"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الأجزاء Iأ و Iب. ج.ج. لوريمر ١٩١٥" [‎٦‎٥‎٧] (١٧٨٢/٨٠٠)

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657
On the 21st of December 1818, near the Island of Qiehm, the Defeat of a
Company's cruiser "Antelope" came upon the " Rahmany/-' a full- C ^ si ? i
rigged ship belonging to the Sultan of 'Oman, beset, along with a native byTh™ 11
Baghlah, by a Qasimi fleet consisting of 4 great Baghlahs, 2 Batils of '^eS 6 '"
the largest size and another vessel, with which they had maintained a 1818 *
ranning fight for two days, almost exhausting their ammunition. The
u Antelope/' Lieutenant Tanner, immediately attacked the pirate fleet
and drove them towards the coast of Qishm ; they then turned at bay and
made desperate attempts to board their determined assailant, but were
repulsed by the accurate tire of the British guns, after having on one
occasion succeeded in approaching within 100 yards. On the pirates
taking to flight the "Antelope" gave chase and pursued them for 5^
hours, but could not overtake them on account of the lightness of the
wind. This was a remarkable action, inasmuch as the combined force of
the Qawasim amounted to 29 guns and about 1,070 men, whereas the
"Antelope" carried only twelve 18-pounder carronades. and two Im
pounder brass guns with a crew, all told, of 71 Europeans and 37
natives. The Qawasim subsequently confessed to the loss of 117 men
in the affair with the " Antelope."
On Christmas morning, 1818, H,M.S. "Eden" and the Company's erfg^ements,
brig-of-war "Psyche" rescued a captured boat from two pirate P ur ^ u ' i ^' ® tc -»
Trankis, which managed to escape ; during the whole of the same day the cruisers,
Company's cruiser " Thetis " followed without success a Qasimi fleet of ^February
7, and on the next day another of 4 sail ; and on the 10th and 11th of
January 1819 H .M.S. "Eden" sunk 2 piratical Baghlahs off Qishm and
Hanjam, but failed to capture 6 Trankis by which the Baghlahs were ac
companied. About the same time H.M.S. "Conway" found 17 Qasimi
war vessels at Bahrain, returning with a large number of men from Qatif,
where they had arrived too late to help the Wahhabi Amir in opposing
the Egyptian forces which were then overrunning Arabia ; but the
commander, Captain Barnard, out of respect for the neutrality of the port
of Manamah abstained from attacking the Qawasim at anchor; and,
once at sea, the Qawasim were able to evade his pursuit. Between Octobei
1818 and January 1819 the Company's cruisers Thetis "and " Psyche
encountered the Qawasim sailing in flotillas of 2 to 10 vessels no less than
17 times, and continued to drive them from place to place ; but, on
account of the superior sailing qualities of the Arab boats, the British
vessels seldom or never succeeded in bringing them to action. In
February 1819, on the occasion of a British naval demonstration at
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