Page 143 - Arabian Studies (V)

British Financial Advisers in Muscat 133
Thomas’s private interests frequently came at the expense of his
official duties, which had been upgraded to waztr (in effect, prime
minister) and a member of the Council of Ministers. Since he was
the only energetic member of the three-man council, he often found
himself in charge of the state during the Sultan’s frequent absences.
It was a situation which never set well with either the PAMs or
the PRPGs of the period. One PAM, G. P. Murphy, commented
that 4 ... in the absence of the Sultan, Thomas, when present, is
virtually the ruler. This seems to me highly objectionable as it
throws on us all responsibility for what is done by the Council’.4
The PRPG, H. V. Biscoe, added his opinion that
He is an ardent explorer, a very fine musician, a good Arabic
scholar and in many ways a brilliant man: he however is
impatient of control, and has no idea of keeping slightly in the
back-ground and encouraging the Arabs to run the State on their
own lines, and as Murphy points out he has reduced the Council
to a farce and refuses to put it on a wider basis. He hasj I think,
little inclination for humdrum routine and the details of adminis­
tration.5
Their agitation deepened as Thomas increased the scope and
tempo of his exploring. A minor rebellion of the Shihuh tribe in the
Ru’us al-Jibal and Musandam Peninsula in 1929-30 required the
presence of a representative of the Muscat government. Thomas
delegated himself and spent several months there, ostensibly
straightening out the situation but meanwhile gathering
considerable research material.6
Despite the official objections, Thomas remained in Muscat for a
lengthy period of time. The Government of India finally concluded
that six years was enough and that he should be replaced at the end
of 1930 by a Mesopotamian official, S. E. Hedgcock.7 Thomas saw
this as his last chance to achieve his major ambition: the first
European crossing of the great desert, al-Rub4 al-Khall.8 The
success of his pioneering venture was jeopardised not only by the
termination of his job in the Sultanate but also by the preparations
of H. St. John Philby in Saudi Arabia, whose long-standing plans
for the same feat had been frustrated by the failure of King ‘Abd
al-4Az!z (Ibn Sa‘ud) to grant permission for his journey.9
Thomas left for Dhufar on 5 October 1930 on the state launch Al
Sa*id. He had made preparations for the journey across the desert
during his visit there in the previous autumn but predictably, new
arrangements had to be made which delayed him considerably. His
schedule called for his return at the end of his six-weeks leave but
when the Al Sa returned to Muscat on 18 December, it carried an