‏"ملخص الأحداث والتدابير الرئيسية التي اتخذها سمو نائب الملك اللورد كرزون من كيدلستون، نائب الملك والحاكم العام للهند في إدارة الخارجية. ‏I‏. يناير ١٨٩٩-أبريل ١٩٠٤. ‏II‏. ديسمبر ١٩٠٤-نوفمبر ١٩٠٥. المجلد IV. بلاد فارس والخليج الفارسي." [ظ‎‎١‎٤‎٢] (٣٨٦/٢٨٩)

26
onlv l)V a Consul, with no subjects, and next to no trade, enjoys a treaty
eauality with Great Britain—was such as to emphasize the desirability of
terminating with as little delay as possible a situation so anomalous and it
might almost be said so grotesque. On the concluding afternoon ol my stay at
Maskat I invited His Highness the Sultan to a private interview at which I
asked him to sav anythin? that was in his mind Before conferring upon
him the insignia of the G.C.I.E., by order of Hia Majesty the King-Emperor,
on the morning of the same day, I had stipulated that His Highness should
nlace himself entirely in the hands of the Government of India and should act
upon their advice in respect of his desire to abdicate, previously reported by
me to you. This subject accordingly was not mentioned during the private
conversation. The Sultan raised two small points about which it is unnecessary
for me to trouble you in this letter, and I spoke to him about the management
of his Customs, which is not altogether satisfactory. He expressed anxiety
to know when the flag question between himself and the T rench would come
before the Hague tribunal, to which 1 could return no more satisfactory reply
than that that Court had a good deal of work on its hands which might occupy
some time. The Sultan evidently feels keenly on the matter, as he very
rensonably may ; and it is one in which I would press upon His Majesty s
Government the desirability of accelerating progress as much as possible.
5. After leaving Maskat I spent an entire day in making, in company with
the Admiral, a most careful inspection of all the harbours and inlets on both
the Eastern and Western Coasts of the rocky and deeply indented promontory
commonly known, from its extreme point, as Ras Musaudim. The upshot of
these investigations will be separately dealt with.
6 On 21st November I arrived at Shargah upon the so-called Pirate Coast,
which had been selected as a central point at which the Arab Sheikhs, who are
in close treaty relations with the Bri’.ish Government, and who are commonly
known as the Trucial Chiefs, should he brought together to meet me in the
ceremony of a Darbar. The Chiefs of Abu Dhati Shargah, Debai and Ajman,
with their sons, and the eldest son of the oi l Chief of Um-el Kawain, had been
collected in the “ Patrick Stewart ” from different parts of the Coast; and the
Harbar held, as at Maskat, upon the “Argonaut,” was a ceremony that can
hardly fail to have left upon them a great
Enclosure No. in. impression. I enclose a copy of the
address that I delivered at this Darbar, which may be described as an epitome
of British history in the Arab waters of the Gulf during the past century.
7. From Shargah I crossed to the Persian coast at Bunder Abbas, where
I arrived on 22nd November, and was received on behalf of the Shah by Hi»
Excellency the Salar-i-Moazzam, Governor of the Gulf Ports. The Ala-ud-
Dowleh, Governor-General of Pars, was originally to have met me at Bunder
Abbas, and in view of subsequent events, it is to be regretted that this part of
the programme was departed from at the instance of the Persian Government*
Courtesies were exchanged between the Salar-i-Moazzam and myself : and
I also received an address from the
Indian traders, my reply to which will be
found in the Appendix. While at Bunder Abbas I landed upon the islands
of Hormuz and Kishm, and discussed with the Admiral the question of Naval
defence and strategy at the mouth of the Gulf.
8. After leaving Bunder Abbas the “ Hardinge ” skirted the southern shore
of the island of Kishm and halted in the Straits at Henjam, in order to enable
the Admiral and myself to form an opinion upon the question of re-opening the
telegraph station at the place. We formed a very definite conclusion in its
favour, in preference to Bassiduh ; and this will form the subject of an inde
pendent communication. A visit w r as next paid to the British possession of
Bas iduh or Bassidore at the western extremity of Kishm, where the British
flag is kept flying and wdiere a small Arab and Persian population has formed
a colony under its protection. The possession of this territory is invaluable
because of the hold that it gives to us over Kishm : but owing to the tortuous
and shatlow T nature of the channels, it does not seem likely that we shall again
require to use it as a naval station, or that it could advantageously be turned