'Muscat Dhows Arbitration. In the Permanent Court of Arbitration at the Hague. Grant of the French Flag to Muscat Dhows. The case on behalf of the Government of His Britannic Majesty.' [‎41v] (91/208)

M
out this inducement he hoped to get about twenty-five of them on board, when it was his intention
to confine them below deck and set sail on his return voyage to Sur, where it is commonly
reported that slaves still fetch from 100 to 200 dollars, that is about 121. to 241. a-piece.
Captain Baker-Baker's difficulty lay in the fact that he could not board a dhow A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean. flying the.
French flag without disobeying his instructions from the Admiralty, and, after consideration, we
decided that, although the wisdom of the course was doubtful, yet it seemed to be the only plan
to take the French Consul, with whom our relations have lately been of a very friendly nature,
into my confidence, and to obtain his consent to the boarding of the vessel. I therefore saw
M. Ottavi, who readily promised his co-operation.
The next day, howevejr, I received a letter from M. Ottavi stating that he had discovered
some irregularities in the dhow A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean. 's papers which gave him the power of refusing to renew her
licence to fly the French flag, but that he had not then decided what action to take.
Unfortunately, that morning, i.e., the 6th instant. Captain Baker-Baker received a telegram
from the Admiral directing him to proceed at once to Durban, and he was, therefore, compelled to
place the matter in my hands, but left his native interpreter behind, so as to keep me supplied
with information.
Mr. Rogers, whom I then consulted, at once made arrangements to have the dhow A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean. followed
in case she slipped off in the night, and on the following day M. Ottavi again wrote to say that he
had decided to refuse the renewal of the right to fly French colours to the nakoda, thereby
forcing him to apply for a Sultan's flag at the Port Office.
It was now fairly evident that we must give up hope of catching the slavers red-handed, as
there could be no doubt that they were aware that they were objects of suspicion, and I therefore
decided that when the nakoda applied for his new papers, it might be as well to examine him.
This I accordingly did. His name is Ali-bin-Salim Wateib, and he stated that he was a native of
Batna, which is, I understand, an outlying part of Muscat, and that he was a subject of the
Sultan of Oman. When asked how it was that he had been sailing under French colours, he said
that his father, also a native of Batna, and a Sultan's subject, who had owned the dhow A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean. before
him, had been in the habit of trading between the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , Zanzibar, Comoro, and
Madagascar, and that, having married a Comoro woman, he was there given French protection and
a licence to fly the flag. On the death of his father two or three years ago, he had been allowed
to retain the licence, although he was not even a son by the Comoro woman.
This appears to be a striking instance of the disregard of the Brussels Act which the French
authorities have been in the habit of showing,in the issue of their flag to persons who had no
claim to it, and there can be little doubt that both the father of Ali-bin-Salim Wateib, who was,
I am informed, a well-known slave trader, as well as Ali himself, used the flag thus acquired simply
as a protection from interference of British men-of-war.
Mr. Rogers has decided to withhold the grant of a provisional licence until the inquiries
which he has instituted are completed. It is, of course, much to be regretted that we were
unable to effect the capture of the dhow A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean. , and make an example of the nakoda and crew, but it
may be hoped that their detention here will help to dispel the idea which I hear that the Persian
Gulf Arabs seem to hold, that we are no longer on the qui-vive, and that they can therefore
revive their old and nefarious ways with impunity.
It is, of course, improbable that many slaves are nowadays shipped away from these islands;
but as I had the honour to report to your Lordship in my de.spatch No. 31 of the 20th April of
last year, it is believed that a certain trade is still done between the Northern Coast of Portuguese
East Africa and the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , and the case of kidnapping at Pemba, to which the above-
quoted despatch referred) shows that the presence of a man-of-war is still desirable in these
waters, especially during the first four or five months, that is from April to August, that the wind
blows from the south-west.
APPENDIX 4.
(A.)
M. Cambon to the Marquess of Lansdowne.
M. le Marquis, Ambassade de France, Londres, Je 13 Mai, 1904.
LES r^cents entretiens que nous avons eus au sujet de la fermeture du Tribunal Consulaire
de France k Zanzibar paraissent avoir dissipe les quelques doutes qui subsistaient de part et d'autre
sur les consequences exactes de cette mesure, et qui en avaient retarde jusqu'ici 1'execution.
Nos deux Gouvernements se trouvent d'accord pour reconnaitre—et cela resulte notamment,
en ce qui concerne le Gouvernement de Sa Majeste, des lettres du Marquis de Salisbury en date
des 13 Octobre, 1899, et 15 Fevrier, 1900—que la reconnaissance par le Gouvernement de la
Republique dans les lies de Zanzibar et de Pemba, ainsi que dans la partie continentale du
Sultanat de Zanzibar placee sous le Protectorat Britannique, des Tribunaux Anglais institues par
les Ordres en Conseil de 1899, aura pour effet de restreindre a I'avenir les immunites resultant
pour les citoyens ou sujets Frangais et les proteges Fra^ais des Articles III et lY du Traits de
1844 entre la France et Mascate, dans la mesure nccessaire a I'administration de la justice par les
dits Tribunaux.
Le Consul de France ne pourra s'opposer k ce que les actes de procedure r6guli6rement faits