Page 37 - Records of Bahrain (1) (ii)_Neat

Rebellion of Al bin Ali and Al Bu Ainain, 1835-1839 395

should be lost as these hostilities If once begun can hardly

fall eventually to involve all the maritime Chiefs in the Gulf.
Influenced by this consideration, I acceedcd to the proposal of
Hajee Boo Shab and now bog to enclose for the information of
the Government a Copy of the letter which I have addressed to
Commodore Brucks upon the occasion.
A. This arrangement having been made, Hajee boo Shab
after referring to that part of the Bahrein Sheik's letter
which touches upon the subject of the boundary line proceeded
to state that, should his endeavours to avert a war be unfortu­
nately unsuccessful, his Chief could not agree to hostilities
being confined within any limits as in point of fact it would
be impracticable to maintain them, for every vessel he said

that was captured would accuse its captors of having made a
prize of it beyond the restrictive line, an assertain(sic) which
whether true or false, would of course be met by a denial,
while, from the absence of any impartial witnesses it would
be impossible to ascertain the real state of the case, 1
replied that, in the first place, Sheikh Abdoollah ben Ahmed
ought to have offered his objections to the establishment of
a restrictive line, when the intimation of the proposed
arrangement was first communicated to him three years ago,
that, as in the beginning of 1836, he had afforded his consent
in general terms, the Government had sanctioned these limits
being fixed whenever hostilities broke out among the Maritime
Arabian Chiefs, that I was perfectly well aware of the many

difficulties attending its maintenance but that of course in
all doubtful cases a reference would be made to the British
authority in the Gulf who would decide upon each to the best
of his Judgment, that the grand object of the Government was
to keep the Principal track of the Gulf Trade, open and free
from the interruption and annoyance it would be exposed to
were the war vessels of the Belligerents to be constantly
cruizing off the Persian coast. I added that, considering his