'File 7/4 Aviation and Air Force Matters' [‎159r] (326/506)

V-
Page 5.
confuse and alarm the Shaikh at Uiam el ^aiwain if we turned
up there unexpectedly and bivouacked on the edge of the lago01
t Sir bu '-air we found a Shargah fishing boat drawn upt
and when I had calmed their fears they took three of us ashore
and we slept on the beach. The water here is drinkable but
brackishf and on the S.W, side of the island there is a good
anchorage for flying baots, except from a qaus wind. We saw
one of the wild cats for which the island is noted, and it
appeared suspiciously like the domestic variety.
13. itmm Prom here we flew back to Yas and circled over
*
it to take photographs and then returned to Pohah. Here we
found Shaikh Abdullah, bin Jasim still away^but on his way bacJ^
and his fat son, Hamadtwhom he had sent on to meet me, came
off to the boat. I returned his call at the fort, but as
there was no point in staying when the Shaikh was away we
said good bye and returned to Bahrain, arriving at about 16 hrs
14. The flight was full of interest, and many correc
tions have been made on the chart, but owing to the misbehaviou
of the vertical camera brought specially for the trip, the
photographic results will probably be disappointing. The
reverse at Abu Dhabi was unfortunate, but as I only arrived one
evening and left the next morning, I was not able to do much
that was useful. I dont think the. Shailch has the slightest
idea what we really want, and if a photograph of one of the
sunk petrol tanks on the Baghdad-Damascus route were shown
him it would prove to him how little we really want. If in
addition his ' heart was made good 1 with a present of a
rifle, and his uncle Khalifa pacified, I think he would proh-
bahly withdraw his objections. '"hat they fear is that a
petrol tank is only the thin end of the wedge, and that
demands would follow.
15. A feature of the flight was the Bin Saud pror
ganda met everywhere. At Abu Ehabi we heard that the B ?
tish Govrnment had brought all their planes to qatif