"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الأجزاء Iأ و Iب. ج.ج. لوريمر ١٩١٥" [‎٥‎٣‎٢] (١٧٨٢/٦٧٥)

532
possession of it iu person; but the proposal, as there were reasons for ^
suspecting treachery, was declined. In fact His Highnesses position, pent a ^
as regards administrative control throughout the country generally,
was stationary if not retrograde. . :i: ' ,,
cbSeJis- The ill ' succe5s of Sai yi d Fai sal at the beginning of his reign is
tics of Faisal, attributable partly to faults of character and partly to mistakes of policy.
He was not without energy ; but his energy was fitful, and his conduct :k ^ 1
as a rule was characterised rather by sloth and procrastination. Kcono- (tpW/
mical in his personal expenditure, he was often extravagant in the pro- .^1-'
secution of impracticable aims. His arrogant and suspicious temper
prompted him to despise and reject all advice, and his position in the F* 0
government was at first one of extreme isolation and of antagonism to ^
all his surroundings. j i^tepei
fu dVi orters nd When ^ ^ ^ Sa ' ,d - bi,1 - Mllhammad ) on the death of Turki, -/vsinst'
PP returned from abroad, ^aiyid Faisal, instead of accepting his services, ^".atkeBal
drove him into exile again, and, but for representations by the British - K \4 'AW
authorities, would probably have confiscated his property. It was only v;mFaisab
in May 1889 that the Sultan consented, at the request of the British
Political Resident, to nominate a Wazir who should be the medium of
confidential communications with the British Agency: the individual
then selected was one Muhammad-bin-'Azzan. Saiyid Faisal from
the first showed considerable confidence in his brother Sayid Kahad, but ^ ^ ^
the latter was a youth ol ill-balanced mind and committed suicide in
June 1894?, in order to escape domestic troubles arising from his marriage istkfreslid
two years previously with one of his cousins, a daughter of Saiyid tbiiied froi
Barghash, Sultan of Zanzibar. The valuable support of Salih-bin-'Ali
was retained by the Sultan only until 1894, when he alienated it by Meat ol
showing favour to Sa^id-bin-^Ali, a rival Shaikh of the Hirthj and the i'alia the !
catastrophe was thereafter not long delayed, •, | ^
afiaa ^ Saiyid Faisal s most serious error, in non-personal matters, was his sti aj Sdi
failuie to maintain the steam-vessels upon which his control of the coast ^
at a distance from Masqat, and especially of the port of Sur, depended.
The Dar -as -8alam " he caused to be sold at Bombay; and the
Sultani he allowed to fall to pieces through neglect.
1 - : fat iten
Political relations with Great Britain, 1888-94. *
^ and
Sai}i(l Faisal s natural impatience of restraints and obligations reacted
urabl^ on his relation with the British power; but the process