Page 277 - Gulf Precis(VIII)_Neat

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Article V.
You arc not to undertake, nor is any officer in command of one of Her Majesty's
Ilostile operations. jgg. O^TbeVu'X' ^
press authority, except on a requisition from the Viceroy of India, or in a case where
British life and property ar^ at stake and require immediate naval interference. // an
officer commanding one of Her Majesty's ships should receive a requisition from the Viceroy
oj India to undertake any hostile operation, he should at once communicate with you if
within reach of a telegraph. IJ he cannot do so, he should act upon the requisition. This
rule docs not arply to the vessels employed in the Persian Gulf under the circumstances
explained in Article IV, but, in any circumstances, whether in the Persian Gulf or
elsewhere, commanding officers will be themselves responsible, if they undertake any
hostile operations without a reasonable prospect of success, or when the lives of the men
under their orders might be unduly exposed to danger.
Article VIII.
Your attention is drawn to the papers which will be. found in the records of the
station in regard to—
Ceremonies.
(o) The correspondence in 1851 as to salutes in Indian waters.
(£) The arrangement made in 1881 that the Viceroy’s flag at the main indicates his
personal presence ; at the fore, the presence of a Governor ; at the mizzen,
a Chief Commissioner or Political Officer.
(c) The modification, in favour of certain Chiefs in the Persian Gulf, of the orders
given in 1881 as regards salutes. (A. L., 15th March 1882.)
Article IX.
No ship is to proceed up the Shat-el-Arab at the head of the Persian Gulf further
than Kournah near the junction of the Tigris
Tigris and Euphrates navigation.
and Euphrates, and only so far after receiving
the usual permission.
Article XI.
The Book of Instructions (dated 1865) furnished to the Captains and Commanders of
SJavc t d Her Majesty’s ships and vessels employed in
‘ avc tra c' the suppression of the slave trade, contains
copies of the several treaties and conventions between Great Britain and foreign countries
for the suppression of the said traffic, and of the various Acts of Parliament and other
documents necessary for your knowledge. This book with copies of Their Lordships’
further instructions, dated 1st January 1876, A, B, and C, and of the various treaties,
engagements, and Acts of Parliament which have come into operation since the instructions
of 1865 were issued (including the Treaties of 1873 and 1875 with the Sultan of Zanzibar),
will be found with the records of the station.
You are to be strictly governed by these documents in your conduct towards vessels
suspected of being engaged in the slave trade and you will take care that the Captains and
Commanders of the vessels under your orders strictly attend to the same, more specially
when the suspected vessels are under French colours.
You will distribute the ships and vessels under your command, which are all supplied
with slave-trade warrants, in such manner as may appear to you most advisable for the
fulfilment of the service to which they are appointed, and in doing so you will not fail to
call the attention of the commanders to the nature of the duties assigned to them, and to
impress upon their minds the importance of their using on the one hand the most zealous
exertions for carrying into full effect the object of the British Government in concluding
the several treaties and conventions, by putting an end to the traffic, in slaves and, on the
other hand, of their observing the greatest care and vigilance not to exceed the provisions
of the treaties and not to afford to foreign subjects or to foreign Governments any just
cause of complaint in regard to their proceedings in the exercise of the power entrusted
to them.
You are to transmit to me by every opportunity reports of all foreign vessels detained
by you or by the cruisers under your orders furnished with instructions for that purpose,
detailing therein the circumstances which have induced you oTthe commanders to visit such
vessels, and afterwards to release or detain them as the case may be ; and you are to cause
a icturn in duplicate to be forwarded annually (according to prescribed forms) of the
vessels detained upon the station uuder your command for being engaged in the slave
trade.

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