Page 158 - The Pirate Coast (By Sir Charles Belgrave)

and Nautilus. The crews of the pirate ships remained in their
vessels in order to manage them.
On the 22nd, three strange dhows were sighted, and the Eden
made all sail in chase, but during this operation, one of the prizes
in tow sprang a leak, the men on board were taken off, and she
was scuttled. Meanwhile the ships got away. Two days later,
the Eden met the Company’s cruiser Tornati on her way to
Bushirc. She had been sent to fetch Bruce to Ras al Khaima, and
to inform Loch that H.M.S. Liverpool, a 50-gun man-of-war,
which carried the Commandcr-in-Chicf of the expedition, was
Oil her way to Ras al Khaima which she would probably reach
before the Eden arrived.
Nothing daunted, Loch decided to press on, ‘getting rid of all
encumbrances’. He transferred the Linga captains back to the
Nautilus, and ordered her commander to take them and their
ships back to the Persian coast, and let them go, as it was now too
late for them to give any help to the pirates. He kept the pirates’
envoy in the Edcny then ‘with most tantalising light winds’, he
sailed for Ras al Khaima, arriving there on November 30th,
dropping anchor close to the Liverpool, which lay off the town.
But as the Eden approached Ras al Khaima the Wakil’s ship
managed to slip away, and the crew tried to push her into the
harbour. She was intercepted by some of the boats from the
Liverpool and destroyed on the beach. The slippery old Wakil
must have watched the failure of his men to save the ship with
regret.
As soon as he had anchored, Loch sent the Wakil ashore in a
boat, landing him some distance from the town whence he trudged
into Ras al Khaima. He was soon back again. He came out in
a boat to the Eden with last minute proposals from the Joasmi
Shaikh for a peaceful settlement, ‘that might avert future blood­
shed’. But his proposals were unacceptable, and he was sent on
shore again and informed that ‘he need not return with any
further propositions, for nothing less than the total destruction of
the pirate vessels and all that constituted their present strength
would satisfy’. At the same time, Loch handed over to him the
weapons which had been taken from his followers, presumably
because he had come in the capacity of an envoy - although lie
had not behaved like one.
Ras al Khaima was the most strongly fortified town on the
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