Page 694 - PERSIAN 5 1905_1911

CHAPTER IX

ADMINISTRATION report for the trucial coast for the
YEAR 1911.

As was the case last year, the relations of the several ruling Shaikhs*
'inter se, and with the Bedouins of the immediate interior, were generally
6pcaking satisfactory, and, except in one instance, gave the Residency no
cause for intervention. On the other hand, the larger problems connected
with these principalities, such as the pearl-trade; the relations of the Shaikhs
with the British Government; and the unenviable notoriety which their
coast is earning as a base for the smuggling of arms to Katr and Persia,
afforded no little material for anxiety and correspondence. It will be con­
venient to revert to these questions after disposing of the more simple items
of the record.
Shaikh Salim bin Sultan has continued in the Shaikhdom and his rela­
tions with his nephew, the Shaikh of
Ria-ol-Kheima.
Shargah, have not brought into
issue. The Shaikh of Rams, an appanage of Ras-el-Kheima. lying a little to
the east of it, got himself into trouble for conniving at the shipment of arms
from his village, in spite of specific remonstrances from Shaikh Salim and
the Residency Agent, and was accordingly fined Rs. 2,000 under threat of
having his village demolished by H. M. S. “ Fox.”
Shaikh Rashid’s behaviour has been satisfactory and so far his limits
have not figured at all in the reports of
Umm-cl-Kowein.
Arms Traffic informers.
Shaikh Homeid, since his accession, has given a good deal of trouble to
AjD&n the Residency, less perhaps from motive
than from ignorance and the tendencies
of his rough and quarrelsome disposition. Thus, in July, the Senior Naval
Officer, having been instructed by His Excellency the Naval Comraander-in-
Chief to examine the approaches to Zora, (the strip of coast separating
Hamriyah and Ajman, which is under consideration as a site for a wireless
installation), H. M. S. “ Fox ” anchored off the locality for the survev
of the Khor, and the Captain prepared to erect some bench marks and
a tide pole in order to carry out his observations. Had the services of the
Residency Agent been first employed to explain matters to the Shaikh, diffi­
culties would probably have been obviated, but not having been so prepared
and being the character that he is, Shaikh Homeid refused to allow the ship’s
party to put up any marks and declined to come off to H. M. S. “ Fox ” to
interview the Captain.
Subsequently, the Residency Agent having been summoned, Shaikh
Homeid was induced by him to visit Captain Tancrcd and apologise, and to
allow the tide pole and marks to be erected; three days later, however, before
the ship’s work was finished, the Shaikh sent off to say that they must bo
removed at once as his people were excited. The populace at this time were
said to be running about armed and restless, but the work was finished and
the flags removed without mishap. With the recollection of H. M. S.
“ Hyacinth’s ” incident fresh in memory, and in view of this further experi­
ence, His Excellency the Naval Corainander-in-Chief, at the request oi the
Resident, issued General Orders to the Squadron enjoining extreme caution
m carrying out 6uch duties as the above in the Gulf, ana the necessity of
consulting the Political Officers concerned before taking action.
Shaikh Homeid’s behaviour was also unsatisfactory in other directions.
He had several times to be remonstrated with for failing to act up to his
obligations to his brother Shaikhs under the rules regulating the treatment
of runaway divers from other principalities. In this direction his
was especially objectionable in that he encouraged the troublesome M Bib