مجموعة ٦/ ١٩ "الجزيرة العربية: (المملكة العربية السعودية) التقرير السنوي لمملكة الحجاز ونجد." [ظ‎‎١‎٧‎٠] (٥٤٠/٣٤١)

38
the Jedda municipality; and thirty-two lads, sent to Egypt at different times for
miscellaneous studies. The Saudi Government is stated to have rented a house
for the last named, but would appear to have discontinued this on grounds of
expense. Besides these official students, mention is made of two parties sent to
India by private benefactors. The larger number were sent some four years ago
to Bombay by the Muhammad Ali Zeynal Ali Ridha already mentioned.
Practically all of these have recently returned. A small party of four, who went
to India in 1933 under the auspices of a Calcutta merchant, seem also to have
returned already. There would thus appear to be no Saudi students abroad at
the present time, with the exception of a very few sent by their families to be
educated abroad. One of these is at the Victoria College in Alexandria. The
total number probably does not exceed three or four.
162. The board constituted under the decree mentioned in paragraph 155 (b)
above was composed of the Acting Director of Education, who is also the head
of the Saudi Institute, and four other persons. The Saudi Minister in London
is said still to hold in theory the post of Director of Education. It is clear from
the above account, if it is even approximately accurate, that the facilities for
modern education in the Hejaz are not negligible. Nevertheless, the provision of
higher education in other than religious subjects and its quality seem inadequate
to provide Saudi Arabia with a modern minded intelligentsia, or a sufficient
supply of capable officials to replace those of alien Arab birth now so lare^eH
employed in the key positions.
X.—The Pilgrimage.
163. The length of preceding section makes it desirable to curtail this and
to refer interested readers to the full report on the pilgrimage of 1933, submitted
at the end of July. The most salient feature was a still further falling off in the
total number of overseas pilgrims as shown by the following table *—
Nationality.
1932.
1933.
British and British administered-
Indian
9,634
7,093
Malayan ...
80
101
West African
780
509
Sudanese ...
527
420
Palestinian
1,352
240
Dutch East Indian ...
4,375
2,316
Egyptian ...
2,312
1,698
Others, including minor British
elements ...
10,005
8,328
29,065
20,705
It may be noted that these figures are only for arrivals at Jedda and Yambu, and
do not, therefore, include numerous pilgrims who land from dhows on the
southern coast, and who have been the subject of some controversy between the
British and Italian authorities. It may also be noted that the Indian figure is for
British Indians and that a much greater number of pilgrims, 10,920 in 1933
embark at Indian ports, Afghans in particular having greatly increased in the
recent years of general decline.
u on T ues day, the 4th April. There were probably
about 50,000 in all who stood on Arafat” that day. The general conditions
ol the pilgrimage were very similar to those of 1932. Climatic and sanitary
conditions were again good, and no authority had any difficulty in pronouncing
the returning pilgrimage to be clean. Security was as well maintained as usual
m area of the Ilejaz. This is still Ibn Saud s greatest contribution
to the welfare of pilgrims, but there were definite, if small, signs of improvement
m arrangements in 1933, and there was greater tolerance in the treat-
ment of foreign pilgrims. The question of the tariff, which had caused so much
i noo U in dealt with in a businesslike fashion in anticipation of the
1 i Primage. The pilgrim, using transport other than his two feet, is heavily
mulcted, but there was no ground of controversy between His Majesty’s Govern
ment in the United Kingdom and the Saudi Government.