ARABIAN NIGHTS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 2, Issue 141, 1 April 1940, Page 6

ARABIAN NIGHTS

SCENE REMINISCENT OF OLD SETTING The Australian commander, Brigadier Allen, was the central figure in a scene reminiscent of the Arabian Nights, when he entertained 50 Arab notables at a garden party in a famous biblical town in the area in which he is military commander. The guests, some of whom wore their picturesque cloak and headdress and others red fezzes and well cut lounge suits, included descendants of families whose names have been famous in Palestine for up to seven centuries. They greeted Brigadier Allen and his staff with courtly bows, touching their foreheads in the Eastern salute* They provided a remarkable study of the Arab race. The strong, clean-cut features end piercing eyes bespoke the desert ancestry of nearly every man. Gum tree in Garden. The party was held in a garden where pigeons fluttered and a fountain played in the bowl of which goldfish swam. The guests sat at tables set amid trees dominated by a huge gumtree raised from Australian seed. Turkish coffee, which is sickly to Australian palates but is relished by the Arabs, was served by Austral kin army orderlies in cups without handles. Afterwards, cigarettes were distributed and the Arabs and Australians sat around conversing by interpreters. The Arabs asked many questions about Australia, and were surprised to learn that wool is more important than wheat there. One, who farms a large holding, told me: "1 cannot believe it. We import great quantities of Australian grain when the season is bad here."