'File 19/109 VI (C 45) Bahrain Relations with Foreign Powers' [‎29v] (75/520)

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49. French. —The French sloop " Baccarat " visited Jedda from January
6th to 10th. The officers were much in evidence during the festivities in honour
of the King's accession.
50. Rear-Admiral Deville, Commander-in-Chief of the French naval division
in the Levant A geographical area corresponding to the region around the eastern Mediterranean Sea. , arrived at Jedda from Port Sudan in the naval yacht " Diana "
on February 18 and left for Suez on February 20. This was the last stage of a
lengthy journey by land and sea across Syria and 'Iraq and round from the Persian
Gulf. The Admiral was good enough to call privately at the British Legation
and expressed much appreciation of the courtesy he had received throughout
his journey from British authorities. The " Diana " accorded a salute of 13 guns
to the Acting Governor of Jedda, to whom it had been decided that H.M.S.
" Lupin " should not give a salute in view of his subordinate position and the un
settled state of the general question.
VII.—P ilgrimage.
51. Forged Rupee Notes. —See December Report, Section 19. No definite
news reached Jedda in January or February regarding the progress made by the
French authorities in Syria. It was suggested towards the end of February that
it might be well for the member of the Legation Staff who dealt with the matter
last year to address a final letter to the broker Often a local commercial agent in the Gulf who regularly performed duties of intelligence gathering and political representation. in Syria in order to disarm the sus
picion that might result from complete silence. This suggestion was referred to
His Majesty's Consul-General at Beirut for his views on March 9.
52. Movement of Pilgrims. —A much reduced pilgrimage was still anticipated
at the end of February, although the prospect as regards numbers was perhaps
a little better than in December. The " Umm-al-Qura " of March 13 put the
total of arrivals up to date at 20,337. The total number of Dutch East Indian
pilgrims, including the last arrivals in March, is about 15,000, not including children,
or rather less than half the figure for last year. Pilgraim ships from India brought
1,679 pilgrims up to February 28. On this same date 397 had arrived from
Malaya. It is difficult to estimate the probable number of Egyptians, who are for
obvious reasons late starters. The Khedivial Mail Steamship Company would appear
to have lost the contract for transporting them but the information in Jedda on this
subject is meagre. It is stated that the pilgrimage from Algeria has been pro
hibited for sanitary reasons, a decision which, if confirmed, will seriously affect
the movement from French North Africa as a whole.
53. Control of Nigerian Pilgrims. —Arrangements were made more or less
informally in February for the Commissioner at Port Sudan to visit Jedda in order
to discuss this question further, with a view to the elaboration of a scheme which
might in due course be proposed to the Nigerian Government as an effort to secure
their main desiderata without overtaxing the means at the disposal of the Sudan
Government and the Legation in Jedda. (December Report, Section 21.)
VIII.—S lavery.
54. The number of slaves manumitted by the Legation in January and Februa
ry was 3, all of whom were male. One other man, an Abyssinian, took refuge but
> relinquished his ^desire for freedom. There is reason to suppose that the local
authorities have taken measures to make it more difficult for slaves to obtain access
to the Legation, e.g., by prohibiting the movement of negroes in the interior with
out permits Information of this kind is difficult to control. A concrete instance
of obstruction of another kind occurred on January 17th when the Acting Gov
ernor of Jedda, acting under instructions from Mecca, shewed hesitation in giving
the necessary paper to enable a freed slave to be embarked for Massowah next dav.
The notice given was admittedly short but, in order to discourage the tendency to
obstruct, the Legation telegraphed to the Minister for Foreign Affairs in Mecca
with the result that orders were given in time for the man to be embarked ac
cording to plan ; but only after the Legation had by considerable use of the tele
phone tracked the progress of its own telegram through all stages.
IX.—M iscellaneous.
55. Renter Service. —No progress appears to have been made.
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56. Law on Nationality. —The " Umm-al-Qura" of February 13th published
the text of a Regulation amending the Regulation on Hejazi Nationality promul-