File 756/1917 Pt 2-3 ‘ARAB BULLETIN Nos 66-114’ [‎309v] (627/834)

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Finally, the forbearance of the Emirs in spite of the irritation
which Fakhri had caused them by his repeated delay and by the
frank contempt in which he and his staff held them, is perhaps
worthy of note. Dr. Shevket’s diary is full of sarcastic allusions,
such as “ Cursed be the traitor Husein, an Englishman under a
Moslem mask,” while his feelings on the occupation for example,
are given in two humorous entries: “ At 10 a.m. on 13th
January Arabian officers stood at the station holding a flag
marked ‘Long live the King’s Government’ till, at 10.30, the
Emir Abdulla arrived. The superfluous enthusiasm of some of
them pained us.” The next day he describes as “full of more
laughter and unnecessary enthusiasm on the part of the Arabs,
which grieved us greatly.”
Generally speaking, the Turks seem surprised at having-
reached the coast in complete safety and ascribe it to the presence
of British representatives rather than to any natural sense of duty
on the part of the Emirs.
The Siege.
The Spirits of the Garrison.
From Dr Shevket’s diary one can trace a gradual decline in
the spirits of the garrison. In February, 1918, he wrote that
Medina was getting on his nerves, he found no one to talk to, and
there was no place for recreation of any kind. In July the one
topic of conversation, he said, was the quantity of the supplies
available, and the uncertainty of the future. In the middle of
September, he noted that not even the opening of Bairam had
alleviated the prevalent despondency. And from that date
onwards his diary records a steady increase in the general ner
vousness.
Sabotage.
There appear to have been spasmodic outbreaks of hooli Group of people who migrated from the Arab shores of the Gulf to the Persian side over the course of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, many of whom have since returned to the Arabian Peninsula.
ganism. On May 2, 1918, Dr. Shevket records that a twelve-
year-old child had beem-killed ; and he states that owing to
shortage of the necessaries of life murders were of almost daily
occurrence.
In an entry a short time later he returns to the subject in
connection Avith the murder and robbery of a soldier coming
from the Kuba Mosque. “ There must,” he said, “ be a gang of
brigands in the city. Orders have been given that no one is to
go out at night except in circumstances of absolute necessity.”
Sickness.
Prior to the outbreak of the influenza epidemic the prevalent
diseases in Medina were malaria, nephritis, amoebic dysentery, and
scurvy. The last, it is interesting to note, was killed off by
Spanish influenza. This broke out in December and greatly
increased the importance of sickness as a factor in undermining
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