Coll 6/9 'Jeddah Reports Jany 1931–' [‎115r] (230/802)

o
104. The Saudi Government declined politely on the 29 th February an
invitation from His Majesty’s Government to attend the Chemical engineering
Congress of the World Power Conference to be held in London m June.
IV.— Miscellaneous.
105. H.M.S. Londonderry, Captain H. B. Jacomb, visited Jedda from the
1st to the 8 th March. Twelve Moslem ratings were given the opportunity oi
making the pilgrimage. , , , i i ** ™
106. The French warship d'Iberville arrived on the 4th March and lett o
the 8 th March. , r ^ s +
107. The annual Haj Regatta was held on the 5 th March. lor the hrst
time in recent years the aggregate of non-British ships in port exceeded that oi
British ships, of which there were only three. The others included the r rench
ships Sinaia (see paragraph 92 above) and the Ville de Beyrouth, which, however,
was chartered by the Khedivial Mail Line and officered by them. Only the British
ships took any effective part in the regatta, but the French Legation, inspired
doubtless by its rise in life and the presence of three vessels flying the French
flag, passed remarks of some acerbity about the organisation of the regatta. 1 he
incident was liquidated in a quick orgy of reconciliation, and Sir Andrew and
Lady Ryan were among the guests at an informal but sumptuous lunch on board
the Sinaia on the 7th March. It then came out that, although the d Iberville b a fl
arrived too late to put boats in the water for the regatta and the Sinaia had
professed inability to do so, they had had their own rowing races before the
luncheon. French victories were thus assured.
108. Mr. Maxwell Darling (paragraph 71 of the last report) left for Jizan
on the 17th March and, to anticipate, returned on the 1 st April after an
instructive investigation of the locust position in the coastal region. Fuad Be\
Hamza was extremely helpful in obtaining the King s permission for this for a
European—unusual journey and in connexion with the motor transport arrange
ments for Mr. Darling and his servants. Mr. Darling left Jedda for Cairo on
the 3rd April to attend the postponed Locust Conference there.
109. Pilgrimage Day fell on the 3rd March. According to the published
statistics the total number of sea-borne pilgrims this year was 30,966 adults and
1 035 children. These included from India, 8,231 adults and 208 children; from
the Dutch East Indies 5,109 adults and 337 children; and from Egypt 5,617
adults and 106 children. 1,829 pilgrims were stated to have used the overland
route from Nejef. including a still uncertain number of Indians and 200 Afghans.
It is estimated that from 60,000 to 70,000 persons were present at Arafat on the
threat day. The overland contingent from the Yemen is thought not to have
exceeded 1,000 to 1,500. Contradictory accounts had been received before the
pilgrimage’of the attitude of the Saudi authorities towards intending Yemeni
piffirims, especially as regards the route which they would be allowed to follow.
Certain restrictions would appear to have been enforced, but it is not clear whether
they were due to police precautions or to the new policy of discouraging pilgrims
without means to pay dues, &c. . .. .
110 . Rain fell in Mecca on the evening of the 2nd March and pilgrims were
incommoded at Arafat by a violent dust-storm on the afternoon of the 3rd Match,
which was followed by more rain and a climatic improvement. The sanitary state
of the pilgrimage left nothing to be desired, w’ith the result that ships returning
southward were again exempted from calling at Kamaran, and the Alexandria
Quarantine Board pronounced the pilgrimage clean on the 18th March. The
defects of the motor transport service provided under the new arrangements
described in paragraph 148 of the report for last May gave rise to numerous
complaints. Camels were also said to be in short supply at Mecca. Congestion
and mismanagement at Jedda, when the first ships were lea\ing, also caused a
t>'ood deal of trouble and some clashes between pilgrims and the local authorities
for two or three days. Generally speaking, however, the conditions of the 1936
pilgrimage were good.
HI The Saudi Government furnished the Legation on the 31st March with
the names of five Punjabi pilgrims who lost their lives in the floods inland from
Rabight (paragraph 73 of the last report) and next day they added two
Bahreinis to the list.