File 1166/1925 'Arabia: Nejd; negotiations with Ibn Saud regarding Iraq-Nejd question and Trans-Jordan boundary; Sir G Clayton's mission; Bahra agreement, 2nd November, 1925' [‎125v] (257/769)

4. During- the latter part of my stay, however, I detected a certain
tendency on the part of the Sultan and his advisers to delay matters
This may have been due perhaps to a desire to take full advantage
for military preparations, of the immunity from attacks by King Ah’s
aeroplanes which my presence in camp aflorded. However that
may be, I had on more than one occasion to request His Highness to
press matters forward, and eventually I was obliged to fix the
3rd November as the date for my departure, with a broad hint of
finality ; and it was only on the 1st and 2nd of that month that I
was able to get the Agreements signed and the letters arising there
from exchanged.
Records of Proceedings.
5. In view of the fact that I bn Sa’ud had no one among his per
sonnel with a sufficient knowledge of English, 1 decided, largely
from considerations of time, to dispense with any official record of
our numerous conversations. As it was, the task of interpreting
at the meetings and of translating the letters, drafts and memoranda
fell entirely on Mr. Antonius and made a considerable call upon his
time. To have undertaken the drawing up of formal minutes would
have prolonged my stay in Bahra considerably, and would have
entailed lengthy discussions and much additional work in translation
I decided, therefore, that each party should draw up its own record
of the proceedings to serve as an independent aide-memoire but not
to be quoted as an authoritative reference. I think that ample jus
tification for this arrangement lies in the fact that all that was
material and binding in the negotiations is formally embodied in the
Agreements and in the supplementary exchange of letters.
Number of Meetings.
6. My own record of the proceedings is appended as Annexure 2,
from which it wall be seen that twenty meetings took place between
Ibn Sa'ud and myself. 1 had, in addition, several interviews with
him of an informal nature, which were helpful in the cultivation of
friendly relations and enabled me to form some appreciation of his
psychology. I should also mention the frequent, almost daily
meetings which took place between Mr. Antonius and the Sultan’s
principal advisers, at which the questions under consideration were
discussed in detail and the way paved to agreement between Ibn
Sa ud and myself. I thought it preferable to leave Taufiq Bey
Suwaidiatjedda until I had entered upon a discussion of the questions
relating to Iraq ; he joined me at the camp on the 20th October, and
remamed ^ e [ e (without, however, attending the formal interviews)
until the 28th October, by which date substantial agreement had
oeen reached on all matters affecting ‘Iraq.
Questions Relating to Trans-Jordan.
Opening of Negotiations.
at t’J fi? c e f n r d ne ^ otiatic ^ ns on the questions relating to Trans-Jordan
instrurtirmc ° rn ? a . on the 11th October, on the basis of the
1926 * * inH ned ,n et l er No - 38484 /25 of the 10th September,
22nd' Sentpmh C ^ rawn U P hy Mr. Antonius dated the
Ptlestine t^e 4 S ’ “o' 1 , appr ° ved b >- thp Hi f: h Commissioner for
a'esfne (see Annexure 3). It was clear at the outset that my
* Appendix.