Lady Anne Blunt and the Tahawis

From Lady Anne Blunt’s Journals and Correspondence under the January 13, 1903 entry:

“Course to Om Kamr (for the third time). We started at 7.30 am making for the Hamad. Cantering on we  came in sight of a tent, which at first H.F. [Wilfrid Blunt a.k.a. Head of the Family] thought might be Abu’s tomb _ a Kubba _ but it proved to be a white tent.

On approaching we saw two figures come out. We asked them who was the owner of the tent and they replied Sheykh el Arab Mazin (el Tihawi) and that he was gone out hunting.

We had not gone out much further when we saw 5 horsemen between us and the rief, and we loitered watching them as they got nearer and saw that they carried hawks and one carried a gun and the fifth was followed by a pack of about half a dozen hounds.

On first speaking, by H.F. to the two nearest us, hey seemed very suspicious of us but afterwards their chief was most amiable, he proved to be Mohammed Ibn Majello, owner of large lands near Karaim and a connection of saoud el Tihawi between who and Majello there is a certain jealousy. 15 years ago we spent a night camped by Majello’s place the fathe of the man now met out hunting. He remembered that we had paid a visit there. He told us that all the beautiful grey hounds, 15 fawn and one much lighter nearly white of his pack were descended from the grey hound (Manjustine) we gave to Ahmed Pasha in 1887, through her son Jerboa. It is curious how marked the type was for they all extremely like Manjustine and we had just seen them coursing a hare and turning in the most surprising way. Poor hare it had no chance. Majello’s favorite hawk had killed a bustard just before we met them.”