Political No. 49 of 1873, Forwarding Papers Reporting the Payment of Compensation of a Dhow Captured by HMS Daphne in 1869, and Captain Prideaux’s Mission to Maculla and Shuhur; and Deferring the Renewal of Treaties with those Places [‎202v] (6/12)

Captain Prideaux’s Mission to the Somali Coast.
2
obligations contracted in 1863 by the Nukeebs of Maculla and Shuhur are of a
personal character, and it is doubtful if the first one can be considered binding
on the heirs and successors of the Nukeeb of Maculla; the second engagement
entered into with the latter must certainly, I think, be held to have lapsed
according to Arab ideas, since a Ruler of another dynasty is now in power there.
I would therefore recommend, in connection with the proceedings about to be
undertaken for the suppression of slavery on the East Coast of Africa, that a
convenient opportunity should be taken of concluding fresh Treaties with the
Rulers of Maculla and Shuhur; and it seems proper I should here notice that
under neither of the Royal Letters Patent constituting a Vice-Admiralty Court
at Aden has the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. any jurisdiction to enforce the provisions of
the Treaties under review by the condemnation of slave dhows and their cargo
belonging to the subjects of the above Chieftains.
5. The remarks made in the 4th paragraph are equally applicable to the
engagements concluded in 1855 wfith the Chiefs of the Oulaki and Somali
tribes, to be found at pages 291-292, Volume VII. of Aitchison's Treaties
and Engagements.
6. Captain Prideaux after paying a visit of courtesy to Shuhur on the 27th
November proceeded to Bunder Murayah, where he arrived on the 28th idem.
He reports the youthful Sultan, now about 14 years old, was not found, but
that he was represented by his uncle, Moosa Yoosuf, the Regent of the Mijjerteyn
country. The sum of $873 was paid to him in accordance with the Secretary
of State’s instructions adverted to in paragraph 1 of this letter on account of
compensation for a dhow A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean. and its cargo which had been illegally condemned in
the Vice-Admiralty Court at Aden. The cause of the delay that had occurred
in making this restitution was duly explained to the Regent by Captain Prideaux
and was received with satisfaction.
7. Captain Prideaux brings to notice an expenditure of $ 360 incurred at
Maculla, Shuhur, and Bunder Murayah, to which I now solicit the sanction of
Government, viz .—
(a )-—Presents to the chief officers and attendants of the Nukeeb of
Maculla and to the poor of the place ... ... $110
(b )—Donations at Shuhur to a Kohilla Gunner whose arm was
blown off when returning the salute of the Kwangtung... $ 50
M—Presents to the attendants of the Jemadar of Shuhur ... $ 50
(d )—Presents to the Elders of the Mijjerteyn tribe ... $ 150
Total $ 360
8. • As Captain Prideaux’s letter contains matter of interest irrespective
of a report on the duty he was deputed to perform, I place it before Govern
ment for perusal.
Dated Aden, 2nd December 1872.
From—First Assistant Resident at Aden,
To—Political Resident at Aden.
In compliance with your instructions I left Aden in Her Majesty’s Kwang
tung, B.M., on the evening of the 23rd November, and proceeded to Maculla
where we arrived late in the afternoon of the 25th.
2. The next morning I waited on the Nukeeb in company with Doctor
Hay and Captain Elton, and handed him your letter and the articles I had brought
with me for presentation. As I had heard on the previous evening that the
Nukeeb was apprehensive that our visit had some connexion with the suppres
sion of the slave trade, I assured His Excellency that I had merely come for the
purpose of paying him a friendly visit, as no officer attached to the Aden
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. had had personal communication with the place since 1864, and that
I had no other political object in view save the strengthening of the bonds of
friendship which existed between the two Governments.