Page 405 - Records of Bahrain (3) (i)_Neat

Turkish interests and Persian claims, 1906-1909 395

boforo.
i *
Ho ocoffod at, the notion that there hart been any
recont ill-feeling betweon the Turku curt himself, and dec­
lared that in the mattor of the A1 bu Ainain disaffection
at Vakra the Government had supported him quite o.u much as
ho could wish.The how official who had come to the fort at
Bida' was,ho said,connected with the troops,o.nd though he
had tried occasionally to givo advltfo to Shaikh Abdallah
(Jauiro's son),the latter had resolutely ignorod him.When I
obsorved that I had hoard that the Turku wore talking of
assuming the Administration of the Customs,Shaikh Jasim
said the revenue from this source was insignificant,being
only about Rs:400/-monthly,and barely sufficient to defray
the cost of the Bazar watchmen «.To please the British Oovern-
c.f.Porsian Gulf Residency Diary] ment he had introduced a
Entry Ho. 1340 for week endin'?
7th July 1907. hoavy tax to kill the
trade in slaves and arms,but provisions ond other necessit­
ies were still admitted free.The latter part of this state­
ment I am quite sure is not true,though the Shaikh went to
the length of calling in my pilot,a Katar Hahkodajto con­
firm what ho said,ond the man actually did so until we had'
loft the Shaikh's presence Illy messenger in Doha reported on
his return that the Turkish official about whom we had been
uneasy was ostensibly a Kazi.such as was attached to the
Government Btaff in Hofuf and Katif,and that his post in
a.
Doha would bo quite^sinecure as no Arabs would evey go near
him.
Wo found on our return to Bahrain that this wor­
thy had personally hurried off to Hasa via Bahrain to re­
port the news of my visit the instant he heard of it in
Doha.
6. On. the 17th March I left Bahrain again in. the
Steam Launch to visit Zakhnuniya Island which is situated
close to the mainland about 10 miles south of Ojair.The
most recent news about this place had been that the Mudir
of Ojair had Just visited the island,taking two or three
military .officers with him ond a Turkish'flag,and that he
had aekoU the Dowasir,whom he met there .whether they had
settled anything with their headman in Bahrain about coming