Page 40 - PERSIAN 2B 1883_1890_Neat

34 ADMINISTRATION REPORT OF TUB PERSIAN GULF POLITICAL

On tho 4th November 1844 the French Commodore on the East Indian station, Captain
Rornain Desses, arrived at Zanzibar in tho Crocodile with a draft treaty of fLriei.dship and
commerce. Sa'eed had previously communicated the proposals of the French Government in
this matter to the English Foreign Office, and it was with their approval that he consented to
negocialc. The treaty was signed on the 17th November, and on the same day tho first
French Consul, who had been accommodated with a passage in the Crocodile by tho Com­
modore, eutered on his functions, although the treaty was not ratified until a year liter. Tho
treaty was followed the next year by the despatch of a French surveying expedition to Mada­
gascar and East African waters under the command of Captain Guillain, of the brig Dticonedie,
18 guns. One of the objects of this enterprise appmrs to have been the acquisition c£ a strate­
gical point on the mainland coast, that, like Mayotte, might act as a counterpoise to tho new
British settlement at Aden, and with this view Captain Guillain, about IS47, endeavoured to
induce the native Chiefs of Lamooand Brava to sell those ports to the French Government.
Sa'ced, however, to whom the ports belonged by conquest, had early news of the intrigue
and was able to frustrate it.
It was at this time that liilal, Sa'erd’s eldest son, proceeded to England to beseech the
intercession of Her Majesty's Government with his father, and it may be convenient here to
turn aside from political events a little and glance at the relations in which Sa'ccd stcod towards
his sons. Sa'eed’s family now consisted of twelve, of whom the first was Hilal, who was bora
in 1815. He is described as tall, fair, and handsome, noted for his courage and revtred by the
Arabs, who deemed him the most shrewd and energetic of all the sons. lie was to much a
favourite that he would, it is said, have proved a very formidable rival to his fatter had he
chosen to head a rebellion. The knowledge of this by Sa'ecd bad not improbably something to
do with the continuance of that deep-rooted dislike and aversion which had been manifested
towards Hilal from childhood. Hilal liad only reached bis twenty-third year when his father
determined to disinherit him, and three years later, a.** the estrangement increased, Hilal, who
had been Wall at J3arka, was recalled to Zanzibar, and was never again allow ed to hold an
official position. In July 1814 Sa'ecd, with the express object of finding out whether he would
be upheld in disinheriting Hilal, had written to Lord Aberdeen, saying it w.'*9 3iis wish that
Thoweynce should succeed him in 'Oman and Khalid in East Africa. The reply, however, was a
diplomatic one, expressing hopes that Sa'eed would restore Hilal to favour. Tho supercession of
Hihl by his father appointing Khalid to act as Regent at Zanzibar, and Thoweyr.re at Muscat,
during his absence from either place, was a cause of many quarrels, as liilal was always insist­
ing on the governorship of one or other of those capitals as being his by birth-right, and
indignant, at length, at what he considered his father's unjust treatment of liim, he proceeded
to England in September 1815, to represent liis condition to Iler Majesty's Government.
Having kept his father in ignorance of his intentions, Ililal was not accorded an official
reception in London, but he seems to have gained much sympathy, and strong letters were
written in his favour. Sa'eed, however, was exasperated by this visit and cousequeLt exposure
of his conduct, and, though for a time more indulgent outwardly, became really more bitter in
his dislike, and in November IS 19 Hilal was exiled from Zanzibar for ever. Hilal retired first
to Lamoo, and thence moved on to Aden, where he arrived in destitute condition; but the end
was approaching, and, surrounded happily by all his family, his sad story closed on the
28th September 1851.
The causes of Sa'eed's hatred of his eldest son aro obscure and will probably ever remain 60.
Scandal rumoured that Hilal had violated his father's harem, but the story is suspicious, and it
is more probable that the estrangement was due to harem intrigues and to jealousy, as Hilal'e
mother, an Abyssinian, died when he was an infant, while Khalid's mother was an especial
favourite, and would naturally endeavour to prejudice her lord in favour of her own son. Khalid
was born in 1819 of a Malabar concubine, who had great influence over Sa'eed and did not scruple
to use it; he was of a mean and penurious disposition, and was as much despised by the Arabs
as he was petted and indulged by his father. His energies were entirely absorbed in trade, by
which he had amassed a large fortune, and on account of this he was generally known and spoken
of as the Banian. Sa'eed was very desirous that Khalid should succeed him, but fate decreed
otherwise, and Khalid after a long illness died on this 7th November 1854. Two yars younger
than Khalid and born of a Georgian mother, Thoweynee was brave and generous, and much
respected by the Arabs. He was greatly superior to Khalid, but could never have htld his own
against Ililal in 'Oman, and it was for this reason chiefly that the latter was recalled to
Zanzibar in 1841. Sa'ced had much faith und confidence in Thowcynco, and hul publicly
announced that he wished him to succeed os ruler at Muscat.

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