Page 492 - Arabian Gulf Intellegence

448 WAHABEES.

inhabitants of the coast and of Brymee, at length evacuated Oman,
and, embarking from Shargah, proceeded to Ajeer, having been pre­
viously personally assured by Shaikh Sultan bin Suggur that if he
returned to Oman in force he would join him, and place all his
resources at his disposal. His removal from Oman proved a severe
blow to the Egyptian influence, and broke up the combination rapidly
forming in his favour. On his voyage from Shargah, having landed on
the island of Kenn, on the Persian Coast, he forcibly carried off four
hundred sheep, and other property,—a gross and wanton aggression
upon the subjects of a friendly power, which was duly brought to the
notice of Mahomed Ali Pacha, and led, among other causes, to its
being subsequently intimated to the Shaikh of Kaleef, the Egyplo-
Wahabee seaport, that any expedition against Oman or the territories
of the Imaum would be opposed by the British squadron in the Gulf.
A portion of the Naeem Tribe (a branch of that which had so openly
resisted the encroachment of Korshid Pacha and his Agents at Brymee),
residing on the Guttur Coast, having refused to pay the Zukat or trioute,
when called upon through Abdoolla bin Ahmed, the Chief of
Bahrein, Mahomed Effendi, the Egyptian Governor of Lahsa, des­
patched a party of regulars, assisted by some of the Mookazeebah
Arabs, to ravage their pasture lands and date groves. Before this foray
could be effectually made, the expedition was compelled to retreat, in
consequence of the murder of Mahomed Effendi, its originator, by some
Arabs, in the suburbs of Lahsa.
A Gooncha (belonging to Koweit) reached Kateef from Hodeida, in
the Red Sea, in November 1S39, laden with ammunition and military
stores for the use of the Egyptian forces in Nujd. The Agents on board
did not fail to spread all sorts of extravagant reports regarding a fleet
of some eighteen or twenty vessels, laden with troops and warlike
stores, being about to follow.
The remonstrances of the Home Government began now, however, to
have full effect; moreover, the quarrels and dis­
a. d. 1840.
sensions amongst the Egyptian Agents them­
selves, and the jealousy lately imbibed by Mahomed Ali Pacha of his
General, Korshid, tended very much to weaken their power and influ­
ence, which were threatened by, among other disaffected tribes, that
of Ejman, numbering upwards of four thousand men, whose chief had
lately succeeded in effecting his escape from Lahsa, where he had been
treacherously seized and confined by the Pacha’s orders. Communica
tions between the different towns and districts began to be serious y
interrupted, and the supplies for the Egyptian forces at Thurmidah the
head quarters, needed escorts of considerable numbers of horse and
foot to ensure their safety. Syud bin Mootluk was distrusted, and

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