'ARBITRATION CONCERNING BURAIMI AND THE COMMON FRONTIER BETWEEN ABU DHABI AND SA'ŪDI ARABIA' [With maps] [‎41r] (86/541)

67
’Amir of Dalma a) . There are, to-day, no regular exemptions from payment and
the small number of boats engaged in the industry does not warrant the employment
of watchmen for the winter^. There is not a single Sa’udi pearling boat on the
Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. . In addition, to the taxes here referred to the pearl merchants are
also liable, as described above, to contribute to the cost of the annual feast at the
close of the season known as aVazima.
8. The traditional procedure for the settlement of disputes connected with
pearling is by a tribunal known as the Salifat al-Ghaus or “ Diving Court ” a
tribunal which is not a permanent institution, but which is constituted as and when
required by the Shaikh of the principality concerned, who appoints one or more
men—generally Nakhudas <3) of repute, who are well versed in the usages of the pearl
fisheries—to compose it and to act as judges. Before this tribunal, all concerned
stand upon an equal footing, and by its decision they are absolutely bound. To-day,
an individual appointed by Shaikh Shakhbut performs the function of the Salifat
ai-Ghaus in Abu Dhabi. For the past twelve years the appointment has been held
by Khalfan bin Matar bin Jubarah. He was preceded by Yusuf bin ‘Ahmad,
who held the appointment for 20 years, and before him, the Salifat was Rubaia
bin Shahin, who was appointed by Shaikh Zaid bin Khallfah (d. 1909). To-day, the
Salifat al-Ghaus is responsible for settling all pearling disputes in Abu Dhabi
waters, and his authority is recognized by all who go pearling, whether Bani Yas
or Manaslr.
9. Control of Fishing and Collection of Guano. —The different methods of fishing
employed off the Abu Dhabi coast and islands have been described in Part IV, para
graph 8, of this Memorial. No direct tax is payable on fish caught, but all fishing by
any method other than hayyal is regulated from the Khaur al-‘Udaid to the eastern
limit of the Shaikhdom , by lease from the Ruler of Abu Dhabi. The lessee of an area
is free to fish in it by whatever method he prefers. By custom, the lessee permits
others to fish in his waters, but demands as payment for his permission one fifth
of the catch. Hayyal is free to all: no lease is required, and no charges are levied.
The Bani Yas are the only tribe who engage in fishing to any serious degree, and all
the leases along the whole coast-line are held by members of that tribe <4) . In
addition, the present Ruler’s father used to grant monopolies for the purchase of
fish along this coast (6) .
10. Collection of guano from the islands of the Abu Dhabi archipelago is
subject to the permission of, and payment to, the Ruler of Abu Dhabi. Before the
war (probably in 1938), an ‘Adani held a permit for the collection of guano from
the ‘Udaid peninsula, Ghaghah, and Mahamaliyah; and, in 1949, a Kuwaiti named
‘Abdullah al-Sana took a similar permit.
11. There used also at one time to be a trade in oyster-shells, from which
mother-of-pearl is made. In 1899, a German firm sent a representative to the Gulf
for this purpose. He originally tried to land in Dalma, but the inhabitants refused
to allow him to do so until he had obtained the permission of Shaikh Za‘Id. This
was eventually obtained, and he was allowed to rent a house and to export shells
on payment of export dues of $ (M.T.) 13 per 100 sacks' 6 ’.
12. Collection of Customs Dues. —The Rulers of Abu Dhabi impose a 2 i
per cent, customs duty on all imports, other than pearls, into Abu Dhabi and Dal-
ma <7) . These dues are collected by officials appointed by the Ruler. At the
present time, these are ‘Abdul-Baqi bin Muhammad bin Zainil in Dalma, and
‘Abdullah bin Matar at Abu Dhabi.
13. The Rulers’ representatives in Dalma also habitually perform numerous
other administrative acts including the collection of salvage payments on drifting
boats and timber from the Ruler to whom they belong, as is shown by the letters
at Annex G, No. 10. Indeed, the recovery and disposal of wrecks, on the whole
of the Abu Dhabi coast as far west as the Khaur al-‘Udaid, is under the Ruler s
authority, so that when, during the Second World War, a barge ran ashore at
Halat Missassif, near Faidh in the Sabkat Matti, it was towed to Abu Dhabi by
the Ruler’s men, and salvage was paid to him.
(1) See Annex G, No. 4. r- xt
(2) For a list of persons who paid pearling taxes to the Ruler in 1370 A.H. (1950-1), see Annex G, No. 5
(3) Captains: see Part IV, paragraph 4, above. ^ xr
(4) For a list of leaseholders and of the areas rent by them for 1371 A.H. (1951-2), see Annex G, No. o.
<5) For an example of such a licence, see Annex G, No. 7.
(6) See Annex B, No. 44.
(7) See Annex G, No. 1.