'File 14/115 VIII B 15 Abu Musa. Red oxide concession.' [‎97r] (200/401)

63
When we saw Abdalla some of us called out, " Don't come near, don't come near,
Abdalla," He merely answered by calling out and gesticulating to his boatmen to
row harder. We shouted, "We will fire at you if you attempt to approach." Abdalla
then said to his rowers, " Don't mind what they say, they will not shoot." We
repeated that we would fire. He replied, " Fire away." We then fired four shots in the
air over their heads. I did not fire myself.
We should have fired straight at them had not Sheikh Abdalla-bin-Ahmed, who
was in charge of us, given us orders (which he sent through me) to fire in the air.
On our firing they turned back a little and called out to us, " What is this all
about ?" We replied, " If you want to get news, send two men ashore. On that they
sent two negroes (one named Salim), who jumped into the water and swam ashore.
They said, " Why do you stop us from coming ashore, seeing that the island belongs
to the German and Hassin-bin-Samayieh ?" We replied, "The island belongs to
Sheikh Sagar." The negroes said that Abdalla-bin-Hassan had not told the German
that, and from what they said it appeared that they had brought him, the German, on
false pretences.
After this conversation we told them they must return to the boom ; and we
warned them that if the boom did not depart before sundown we should have to fire
on her. They then went off to her.
The boom did not move, however, and we feared that after nightfall she might
endeavour to make a landing. Accordingly Abdulla-bin-Hamed told three of the guard
to go to the cliff and fire some shots. They, however, fired six shots above the boom.
It was not intended that they should fire at the boom ; as a matter of fact, I did hear
one shot strike her, or strike something other than the water. The man who fired that
shot was Abdurrahim-bin-Saif, of the Holi tribe, who let off his rifle before getting it
to his shoulder.
After this the boom weighed anchor and got off just at sunset, but they only
moved a little way and anchored again opposite the mud enclosure farther up.
Four of us then went along the shore parallel and stayed there until three hours
after sunset (about 9 p.m .). Then seeing that they were apparently intending to pass
the night there, our men fired two more shots in the air above the dhow A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean. . She then
took her departure. Our object was to frighten the visitors away.
Dated Shargah, 21st February, 1908.
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