'A Grandfather's Tale: Memoirs being mainly concerned with service in the Indian Army and the Indian Political Service in India and the Persian Gulf from 1932-1947' [‎40r] (79/118)

At Jiwani we stayed in unaccustomed luxury at the B.O.A.C. Rest
House instead of the rather stark Political two-roomed bungalow I usually
occupied. The children had their first ever sight of the open sea, although
Christopher had seen Karachi Harbour the previous December, when Jane, he and
I had gone down to stay on Manora Island when I was convalescing from a bout
of dysentery. There were always problems for me to deal with in Jiwani,
particularly between the Americans and the locals. The former had not the
least idea how to treat Mekranis. On the one hand they would pay far too
much for their goods and services, on the ' other they would abuse them
and sometimes beat them up. The lack of any common language did not help and
led to endless misunderstandings. The R.A.F., however, achieved a far happier
relationship, and some even acquired a smattering of Baluchi, which made life
much easier for them.
Christopher was intrigued with the RA. F. machines on the ground and
was thrilled to see a flying boat land. On this occasion we stayed three
days in Jiwani and then returned to Tqrbat. Jane and children stayed there
for another three days while I went off to see some of my less accessible
forts including one at Mund. On my way back the station wagon broke down and
I finally reached Turbat in a local lorry, and we continued in this down to
the coast to Pasni the following day. The Political Rest House there was
right by the sea and there was a nice sandy beach for the children to pl&y on.
In the intervals of my work there we also took them sailing and did some sea
fishing ourselves. After three days in Pasni we returned via Turbat to
Panjgur. The children had stood up to our journeyings very well but unfortunate
somewhere en route both they and Jane picked up malaria and this came out a few
days after our return to Panjgur. Elizabeth was very ill indeed. Her
temperature went up to 106° and she had severe convulsions. Luckily by this
time Mr. Beynon, the Senior Chaplain from Quetta, had arrived and as an
experienced father of a large family he knew what to do and between the three
of us we got Elizabeth’s temperature down to a less dangerous level. Both
Jane and I were scared stiff but in the end all was well.
Mr. Beynon himself had had a bad journey down._ He should have arrived
on the evening of the 5th December and as by lunch time on the bth was s.nl
missing, I sent out a search party in our station wagon. They found his car
had broken down about a hundred miles short of Panjgur and he eventually
reached us in our car at 11.50 p.m. on the 6 th December. He had very kindly
come all the way down from Quetta to give us our Christmas Communion on .he
8 th December, but unfortunately by then Jane herself was too ill to a.ten
and the only two communicants were the Anglo-Indian wireless operator ana me.
Later that day Mr. Beynon left in the mail lorry as his car was still marooned
in the wilderness. He promised to report our medical problems to the Civil
Surgeon in Quetta and get him to radio instructions to me. had a Sikh
Sub-Assistant Surgeon in Panjgur to look after the Levy Corps
entirely confident that he was prescribing the right quantity of quinin
Elizabeth, and Jane was afraid of her going into a quinine coma ^ the <iose
were too heavy. However, when the Civil Surgeon’s message came through two
days later, it confirmed that the respective dosages for ^ ^<7 P^tie
were correct, and I felt a little conscience stricken at having mistrusted
the skills of our ”Sub-Assassin M .