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CHAPIER VIII.

ADMINISTRATION REPORT OF THE POLITICAL AGENCY,
MUSCAT, FOR 193G.
Part I..

1. (A) Agency Officials.—
Political Agent.—Major R. P. Watts, I.A., throughout the year.
Medical Officer.—Assistant Surgeon R. Easey, I.M.D., throughout
the year.
Treasury Officer.—Mr. Maqbul Husain Khan officiated as Treasury
Officer, Muscat, from 1st January to 30th June, when he pro­
ceeded to Bushire on being relieved by Mr. R. I. Barreto
who held the post till the end of the year.
(B) Agency in General.—A number of improvements were carried out
to the Agency building during the year.
The Agency Electric Plant functioned well without a single mishap
throughout the 12 months.
2. Agency Hospital.—The total number of patients treated during the
year was 7,991 of which 127 were “in-patients” and 7,864 “out-patients”.
The daily average attendance was 51.
The number shows 1,629 less patients than last year. This decrease
was due to the filling in and draining of the notorious Muscat “Pond”
which was a prolific breeding ground for malarial mosquitoes.
524 operations were carried out during the year and one post-mortem
examination was performed. No cases of poisoning were reported.
Skin, eye and digestive system complaints continued to be the most
prevalent.
There was a moderately severe outbreak of mumps in Muscat and
Matrah.
One imported case of smallpox was treated in the Quarantine Station.
Sporadic cases were reported from time to time from fishing villages of the
Batinah Coast.
3. Demise of His Majesty King George V.—The news of the lamented
death of His late Majesty was received in Muscat on the morning of 21st
January. The Agency flag and the State flag on the Fort were half-mast­
ed. On 22nd January at noon the State Battery fired a seventy-minute gun
salute. All British subjects closed their shops and suspended business as
a mark of respect. The Sultan’s Representative accompanied by the lead­
ing Members of the Ruling family and the principal State officials paid!
an official call of condolence on the Political Agent on 27th January.
On the 28th January the occasion of the funeral of His late Majesty
was observed by British subjects as a day of National mourning and all
business was suspended in the towns of Muscat and Matrah. The Sultan’s
Representative also closed the State Offices as a mark of respect. A memo­
rial service was held on board Ii. M. S. “Fowey” which was in the har­
bour. She fired a salute of seventy-minute guns at 1000 hours.
4. Political Affairs.—The chief feature of the political situation,
which was otherwise calm and uneventful, was the absence of the Ruler
throughout the year from the capital of the State. The whole of 1936 was
spent by the Sultan in Dhofar a district in the extreme south of the State
where he occupied himself chiefly in personal amusements. The normal
and only reliable means of communication between Muscat and- Dhofar is
by sailing craft which may take ten days to three weeks for the single