Coll 6/9 'Jeddah Reports Jany 1931–' [‎220v] (441/802)

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IV .—M iscellaneous.
60. H.M.S. Penzance, Commander R. H. Bevan, R.N., visited Jedda, as
is usual at pilgrimage time, and stayed from the 22nd to the 29th March. She
took part on the 26th March in the traditional regatta, now always held primarily
for the pilgrimage fleet at Haj time. Although the tradition has be'~
interrupted, the regatta is known to date from before 1860, when it used to be
held on Queen Victoria’s birthday.
61. Pilgrimage day fell on the 25th March. The assemblage was not quite
as large as had latterly been hoped, principally because the last shipments from
India fell short of expectations. The Saudi Government estimate the total
number of people of all origins gathered at Arafat at 60,000. Fifty thousand is
probably nearer the mark. The total number of overseas pilgrims, i.e., those
landed at Jedda and Yanbu, is officially put at 25,291. This total includes
pilgrims embarked in India to the number of 9,937, among whom the number of
British Indians was 7,012.
62. The arrangements for the pilgrimage worked normally. Health
conditions were excellent. By the 31st March the Saudi Government declared
the pilgrimage clean, and the Legation had satisfied itself that this verdict could
be accepted provisionally, pending the examination of pilgrims returning
northward at Tor.
63. Nine Moslem ratings of H.M.S. Penzance made the pilgrimage during
her visit. Yet another Moslem Englishwoman attempted to follow the example
given by Lady Evelyn Cobbold last year.f 1 ) The usual number of oriental notables
attended, including the Nigerian Amir of Muri, C.B.E., and one of India’s
brighter modern women. A party of Indian pilgrims from Delhi tried out the
overland motor route travelling via Koweit and Riyadh. They arrived two days
late. The King entertained some 600 guests at the banquet already mentioned
in paragraph 50, but he did not find room for the Indian vice-consul.
64. Captain H. C. Armstrong’s long-awaited book on Ibn Saud (para
graph 102 of the report for May 1933) appeared in London in March under the
title Lord of Arabia, Ibn Saud. It does not yet seem to have reached Jedda.
The reviewers at home seem to be more impressed by the pace of its staccato
sentences than by its other qualities.
65. The Umm-al-Qura on the 2nd February and the 16th February published
descriptions of an ancient manuscript entitled History of Medina and its
Governors which was recently unearthed in the Al-Mazhariyya Library of
Medina and covered a period of some thirty years in the third century of the
Hejira.
66. The position in regard to the manumission of slaves in March was as
follows :—
On hand at the beginning of the month : 1 female.
Took refuge in March : 2 males, 1 female, 1 child.
Manumitted in March and repatriated : 1 male.
Locally manumitted : Nil.
On hand at the end of the month : 1 male, 2 females, 1 child.
(!) But received permission too late to carry out her intention.
O