Page 413 - Arabian Gulf Intellegence

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expedition to reduce those Arabs to his allegiance, arrived at that
island on the 19th of July. He was received with marked kindness
by Shaikh Abdoolla bin Ahmed, who was fully prepared to oppose any
native force the Imaum might bring against him. Mr. Bruce looked
upon it as fortunate his having visitod the island, for he found the
impression which the Imaum had made on the minds of the tribe
against us to be so great, and had impressed them with such a thorough
belief that we had determined to take up his cause, and support him
to the utmost in our power, that, from the full conviction that we
should seize all their vessels if they visited our ports, they were deli­
berating upon joining the Joasmee pirates as a mode of existence ;
which was thus fortunately prevented. “Shaikh Abdoolla, in explain­
ing the cause of dispute between him and the Imaum, said that Syud
Saeed had broken his treaty with them, and that in the most faithless i’
way ; that he never wished to be upon any terms but the most friendly
with the State of Muskat, nor had he or any of his tribe ever done
anything contrary to this view; that the Syud had seized fifteen sail
of his vessels, richly laden, from India, and that at a time when they
supposed him most friendly towards them, as they had only put into
Muskat on the faith of the Syud’s own letter to Shaikh Abdool Rahman,
in charge of the fleet, when off the port; that not content with this, he
had written to the Wahabee Chief privately, saying, if he would march
down and attack Bahrein from the main, he would do so by sea with
his vessels,—that this very letter had been sent to him by the Wahabee
Chief, with offers of any kind of assistance he required, to sup­
port him against the Imaum, and that he had availed himself of
these offers, which the Imaum’s conduct had compelled him to
do, particularly as Rahmah bin Jaubir was the person who had
joined the Imaum, and who he intended to put in charge of the
island if he should conquer it; but in this he trusted in God he
would not succeed, as he was fully prepared to receive His High­
ness with any force he could bring; that he had 7,000 men at present
under arms, and could procure from the Wahabee Chief as many
more as he might require; that Shakboot, of the Beniyas Tribe,
as well as the different chiefs on the Persian shore, had refused to join
the Syud, who, in consequence, had applied to the prince at Shiraz
to furnish him with troops ; but at this he was not alarmed. He then
asked in a direct manner in which light was he to look towards us,—
friends or enemies. On Mr. Bruce’s saying, why should he doubt our
being friends, he replied that the Syud had given out we had taken up
his cause, and intended to join him with four or five ships, to assist in
reducing the island ; that he was not conscious of ever having done
anything towards us, contrary to the strictest rules of friendship, or

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