Page 105 - Arabian Gulf Intellegence

BRITISH POLICY IN TIIE PERSIAN GULF. 63
these chieftains themselves, formed without the guarantee of the
Government, are no security whatever for the maintenance of peace :
present prospects of temporary advantage or gain arc quite sufficient
grounds for their being set aside and disregarded. The complete and
voluntary abandonment of lawless habits, therefore, if ever to be
anticipated, must be looked for in a future generation : at present it is
sufficient that the presence of our naval force, aided by a firm but mild
supervision, have already been attended with such good effects, and
are in a fair way of promoting a radical change.
Previous to the expedition of 1820,* under the command of Sir
William Grant Keir, which had for its object the complete destruction
of the forts and boatsf of the piratical tribes, notwithstanding the
merited chastisement which had been inflicted upon them by a naval
expedition in 1809, no vessel, whether carrying a British pass and
British colours, or those of any other nation, was safe ; and the only
effect of repeated remonstrances, and threats of retaliation, was to elicit
from them the promise, while still openly avowing their determination
otherwise to continue their depredations, to respect the British flag,—an
engagement which they nevertheless seldom observed, and for the
violation of which they invariably failed to afford redress when called
upon. The slight and temporary impression which had been made by
the first expedition, in 1809, in consequence of its not having been
fittingly followed up by measures of precaution and general supervi­
sion, led, therefore, in the expedition of 1819-20, to the imposition of a
general Treaty, consisting of eleven Articles, upon the Arab Chieftains,
and the appointment of a Political Resident at Bushire, whose duty it now
became to insist upon the full and strict observance of its conditions
on the part of the subscribers ; for which purpose the services of a naval
and military force were placed at his disposal. The latter arm was at
first stationed at Ras-ool-Khyma, but was thence, after a short period,
for obvious reasons, removed in the first instance to Kishm, on the
island of that name, a dependency of the Imaum of Muskat, and after­
wards to Deristan, opposite the island of Angaum ; but, in consequence of
the insalubrity of the climate of those two places, was finally transferred
and fixed at Bassadore4 a portion of the same island. Three or four

* During a short period subsequent to the departure of this Expedition, the right was
assumed of preventing the restoration of the forts and towers, which had been dismantled
and destroyed; but as it was fouuded on no pledge on the part of the chiefs not to rebuild,
it was resigned.
t The boats belonging to Lingah, Mogoo, Aseeloo, and Congoon, on the Persian Coast,
were also destroyed j but, on the remonstrance of the Persian Minister, compensation was
afforded by the Indian Government.
•
I Vide Report on Bassadore, at page 50 of this Selection.