Page 273 - Arabian Gulf Intellegence

MUSKAT. 231

pain and sorrow the injustice and wrongs committed by Syud
Soweynee, to dream of supporting his cause. They did not, however,
forsake His Highness in the hour of distress : they counselled his imme­
diate return to his disturbed possessions; they animadverted with the
greatest delicacy upon the conduct of his son and representative ; they
pointed out the course that appeared most fitting for His Highness to
pursue ;—they offered, in fact, every moral support in their power. His
Highness gave heed to the friendly warning, and repaired with haste
to Muskat. The well known character of Syud Saeed for moderation
and justice gave every room for hope that matters might once more be
restored to peace and quietness.
Syud Ghes was however called upon to restore the forts he had lately
seized with the assistance of his ally Shaikh Sultan bin Suggur, on the
Batinah Coast. He refused, and hostilities were at once commenced.
His Highness proceeded to Khaboora, with two ships and a number of
Soor boats, having previously despatched a force by land under the
command of Syud Soweynee, to invest the place.
The campaign opened in September 1851, and began auspiciously
enough for the cause of His Highness : Kasbeeah
a. d. 1851.
fell without a struggle ; Khaboora was taken
after a bombardment of two days’ duration ; and other preparations
were in course, when His Highness effected a meeting with Sultan bin
Suggur, and induced him to abandon the cause of the Sohar Chief.
Deserted by the Joasmees, opposed by the combined forces of Syud
Saeed and the Shaikh of Debaye,*' Syud Ghes stood but little chance of
success. He turned, however, to bay, with much display of fierceness,
and strove to meet his opponents single-handed. They proved too strong
for him : Shinas fell an easy prey to the allied armies, and Syud Ghes
was compelled to surrender. Sohar was handed over to His Highness;
Rastag and Hebee remained in possession of Syud Ghes, who also
received from the Muskat Government a pension of 200 dollars per
mensem,—a poor indemnity indeed for all the wrongs he had suffered.
In the month of May 1852 occurred the loss of the British ship
Centaur oft’ Ras-ool-Hud, in the country of the
a. d. 1852.
Beni Boo Ali. She ran ashore in a thick fog at
the hour of midnight, close to a place called A1 Khubba, and no efforts
of the crew could succeed in getting her off.
At daylight on the following morning, the Arabs, perceiving the
helpless condition she was in, poured down in shoals upon her, and
plundered her of the whole of her valuable cargo, which consisted of
!
1,600 chests of indigo, besides rice, sugar, and other goods, valued in the
* The British Agent at Shargah reports in one of his letters that “ the Shaikh of Debaye
proceeded to Muskat with 500 men, in nineteen vessels.”