'THIM DAYS IS GONE' [‎93r] (185/248)

nother difference was caste. No Indian Ruler his reiati
or, for the matter of that anv Rainnt u 6 ' h S re,at,v es.
to do so would be to ' lose’ caste R ^ JP Nn’r la enga 9 e in trad e -
merchant class aspire to rulershio Nn C t° U d any n,ember of th e
Rulers and thei r f ami 1 i es c• S0 amon R the Arabs.
themselves in business ent erpr iTes ' "and^f 6 ^ ' n9 " en 9 a 9'nq
However no merchant cL 1 d^VoTt emp, at e bee ^^n^^ 1 er ' '' that
position was by tradition confined ?o the member " 9 ofonef a‘m i fy 3 '
shnrl' n9 r i° ve f r a col,ect ' on of low mud-built buildings on the sea
la^L clustered round a fort not much bigger, the aircraft
court-yard'".’ ' This ‘was ' "tie"^ O^a’c" basest" Sh° rt h^’h r ° Und 3
aircraft staying overnight. There I was mnt hv ^ y cma11 . d . ny
PonticaTofn? Wi T h br T n r teeth Wh0 had been off iciat’ino 3r as
the nlnf f° f Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. , during the inter-regnum between
the departure of my predecessor and my own arrival. 9
He had some years of clerical service in the Political
Department, spoke English, and was indeed a very i nte11igent and
capable man, and had been given the Indian title of Khan Sahib
boot, in recognition of his abilities.
t 0
I was accommodated temporarily in one of
and was able to eat in the B.O.A.C. mess
valet and cook. This did not take long,
Arab house on the seafront which was
Political Officer. It was primitive in
clear why the post was not one to which
reasonably have been appointed. It was a
round a sandy courtyard with a fairly spacious office and
off ice’ 0 f n o’r r00 t m h fac ; n9 . the sea on one side of the entrance, and an
office for the clerk on the other side. There was also a
nn d fhp m t 3 h d bat , hr00 "’' w1th a kitchen, and quarters for the staff
on the other side of the courtyard. On the roof was an unwalled
room where one could sleep in
temperature inside was intolerable.
the rooms of the fort,
while I engaged a local
and I soon moved to the
the residence of the
the extreme, and it was
a married officer could
single-storied building
~ ~ ~ ^ uiirrailtTU
relative coolth when the
nor r war S th n p°rp telePh0 i ne and n ° electrl 'city (and therefore no fans)
nor was there any glass in the windows. This was iust as well
as it allowed the sea breeze to blow in and provide sol;
thP Ip 9 ',! The W ^ dS WGre catdbatic <^<1 blew strong and wet from
he sea durin q the day. Shortly after sun-down they would die
away and the humidity would mount horribly: then after
of hours, a dry wind would blow from the land and
hours become almost cool.
by
a couple
the small
94