File 1707/1924 ‘Arabia:- Jeddah Situation Reports. (1924-1930)’ [‎439v] (883/898)

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heavy cost of a force large enough to protect the line and the pilgrims from Wahabi or
ordinary raiders. Unfortunately for the, cause of sound finance, the King will probably
have a good pilgrim year. The coincidence of pilgrimage day with Friday and a rate
cutting war between long-established steamship lines with a new competitor will have the
: result of bringing the largest number of Far Eastern pilgrims to the Hedjaz since
I the war began The estimate is 40,000 as against about -JS.OOO in 1 923. The prospects
of the Indian pilgrimage are not yet known, but it will probably be large.
A rather disturbing incident has occurred which leads us to wonder whether this
agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. is to be exposed to the kind of persecution which made life almost intolerable
for the French consul-general for over a year. A loathsome creature who acts as spy
for the King in the kaimakam’s office has for a long while been trying to enlist the
agency’s best cavass as a spy in the agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. . He was always asking what we did and
said, who came to the agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. , and so on, and getting nothing out of the cavass but the
quite true statement that there was nothing to tell, he began to threaten. He has
accused him of pimping for the British officials of the agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. , and, meeting him carrying
a bottle of medicine from our dispensary, declared that the agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. was pioviding him
with the forbidden liquor, whisky. During the last few days his threats have become
specific ; as soon as the King returns the cavass will disappear like so and so, an
unfortunate man who vanished completely not long ago. The cavass is unfoitunately
not a British subject; he is of Persian origin, but could possibly be claimed as a
Hedjazi ; so that if the King liked to arrest him (probably in order to practise on him
that revolting cruelty which is one of the manifestations of his diseased mind) the agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent.
might find it difficult to secure the man’s release. In any case, the poor wretch could
be half beaten to death before intervention could be effective. The loss of the cavass’s
services would cause serious inconvenience, for he is the most resourceful man in Jeddah
and on such good terms with everyone that he can get things done without friction;
but most serious would be the blow to the dignity of His Majesty’s Government if they
proved to be unable to protect a faithful servant from being persecuted for his loyalty.
I do not think that the King would imprison one of the agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. cavasses without
previous notice, but the idea cannot be dismissed as impossible, especially as it seems
likely that he will return in a mood of exasperation at his failure to get any further
with his Palestine policy.
Dr. Torre, the Italian army doctor who has been acting as Italian consul at Jeddah
for the past two or three years, has had to revert to the army. He has been replaced
by the Commendatore Antonio Fares, a consul de carriere who has spent many years
at various posts in or near the Bed Sea, among them Zanzibar, Aden and Hodeidah.
His card announces him as Italian consul at Hodeidah, but the word “ Hodeidah ” has
been scratched out and replaced in ink by “Jeddah.” The Italian Government sent
M. Fares to tlodeidah without asking the Idrisi’s permission and he was sent away
with ignominy. After that he waited a long while at Massowa, always hoping to get
permission to take up his post. His appointment to Jeddah would appear to show
that the Italian Government have at last given up hope of securing permission at
present. M. Fares’s name and the fatal fluency with which he talks Arabic indicate
that he is of Syrian origin. The appearance of a Syrian as representative of one of
the Allied Powers is not likely to please King Hussein, but as Italian affairs here are
unimportant this perhaps does not matter.
The French consul-general is going on leave, and the Moroccan vice-consul is to be
left in charge. This also can be expected to displease the King. The usual function
of the vice-consul is to live in Mecca, where, owing to the King’s influence, he sees
nobody.
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The departure of Dr. Torre is welcomed by the consular corps, not because he was
a difficult colleague: he was not, but because his successor does not keep an African
“ housekeeper,” and is therefore not counteracting bv his conduct the nominal intention
of his Government to assist in suppressing the slave trade between Africa and the
Hedjaz. It is satisfactory to record, too, that the Italian merchant, of whom I made
a similar complaint in a recent report, M. Mele, has gone on long leave and may not
return. In an outburst of that solidarity, which is so marked a feature of the Mussolini
risorgimento, Dr. Torre took M. Mele’s Abyssinian lady back to Eritrea for him.
Indirect news has been received that the shipping companies concerned have made
an agreement with the commissioner of police at Bombay to issue pilgrim tickets to
Jeddah only to persons whose passports show by an endorsement that the sum of
hO rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. has been deposited with the police to cover the cost of the journey back to
India. The scheme is an experiment, but it is hoped that any drawbacks it may have
will be outweighed by the one great advantage : the elimination of the destitute Indian