Page 245 - Gulf Precis(II)_Neat

Part VI- Chap. XLIV.] 223
tho 11th January, employing tho interval in a friendly intercourse with the Brymeo Chu-£.
Upon my return to cruiser, I availed mya-lf of tho authority convoyed in tho 11th paragraph
of the Officiating Secretary Haddock's lottcr, dated tho 1st August 1839, to make a distribu­
tion of a small autn of money, together with a moderate quantity of rice and atntnutiilion
according to tho ►tatoinont No. 1 herewith enclosed. Enclosure No. 2 contains a detailed
account of tho oxpenses incurred in ontertaining these Sheikhs and their numorous followers
(amounting to about 300 men) which tho customs of Arabian hospitality obliged me to
undertake ; they havo, however, been limited to tho lowost possible scale. The total amount, in
money and rico distributed to tho sovoral chiefs, and expended in their entertainment is
German Crowns two thousand six hundred and nine and two-eighths which disbursement
I trust may receive tho sanction of tho Mon’ble tho Governor iu Council.
I vonturo to think that tho personal communication I have had on the present occasion
with tho Frontier Sheikhs of Oman, and the distribution I have mado, will be productive of
much beuefit, and while it promotes our views of policy, will extend our name and influonco
to ports of Arabia where it hns hitherto been littlo known. At the srnne time the ju*t aud
liberal conduct <•£ tho British Government will bo placed in favourable contrast with the
tyrannical and oppro-sivc proceedings of tho Egyptians. Tho greater portion of the money and
provision", and tho whole of the ammunition, have been bestowed upon those Chiefs, who, by
their resistance to Said bin Mullak, are fairly committed with the Egyptians. To tho others
I have givon sufficient to rondcr them desirous of deserving an equal share of the favour of
Government with tho Brymee Sheikhs, and as this favour is understood by all to bo contin­
gent upon their future conduct and procoediugs with reference to the Egyptians, there are
good grounds for anticipating that if Said bin Mulluk attempt to penetrate into Oman, he
may now experionco a more 6eriou9,if not combined, opposition, than would havo bocu tho caso
had 6uch an expedition been undertaken at an oorlier date.
(VII) THE EGYPTIAN AGENT LEAVES OMAN-WEAKENING OF THE EGYPTIAN
INFLUENCE.
397. Syud Mutluk, on receiving the Resident’s protest and hoaring of the
measures which had been adopted by him
Bombay Selections No. XXIV, p. 417.
with reference to the inhabitants of
the coast and of Brymi, at length evacuated Oman, and, embarking from
Shargah, proceeded to Ojeir, having been previously personally assured by
Sheikh Sultan bin Saggar that if he returned to Oman in force he would join
him, and place all his resources at his disposal. His removal from Oman
proved a severe blow to the Egyptian influence, and broke up the combina­
tion rapidly forming in his favour. On his voyage from Shargah, having
landed on the island of Kenn, on the Persian Coast, he forcibly carried off
four hundred sheep and other property,—a gross and wanton aggression upon
the subjects of a friendly power, which was duly brought to the notice of
Mahomed Ali Pasha, and led, among other causes, to its being subsequently
intimated to the Sheikh of Katif, the Egypto-Wahabi seaport, that any
expedition against Oman or tho territories of the Imam would be opposed
by the British squadron in the Gulf.
398. A portion of the Naim tribe (a branch of that which had so
openly resisted the encroachment of Korshid Pasha and his Agents at Brymi),
residing on the Guttur Coast, having refused to pay the Zukat or tribute,
when called upon through Abdulla bin Ahmed, the Chief of Bahrein, Maho­
med Effendi, the Egyptian Governor of Lahsa, despatched a party of regulars,
assisted by some of the Mukazibah Arabs, to ravage their pasture lands and
date groves. Before this foray could be effectually made, the expedition was
compelled to retreat, in consequence of the murder of Mahomed Effendi, its
originator, by some Arabs, in the suburbs of Lahsa.
399. A Gunoha (belonging to Koweit) reached Katif from Hodeida, in
the Red Sea, in November 1839, laden with ammunition and military stores
for the use of the Egyptian forces in Nejd, The Agents on board did not
fail to spread'all sorts of extravagant reports regarding a fleet of some eighteen
or twenty vessels, laden with troops and warlike stores, being about to follow.
400. The remonstrances of the Home Government combined with the
capture of Beyrout and other places on the Syrian Coast by the British
navy began now, however, to have full effect; moreover the quarrels and d:ssen-
sions amongst the Egyptian Agents thomselves, aud the jealousy lately imbibed
by Mahomed Ali Pasha of his General, Khorshid, tended very much to weaken
their power and influence, which were threatened by, among other disaffected
tribes, that of Ejman, numbering upwards of four thousand men, whose chief
had lately succeeded in effecting his esonpe from Lahsa, where he had been
treacherously seized and oonflned by the Pasha's orders. Communications