'ARBITRATION CONCERNING BURAIMI AND THE COMMON FRONTIER BETWEEN ABU DHABI AND SA'ŪDI ARABIA' [With maps] [‎130r] (264/541)

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ANNEX B, No. 37
Captain Hamerton’s proceedings at Shargah Byreemee and Sailor 1 ' 1
On the 13th January I landed from the Clive at Shargah and commenced
distributing the money ammunition and rice given into my charge for that purpose
by the Resident. In consequence of the name of Sulimaun bin Abdullah the
Brother of Mohamed bin Abdullah having been omitted in the list—the latter
objected to receive his quota, saying that he was the principal Schaikh of Byreemee
and that as the brother of Hamed bin Suroor/who was greatly inferior to himself/
had received 100 crowns and 40 bags of rice it would appear as if he stood lower
than that person in the estimation of the Government if this distinction was made,
that however whether he received anything or not he had pledged his word to the
Resident that I should visit Byreemee and he was determined to abide by his
promise.
As Schaikh Abdullah spoke of the inferiority of Hamed bin Sunoor to himself;
and also of the determination of that person to prevent my going to Byreemee, in
the presence of the other schaikhs of the Naimi without their contradicting him I
felt sure he spoke the truth. I therefore thought it best to treat the omission of
Sulimaun bin Abdullah’s name from the list as a mistake and soothed Mohamed
bin Abdullah’s wounded pride by making his brother a present of 100 crowns and
40 bags of rice.
From the 13th to the 31st of January was occupied by the intrigues of Schaikh
Sultan bin Suggur supported by Hamed bin Sunoor to prevent my going to
Byreemee Mohamed bin Abdullah however remained firmly resolved to perform
his promise, and declared before the assembled chiefs of Byreemee at schaikh
Sultan bin Suggur’s house, that no one should prevent me from undertaking the
journey if I wished it and concluded by saying that he swore by God and the
Prophet that he would consider and revenge any insult or injury offered to me as if
shown to himself. Being however anxious to prevent any quarrel arising between
the schaikhs on my account I made Mohamed bin Ali Bushlabee / schaikh Sultan
bin Suggur’s minister/ a present of 10 dollars and he finally arranged the affair for
me, by the disbursement of 40 dollars to Hamed bin Suroor to give to some
vagabond arabs called Guzzus /men who are outcasts from their tribes for offences/
who were the only people who supported him in his opposition to me.
On the 21st January about 4 in the afternoon we mounted the camels and left
Shorgah riding until about ten PM over the desert. The men who left along with
me were Schaikh Mohamed bin Abdullar, his brother Sulimaun—the three sons of
Ali bin Hamood of Zuneh and fifteen men of the Suamis and Bokhreebonee tribes.
We halted for the night at a place on the desert called Zellah where there was a well
with good water and three large trees but no houses or tents whatever—there was
no trace of a road, the direction south by east—the distance from Shargah to Zellah
is about 131 three hours but we lost the proper direction a little after starting which
rendered it difficult to find the place in the dark.
22nd January this morning /after an incessant night of rain/ we were about to start,
upon which a man who had just arrived from Shargah ran and caught hold of the
halter of my camel calling out that he had not received anything from Hamed bin
Suroor or Sultan bin Suggur and that unless I consented to give him something that
I should not go farther towards Byreemee but return to Shargah several of the
people who were present called to him to let the camel go but instead of doing so
he attempted to mount it. I prevented his doing so and mounted myself.
Sulimaun bin Abdullah the brother of Mohamed bin Abdullah schaikh of Byreemee
rode up with his match alight saying that if the fellow followed us or gave any
further trouble that he would shoot him. The people said he was an out-cast from
the Beni Khuttub bidowin tribe and lived in Shargah, one of the fellows who were
to have prevented me going inland. We then proceeded until nearly sunset when
we arrived at the Bir Mohafiz a fine well where we watered the camels and filled our
water skins and then we went on to a gorge in the hills /but off the line of road/
when we halted for the night. It rained during the whole night. The ascent the
whole of the day was very gradual over sand hills; no forage whatever, the direction
south, south east; the distance from Zellah to the Bir Mohafiz 10 hours.
23rd January after a most unpleasant night in consequence of the ram we started
an hour after sunrise; going over hard sand hills at an hour before noon we came
O) Bahrain Archives, Book 123, pp. 84-106.
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