'File 6/8 Sharjah Aerodrome Agreement' [‎12r] (23/166)

4
many of the merchant a would transfer their offices to
feargah. The Ruling family of Debai derive a large
income from house iproparty, which would ias^iately
fall in value* It is not unnatural, therefore, that
the people of Debai should do their utmost to retain
the mail steamer*
7* The two points on which the discussions
turned were, firstly, the guarantees regarding in
dependence and non-interference and, secondly, the
transfer of the mail steamer* I drafted a letter info 2 m-
ing the Shaikh in general terms that the British
Government would respect his independence and would not
interfere in his intsmal affairs, he showed this to
his relatives and they contended that this was inade
quate and asked that the guarantee should be in a much
more explicit and detailed form, namely, that there
should be no Interference with his personal servants—*
male and female — or with his divers and that no one
should be allowed to take refuge in the rest house, etc*
To all these points 1 was prepared to agree and 1 had
repeatedly assured the Shaikh that Imperial Airways
were entirely a commercial concern and that their
employes would have no official position and that in
fact their position would be analogous to that of the
British India Steam Navigation Company’s representative
at Debai* The Shaikhly families of the Truclal Coast
are, however, quite the stupidest people with whom it
has ever been my misfortune to deal —a country yokel
from a remote village in Kngland or Scotland is a highly
intelligent individual compared with a Truoial Shaikh,—
and discussed for hours onong themselves as to whether
the draft letter re Ally covered every conceivable point,
etc*