on " dynamite " operations for destroying the railway got
£15 per mensem. At least 1,00^ men, he said, have gone from here to assist the
Sherif and about 4,000 from Qasim have gone also to the Hijaz to earn pay.
News is that Ibn Rashid left Madinah and went to Al-Hijr. I do not al
together agree with the "Handbook of Arabia" regarding its comparison between
Buraidah and 'Anaizah. 'Anaizah is a handsomely built town. The aristocracy
are mostly related and very united. Thtir corporate life is like that of a
mediaeval Italian republic, with their elective Amir chosen from the princely
house of Bin Salain. Buraidah is larger if the environs and suburbs are
taken into account and is, perhaps, more populous. My own belief is that
'Anaizah Las at least an equal settled population and its bazaars are infinitely
better in every way, the shops larger, better stocked and kept. As for the
people there is no comparison ; the people of 'Anaizah are by comparison
highly civilized. The best of them have travelled at least to Kuwait, Bahrain,
Basrah, Karachi, and Bombay, while many of them have gone far afield to the
west and are acquainted with Damascus, Beirut, and Constantinople.
Gave all my party 10 dollars each to spend in 'Anaizah. The Amir
invited us all to lunch and dinner. Our Bedouins ate enormously, the food
being excellent. The Amir has been very good to us. Feeling in 'Anaizah
is, I think, strongly for us.
After dinner, at 5 p. m ., we walked in the bazaars. I saw
nothing worth buying, but was again struck with the picturesque and truly
imposing architecture of the palazzos of the great ones, with their adjacent
gardens all highly cultivated, the walls being covered with vines and
surrounded by fig trees, pomegranates, peaches, etc. Some of the gardens
looked as though they would afford delightful retreats in sullry weather.
On the whole, 'Anaizah is a place to rave about when you come in from the
desert. It is quite unspoilt by contact with modernism. I should say there
were no paupers ; I saw no signs of squalor. The state of civilization of
'Anaizah shows that the Arab, even when left entirely to himself and almost
isolated from the world of progress, does not altogether let himself go, but
retains some ideals and aspirations. He doe& not become brutalized or
insensible to the amenities of life and social intercourse or, generally, to the
softening influences of comfort and elegance. Some of the rooms of the
houses I was shown through were beautiful. One, a coffee-room of 'Abdul 'Aziz,
the retired Amir, was particularly artistic. It was about 18 ft. broad and
'60 ft. long. Round the room were open corridors and the room itself had a
gallery, with a grille under the roof, a sort of promenade for the ladies who
come to see and hear what goes on in the coffee-hall below. Some texts
from the Quran were artistically painted on the walls on rough mouldings ;
in the luminous gloom the effect was very pleasant if bizarre. The utter
absence of symmetry, or line, rather offends the European's eye but these
interiors fascinated me and, after all, any attempt at symmetry would have