[Un-numbered file] 'Diary of Colonel Hamilton's Visit to Nejd 1918' [‎97r] (193/206)

‘in Vi'ft r-r?h r r m r—
/
^3 y/. ^'
Dist:
Miles,
Tem: 49°. Bar:2120’
According to him the worst thing about them is
'their intolerance of their co-religionists, whom
they call Kafirs (Yakafarum ghair Musalmin).
My experience the Arabs here and else
where in Mesopotamia is that they regard us as
softies. England to them, is a sort of fairy
god-mother ,rolling in wealth,kindly and silly.
This attitude does us no harm,no more than the
prosperous man’s patronizing of the Almighty
harms the latter or deflects Him a hairs-breath
from his enexorable designs, Asa policy in
contrast to that of German; frightxulness, hri oieh
softness and apparent blindness has paid us well,
We h av e roped in the who 1 e wo rid there by, Anile
Germany has only secured Bulgaiia,
Still going over this uninteresting Sumrnan
steppe: following what is apparently a long valley
but is actually a succession of such valleys:the
longeiykxes of which run IT, and S. and thus f acili
tate our way,forming in fact a sort of sunken
road: innumerable paths lead off on both sides.
Have sometimes left eg ad for a few miles and
ever where found a net-work oi such patns,any one
of which if followed takes the general uirecuion
of the main road. The main road is called
Makatti ( or the putting. Many Salubba
about, but no oilier Arabs come this w r ay at this’
time of year. Halted dose co peculiar, sugar-
loaf hill, about 250 ft.above surrounding
depression and standing in its midst, e ai
in sight of wells oi Al Haba from ohis spot.
Direction due North,
Ra.tnrda y 15 th,December . Halted, as weather very
threatening and sent camels to well to fill
skins. We started when all had been watered a
matter of 4 hours. There are two veils, the
position of which reminds one both of Al Gara’a
and Hafar al-Ats, i.e. in a sort of arenawith