Page 447 - Arabian Gulf Intellegence

UTTOOBEES. 403

1843) in pretty plain terms, that if his solicitations were unheeded he
would be compelled to throw himself into the arms of Persia. A copy
of Shaikh Sulman’s communication was forwarded to Tehran, and the
cx-chief was informed that any declaration of war on the part of Persia
against Bahrein must emanate in the King or Government, and be open
and proclaimed. The cx-chief, after a short stay at Bushire, returned
to Demaum, and thence proceeded to Nabcnd, on thev Persian Coast,
to await the course of events.
Esai bin Tarif, to whom it had been intimated that so long as he
continued to reside on Kcnn he could not, for obvious reasons, be
permitted to exercise any further interference in the afFairs of the oppo­
site coast, evacuated that island, agreeably to his expressed intention,
on the termination of the pearl fishery, and proceeded with his tribe to
Biddah, on the Gultur Coast,—an arrangement considered in every
respect highly satisfactory, as bringing him within the limits of the
restrictive line, and placing that port (exceedingly difficult of access) in
the possession of a chief in whose sincere wish to put down irregulari­ r
ties at sea, of a piratical nature, every confidence was placed,—inclina­
tions very different to those entertained by Salmin bin Nassir Sooedan,
the former Shaikh of Biddah, whose proceedings, as already detailed in
these sketches, left room for the suspicion that lie secretly protected
and encouraged predatory characters, in whose ill-gotten spoils he did
not scruple to participate.
The ex-Chief of Bahrein again visited Bushire in December 1843, with
six vessels, manned and armed, with the avowed purpose of having
an interview with the Resident; but as he declined the invitation of the
latter for a meeting on board one of the vessels of war then in the roads,
given under the idea that his wish to visit him on shore was a mere
pretext to cover his real purpose, which was to have a personal com­
munication with Shaikh Sulman, and that if he really desired an
interview he could make no real objection to the arrangement, it was
concluded, with justice, that his real object was to endeavour to procure
the aid from the Persian Government which had been so unauthorisedly
promised by that intriguing individual.
He however, by letter, earnestly urged his claims to the interference
and assistance of the British Government in his behalf, on the ground
of his having rejected the overtures of the Wahabee Chief Fysul; as
also his being a parly to the General Treaty of 1820;—claims which
were not admitted, as the letter of Ameer Fysul to his address, which
he transmitted for perusal, so far from having a tendency to excite
disturbances on the sea, appeared to exhibit a sincere desire for the
promotion of peace and tranquillity, and for a reconciliation between
himself and his grand nephew ; and as the treaty alluded to had for ija