"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الأجزاء Iأ و Iب. ج.ج. لوريمر ١٩١٥" [‎٦‎٧‎٥] (١٧٨٢/٨١٨)

675
permanent character would be required to confirm the results obtained.
The project to which they inclined was the establishment of a British naval
and military station in a central situation in the Gulf, which would enable
them to exercise a more immediate and commanding 1 influence over its
waters than could be wielded from either Bushehr or Basrah. They
anticipated that the island of Qishm, which with Hanjam they
believed to appertain to the ruler of Masqat, would be found to afford
every advantage for the execution of this scheme; that a port might be
created thereon which, by means of customs dues, could be rendered self-
supporting, at least in part; and even that the Political Residency at
Bushehr, where a commercial factory had ceased to be required, might
without detriment to British interests in Persia be transferred to the new
settlement. The project was referred to Sir W. Grant Keir for an
expression of his opinion ; and in the meanwhile an effort was made,
through the British Envoy at Tehran, to obtain the concurrence of the
Persian Government, which it was felt would probably be withheld.
One battalion of native infantry was the military force which the
Government intended to locate permanently in the Gulf ; but they were
prepared if necessary to exceed this limit, and at one time they even
proposed the retention of one company or more of European troops.
An argument advanced in favour of the occupation of an island was
that a detachment in such a position would be less exposed to attack
than on the mainland, and that the proportion of the garrison immo
bilised for the defence of the station would in consequence be smaller.
At the beginning of April 1820, after a personal visit to Qishm Island,
Sir W. Grant Keir submitted his views. He deprecated the immediate
removal of the Residency from Bushehr, as possibly involving the com
mercial ruin of that place ; and he suggested that, after the establish
ment of the new station, some time should be allowed for tiade to settle
in its natural channels before any great modification of the existing
political arrangements was undertaken. Ihe Geneial legal Jed the
position of the garrison at Ras -al-Khaimah as peifectly secnio , but
very serious difficulty existed in regard to the water supply and scuivy
and fever were prevalent, and he consequently advised that^the troop
should be transferred to Qishm, which he concurred with the G-oveinme
of Bombay in thinking the most suitable place in the neighbouih )o
cantonment.
These views having found acceptance. Captain Thompson, >
'having exerted himself most successfully iu acquiring the ^
^ the inhabitants/^ had been placed in political and militai} ^
Recommenda'
tions of Sir
W. Grant
Keir.
Evacuation of
Ras -al-Khai
mah, 18th
J uly 1820.