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          Shaikh of Abu Dhabi could not attend as he was away at Baraimi.   His
          Excellency the Commander-in-Chief, accompanied by lour Senior Officers,
          landed and paid a visit to the town. He was given a friendly reception.
              7.  Shipping.—During 1936, fifty-five British steamers and three
          German steamers called at Dubai and Sharjah.
              8.  Medical.—Smallpox broke out in Epidemic form along the Trucial
          Coast in the month of December 1935. A vaccinator and a large quantity
          of vaccine were sent by air to the Trucial Coast from Bahrain and a large
          number of people were vaccinated in various towns of the Trucial Coast.
          The Medical Officer, Victoria Memorial Hospital, Bahrain, visited Dubai
          by air in January and during his stay at Dubai he vaccinated a number of
          people. Among the deaths from smallpox was Shaikh Humaid bin Shaikh
          Rashid bin Sultan; son of the Shaikh of Dibah. Mr. W. C. Janes, the
          former Staton Superintendent, Imperial Airways, at Sharjah, visited
          Dubai, Ajman, Ilira and Khan at the request of the various Shaikhs in
          order to vaccinate the people. The epidemic abated and ultimately ceased
          towards the end of October.
              9.  Raids and Disturbances.—Some petty tribal raiding, camel steal­
          ing and occasional crimes of violence occurred! in various places near the
          Coast, but there were no serious disturbances.
              On 27th January 1936, an Indian, name unknown, travelling from
          Dibah to Ras al Khaimah on a hired camel was murdered at a place called
          Alshaghi about 7 miles from Ras al Khaimah. Strong circumstantial evi­
          dence pointed to the fact that the murderer was one ’Abdullah bin Salim
          bin Malkash of Shihuh, who is believed to have shot the Indian dead while
          he was performing his prayers.
              As the Shihuh tribe inhabit Muscat territory the Political Agent,
          Muscat approached the Muscat Government on the subject and asked what
          steps they proposed to take in order to d'eal with the murderer.
              The Muscat Government instructed the Shaikh of Shihuh tribe to
         surrender ’Abdullah bin Salim for trial. The Shaikh, however, refused
          to take action before he was proved guilty.
             Negotiations for the surrender of ’Abdullah bin Salim were still being
         carried on at the end of the year. Exhaustive enquiries throughout the
         year failed to elicit the name of the murdered Indian.
             10.  Oil.—(1) British Interests.—(i) During the year under review the
         Shaikh of Ajman granted to the D’Arcy Exploration Company, Limited,
         a two-year option to explore for oil within the limits of his territory.
             (ii) Major Frank Holmes visited Sharjah in May in connection with
         oil negotiations with the other Trucial Chiefs. His visit met with little
         success.
             (iii)  Major Holmes returned to Sharjah in September to resume nego­
         tiations with the Shaikh of Dubai. Although the Concession was  not
         actually signed, Major Holmes is reported to have paid the Shaikh of
         Dubai Rs. 30,000.
             (iv)  The Shaikh of Ras al Khaimah also visited Sharjah in September
         in connection with the Concessions but nothing definite was decided. He
         realised that Concessions for the Southern Shaikhdoms were not being as
         eagerly sought for as those for the Northern Shaikhdoms of Dubai and Abu
         Dhabi. He therefore tried to bring about a combine and demanded  a con-
         solidated concession from Petroleum Concessions Limited. He appears to
         have succeeded with Sharjah but the Shaikh of Dubai realised that Dubai
         and Abu Dhabi would lose by this and so refused to have anything to do
         with the scheme.
             (v)  The Geologists of Petroleum Concessions Limited explored Dubai
         and Abu Dhabi during the two last months of the year, but up to the end
         of the period under review no report was received.
           40(C) ExAfTairoDopt.
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