"ملف 53/32 III (D 53) مسائل متنوعة خاصة بالكويت" [و‎‎١‎٢‎٦] (٤٨٦/٢٥٦)

of State for Inlla. Thera is nothln._ social to record re^urdinj
this sxcept perhaps that the Interview as a vfer v pi •a ant one.^
V* left London on November 3rd and arrived In GIub^ow next
morning. Here we stayed at the Central Station ^otei. On ^o /eiaber
5th we had lunch on at the Oity Chanbers with the Lord Provost,
aldermen and friends. After luncheon ve inspected th«t Clt w
■ Chambers and then went to see the University and Art Ciallories.
^ext day vre motored to Queensf erry . via Edinburgh, saw the ?orth
Bridge and were taken through a submarine. The next day was to be
our last In Britain;w# visited some shipping yards and then went
to the aerodrome at Renfrew, 'lere we saw scores f aeroplanes of
different ty .es,then exhibitions of flyln^ and finally the ShalkrA
three followe s and myself went up in seoarate Planes. We tried
very hard to ^et the Shaikh himself to fly. He ^ot so far as to
get dressed and into one but then his courage forsook him and he
made excuses saying it was not big enough for him,that he /as
afraid he mijht touch what he was told he should k-ep clt ar of,etc
ani finally ^ot out. It was a gre.t pity we could not get him to
jo up. ^ext dajf,November 8th "/e sailed from GKLas^ow.
The Shaikh is a very poor sailor and as we had exception
ally bad weather almost the whole of the way it cannot b^- said '
that he enjoyed his time on board. We passed a floating mine in
the edit ;rranean. This added to his liscomfiture. He vas very x
nervous after that until we arrived in Alexandria. We jot there
on the morning of Movenber 'Ust.
7e were met by Mijor layer Anderson,R.A.M.C.,an officer
attached by the Residency,Cairo to the ission during its sta^
in Kgypt. saw as much of Alexandria s possible that day. 7e
stayed at the Savoy Hotel that night and next morning set out for
Cairo which we reiched about noon. Here we stayed at Shepheard's
iiotel. In the afternoon of the first day we attended a race m.;eti»j
ing. ^ext day (FTovember ^^rd) we visited the Zoologlc-1 Gardens
and the Pyramids. November ""-Ithytha Mission was received by Lord
,Allenby who presented the Shaikh vlth two autographed photographs
- one for inself and the other for Shaikh Sallm. In the afternocn
we visited the Citadel an l were shown through the^ Mos i'ue of
a.m.
had
I
"^ohamme , . 'All and afterwards we attended an At Home given by the
Arab bureau in honour of the Mission. November ^6th,Shaikh Ahmad
accompanied by the Residency ^irst Assistant an I myself was re
ceived by the Sultan. It was ^ulte a friendly interview. In the
afternoon Shaikh Ahmad ani his suite were taken to # the Azar
University by a Mohammedan gentleman arranged for by Major
And rson aa we could not accompany them there. November ICth,
r e went to the useum in the forenoon and around the bazaars in
the afternoon. November ?7th,we left Cairo for Suez to rejoin our
ship. As however the ship lid not arrive, in time we had to remain
in hotels that night. Next morning we embarked.
All the way up the Persian Gulf the weather vas again
very bad. ^Te reached Fao bar at noon on December 10th.-'Te^^ot
up to ^ao at midnight ind waited there several hours for the
Shaikh's yacht which we saw on our way up. It arrived about 3
next morning. The Shaikh and his party then transhipped but I
to go on to ^asrah where the "Lewis Pelly" was waiting for me
rejoined the party next day (Decenber l^th) and then we were
weatherbound at Pao until the morning of the 15th. We got to
Kurait a little before sunset that evening,
decorated (by arrangement)and both our ships
coming in. There was a huge crowd,estimated
People and extending from the Agency to well
palace. The Shaikh's battery boomed out five _
Ahmad as his ship dropped anchor and seven for me as I step ;ed
ashore to pay him an arrival visit. He (Shaikh Salira)met me'at
the landing steps and escorted me to there ajaln when takln^ my
leave. ShV l th Ahmad went lirect to hi? own house and did not even
enter,the Palace. Shaikh Sallm was,! unde-stand,very upset at our'
cholbe of.Shaikh Ahmad. This will form the subject of a further
communication.
Shalch Ahmad is very popular in Kuwait and in view
of his possible succession I am very glad Shaikh Sallm was not
given an option. The trip has done him a very ^re^t deal of ood
and If we pay him sufficient attention in the future I have no
doubt when his time comes we will have a really ood.friend in hia
& m VC
The whole town was
were also dressed
at over 6,0 0
beyond the Shaikh's
;uns for Shaikh
W
m
£