'File 14/115 VII Annex (B 9) Abu Musa oxide: collected background material on the case' [‎9r] (28/1904)

11
(31) In the document of 19th Avgmt 1898 * * * o, Q
a, .mvKSLd'r'.il 01 Shaik !' 88gar ' f teri "8 ,tis e01ni Qercial coRceru
as a private mdividual, on the same terms as the others, to share the Davmen^
if w/Tt- H ® W0,lId naturall y have been debited with this share even
if he had been taking the rent himself. Shaikh Salim or.lv enjoyed the produce
adversely to the private mdmdnal Sagar and subject to Skiki Cart p We
as ruhng thief and to specific conditions also items 32 and 37).
(32) On 26th December 1898 * * * * %
leased all the deposits of mica on Abu Mwa.—Regarding this mica concession
see fonaikh bagar a observations (Annex 2). (I may mention, for the informa-
tion of Government, that the Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. Agent, Abdul Latif, made no report
wliatever of it, either at the time of its execution or at any other time - and durins
the progress of, and discussions regarding, 1 his case he can only be regarded as
having designedly suppressed all mention of it. His excuse 'that the pro ject
fizzled out and that he consequently did not think it worth reporting, cannot be
taken seriously.) So far as Shf.ikh Sagar is concerned I have no doubt that the
concession never having been taken up, and a decade having elapsed since it died
a natural death, he hp,d really forgotten all about it in 1908. This is not at all
surprising with such jrfeckless people as these Shaikhs, who keep no records and
live in the present. J
I believe the history of the so-called " mica " project is this. The captain
of one of Messrs. Strick's steamers which took a consignment of oxide from A bu
Mm a, mistook some thin strata of gypsum, which is common on the island, for
mica, tolo. the oxide concessionaires that it was valuable and advised them
to get a contract for it. It proved not to be mica. I think we should relv in
regard to this item, on the lines given in Shaikh Sagar's explanation, namely, that
he was fully consulted and accorded his concurrence ; he having admittedlv
allowed Shaikh Salim conditionally and within reasonable limits, to enjoy the oro-
duce of the island, and being glad that he should derive sufficient therefrom to
allow him no excuse for importuning his nephew for money.
^33) O71 6th JaTiuaTy 1899 \23Td Shaa 1J16)
Sammyeh the draft of a memorandum of Asso
oxide and the mica mines. —The Memorandum of Association as given in Annex 14 of
the German Rejoinder is not the one which accompanied Abdul Latif s letter of
23rd Shaaban 1316 to Hasan Samaiyeh, but a modified version which Abdul Latif
never accepled.
It will be noted that no signatures are given on the Annex in question, for
the reason that the document was never signed up, and the Memorandum was
never accepted nor became operative. For further details on the subject of this
Memorandum of Association, see Abdul Latifs statement (Annex 12) and item
50 of this report. All the original documents are in my possession.
(34) In the document relative to the mica
importance to the effect that the lessees and t Keshkeshuh
trees but no other trees. This provision
island as ovmer. —The Keshkeshuh is a desert shrub used for burning. Fire
wood is a great difficulty on these barren islands, and if no express stipulation
had been made there would have been a danger of the concessionaries' coolies A term used to describe labourers from a number of Asian countries, now considered derogatory.
indenting on the date palms or other garden trees which Salim had tried to grow.
This stipulation is no evidence that Salim disposed of the island as owner. He
was admittedly the tenant and settler and was allowed to enjoy the produce as
long as he was allowed to occupy that position.