'File 8/8 Agency Administration Report 1922-1930' [‎32r] (68/474)

-
2
of the year was to Nejd. This
lasting four months and a week,
i, the capital of the Sultanate of
8 capital of the district of Woshm ;
em from whence come Arabia’s
its, and Boreida, the capital of the
On the return journey we passed
ns of Zulfie and Mejma and many
Dme of them the strongholds of the
special interest in connexion with
iat this is the fourth medical tour J
[ission to Riadh, each one more
the previous one ; that this is the
have been called on to treat the
Aziz bin Saoud; that, other than
rns have never before been visited
ora medical practitioner ; that the
»wns people received us more cordi-
L an ever before ; that the powerful
mt has lost its white heat of bigotry
and that there is a gradual settling :
to their former pastoral or to a new
ithing unusual about the beginni ng
y the usual day’s sailboat trip from
3
Bahrein to Ojeir, then the tiring thirteen hour
donkey ride to Hofhoof, from whence the camel
caravan begins.
Two days after our camel caravan left Hofhoof,
we were met by special dispatch riders from the
Sultan carrying a letter for me stating that he was
seriously ill and urging me to come with all
possible speed. We had to open up some well-
packed cases of drugs and supplies in the open
desert, pick out something here and there, and
start out with one assistant leaving three to follow
with the supplies, and with one of the messengers
w* rode post-haste on our camel express to Riadh.
But camel riding is for the uninitiated more a ques
tion of endurance than speed. We travelled fifteen
hours a day for three days and thereby arrived one
day sooner than they expected us.
The Sultan was suffering from a severe cellulitis
of the face, which after being lanced and treated
fortunately responded quickly to the healing art.
On the sixth day after our arrival a public reception
was held by the Sultan, his first public appearance
for a month, which was attended by about 5000
people.
Riadh contains two types of people : the per
manent towns-people and the visiting Bedouins.