'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' [‎36v] (72/118)

irrigation and the revenue assessment on them had to be done every year at
harvest time. All concerned would assemble, including me, and a small
measured section of the crop would be cut, threshed, and the grain then
weighed. From this one could calculate the total amount for the whole
field and assess the revenue due on it. Any objections could be dealt with
on the spot, and if found reasonable the tax payable adjusted. These were
quite jolly occasions and gave plenty of opportunities for friendly gossip
with the tribesmen; and one sometimes picked up useful information on the
local situation which would not otherwise have come one's way.
Towards the end of 19^3 Sir Aubrey Metcalfe retired and Colonel
Rupert Hay, who had been the Revenue and Judicial Commissioner , took over
as Agent to the Governor-General, Resident and Chief Commissioner,
Baluchistan. He was normally referred to simply as the A. G. G. or the
Resident. The Hays had a family of five, varying at that time from about
seven to seventeen and were inevitably known as "The Stack". Because of the
War they were all out from England for the duration of the War. Colonel
Hay was a man of hearty appetite and on one occasion on tour this proved of
great value, as his staff had inadvertently arranged for him to feed with
two rival Tribal Chieftains on the same day. Nothing daunted the A.G.G. ate
one colossal meal with Khan "A" at one place and then rode on to Khan "B"
to demolish an equally lavish spread, so honour was satisfied all round and
no one felt slighted.
We had no car of our own in Quetta, but I was able to hire the Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent.
station wagon when necessary, otherwise we bicycled or rode. We had
accumulated quite a menagerie by this time, for as well as Wild Ranger, we
had Jennie the donkey for Christopher, his black and white rabbits and our
dachshund Joanna, and four puppies, the latter born just two weeks before
Elizabeth. There was also a collection of chickens. Christopher so enjoyed
riding Jennie that he frequently got into trouble at the end of his journey,
particularly if it was to school, for refusing to get off her. He had a girl
friend, Olivia Rose, who went with him on the donkey to school. Fred Rose,
her father, was Chief Engineer on the Railway and Charlotte, her mother, has
been a lifelong friend of Jane's.
Elizabeth was christened on Sunday 3rd October 19^+3 and afterwards we
had about twenty friends round to drink her health in the garden. Drink was
in short supply but we had saved our beer ration for two months and added
ginger beer to make quite a passable shandy, and it was a merry party.
Towards the end of October I took my Higher Standard Pushtu examination
and passed. I found it a difficult language and never spoke it as fluently
as Urdu or Gurkhali, but once the exam was over I relaxed and became much
better at it and had plenty of practice on my tours about the countryside.
There was a Political Rest House in Chaman and I used to spend a few days
there nearly every month. It was right on the Afghan Border, only fifty-five
miles from Kandahar and there was one particular small house there with one