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HISTORY OF THE IXDIAN NAVY. 335

snake was scotched, not killed, and, before another decade, a
second Expedition was demanded finally to root out this powerful
race of pirates.
The commanders were unable to form a treaty with Ras-ul-
Khyraah, Sheikh Sultan Bin Suggur, the legitimate chief, having
been seized by the Wahabees, and his Government complet('ly
overthrown ; independently of which, no treaty could be binding
on the Joasmis, without the direct authority and participa-
tion of Saood,* on whose will they were entirely dependent.
Such, however, had been the impression created by the success
of the operations against the principal pirate ports, that the
commanders succeeded in their demands for the destruction of
all the dhows and large boats of the petty chieftains from Rams
to Abu Haile, on the Arabian side, as well as at i\Ioghu on the
coast of Persia. The chief of Charrack, not having any dhows
or large boats, was admonished to refrain from giving encourage-
ment or protection to pirates in future. A similar message was
sent to the chief of Nikiloo,t with a demand, at the request of
the Imaum, for the release of Sheikh Jubara of CongoonJ.
It was not deemed material to insist on the destruction of
trankies and small boats—a measure that would have been
hard on the poorest of the inhabitants, and created an odium
against the British name, which did not generally exist, as many

of tlie valuable property at Ras-ul-Khymah having been destroyed froin political
motives, and the great personal risk to which every individual liad been exposed,
in fighting against an enemy from whom no quarter was to have been expected,
had any reverse taken place. Tlie answer returned to this application was, that
there was no precedent for such a proceeding ; so neither olHcers nor men received
any honorary or pecuniary reward.
* A communication was opened with Saood advising him to prohibit the
piracies of his dependents, and in answer, the Wahabee chief observed : — " Tlie
cause of the hostihties carrying on between me and the members of the faitli, is
their having turned away from the B jok of the Creator, and refused to submit to
their own prophet Mahomet. It is not, therefore, those of anotlier sect against
whom I wage war, nor do I interfere in their hostile operations, nor assist them
against any one ; whilst under the power of the Almighiy, I have risen superior
to all my enemies. . . . Uuder these circumstances, I have deemeil it nices-
sary to advise you that I sliall not approach your sliores, and have interdicted
the followers of the Mahomedan I'aith aiul tlieir vessels from offering any moles-
tation to your vessels; any of your merchants, therefore, who nuiy appear in, or
wish to come to my ports, will be in security ; and any person on my part who
may repair to you, ought in like manner to be in safety." He coiu-ludes tlie
letter with a contemptuous reference to the Joasmis whom the English had just
conquered, " Be not, therefore, elated with the conllagration of a few vessels,
for they are of no estimation in my opinion, in that of their owners, or of their
countz'y. In truth then war is bitter ; and a fool only engages in it, as a poet has
said."
t Nikiloo is a town on tlie Persian coast, opposite to Shitwar Islet at the
eastern end of Shaikh Shuaib.
X Congoon, or Konkun, on the same coast, has a good anchorage, and behind
the town are some hills, one of remarkable appearance being culled Barn Hill.
Congoon was the name used in the Persian Ciilf iij) to the time when, by the
adoption of the new Ilunterian system of ortlmgiMpliy, the name became traiis-
mogrilied into Xonkun, to the unbounded bewilderment of the "ancient
mariner," as in numerous other instances of proper names in the Persian Gulf.