Page 566 - PERSIAN 5 1905_1911

70 ADMINISTRATION REPORT OF TUB PERSIAN GULF
In 1908 the prices of rifles of which there is a record were—
Mauser rifle Rs. 120 to 140,
Martini-Metford Rs. 110 to 120, and
Mauser pistol (10-shot) with 400 rounds of ammunition Rs. 100.
In the end of November the branches of the “ Compagnie de Unde et de
l’Extreme Orient" and of M.M. Baijet & Cie., and of Kcvorkoff & Cie, all sold
off their stocks by auction and the Agents of the two first named firms,
Messieurs Lapique and Lagasse, left the place. M. Nischan Hormuzian, the
representative of Kcvorkoff & Cie, remained here and has set up as an arms
dealer on his own account. At the time of these sales Martini carbines could
be bought for Rs. 11 to 12 each.
Somaliland.—The traffic in arms with Somaliland during the year was
insignificant, in fact the trade seems to have been nipped in the bud, in 1908.
Tables of the import of arms and ammunition compiled from the Customs
House Books are annexed to the report.
Until the autumn the health of Maskat was normal. On 21st September,
however,cholera broke out, and continued
Public health. Hospital, Quarantine, etc.
to hang about the outskirts of the town
until the end of November, except for three weeks in October when it seemed
to have disappeared. The port was finally declared free on the 12th Decem­
ber. The epidemic was fortunately not very severe only 81 deaths being re­
ported in all. The disease appeared in Sur, in November, and was very severe
there, and also in the neighbourhood. It was also bad in Rostak and the
neighbourhood at the end of the year.
The New Hospital was opened in the end of October, but, owing to the
cholera, no public ceremony took place. It may be mentioned that His High­
ness did not evince any particular desire to have a public opening.
The quarantine arrangements under the supervision of the Agency Sur­
geon worked smoothly during the year.
The Customs were managed throughout the year by Superintendents on
behalf of the^Sultan. The Superintend­
Customs and landing arrangements.
ent at Maskat is in the habit of issuing
goods received to consignees without the production of a Delivery Order or
even of the Bill of Lading. As it frequently happens that banks and firms
have got a lien on the goods till the cost is paid, this practice will probably
lead to trouble. The attention of His Highness has been called to the matter.
The Landing Contractor, Seyyid Abdul Kadir Zowavi, is quite inefficient,
and complaints of theft by his men, slackness, want of boats, etc., are rife.
His Highness is however deaf to all complaints against this man.
There was a report at the end of the year that the Sultan intended to
farm the Customs to Habib bin Suievim, Seyyid Yusuf Zowavi and Ali Musa,
but this arrangement has apparently fallen through.
During the year 1910 forty-nine psrsons applied for manumission certi­
ficates either for themselves or for their
Slavo trade.
relatives or both, and two sought relief
against being enslaved. The latter were given letters by the Sultan to the
local Walis to secure protection for them. Frftv-four persons, including chil­
dren, were manumitted during the year, 22 of whom were rescued through the
good offices of this Agency; 6 of these, however, having obtained their freedom
from His Highness, did not come to receive their manumission certificates.
One applicant whose master was a French Prot6g6 was sent to the French
Consul who gave him a certificate equivalent to a freedom paper. In four
cases the applicants left the Agency premises when their cases were under
investigation, and in seven other cases the applicants were proved either not
entitled to freedom or went back to thsir masters under suitable guarantees.
Of the 49 applicants 16 were Africans of whom 10 were freed. The rest were
all Baluchis of Mekran. The traffic in Mekranis appears to be on the increase,
if anything, and by far the larger proportion of refugee slaves who come to
this Agency are now Mekrania.