"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الجزء II. ج. ج. لوريمر. ١٩١٥" [‎٢‎٢‎٤‎٥] (١٢٦٢/٧٦٢)

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( f ^ere free to allThe total gains of the party during the days that they
bad been at work were represented by 23 small seed pearls only.
The affair^ however^ was reported to have given rise to some
apprehension among the pearl divers of Bahrain^ and it led to a full
discussion of policy between tLj Government of Bombay and the British
Residents at Bushehr and Baghdad. Colonel Kemball^ the Resident
at Baghdad^ who had long experience of the Persian Gulf, pointed out
that the case which had occurred was a simple one, and that it would
have been more difficult to deal with had the speculators been European
foreigners holding a pearl fishing concession from some Arab chief ; his
final recommendation was that the G overnment of India should treat
the Persian Gulf as a mare ciausum, for the purpose of pearl diving,
ao-ainst all persons coming from ports or coasts situated beyond its limits^
and should accordingly by proclamation refuse protection to such persons,
whatever their nationality ; action on these lines would, he considered, be
sufficient to deter Europeans, at least, from interference with the fisheries.
The action of Captain Disbrowe and the views of Colonel Kemball were
generally approved by the Government of Bombay, but the Resident
in the Persian Gulf was enjoined to observe caution in matters which
affected the rights either of foreigners or of Arabs, and he was ordered to
report on the extent of the pearl banks and the nature of the rules and
customs by which boundaries and rights were governed, as well as on
the manner of settling disputes heretofore, and the best means of preserv
ing the peace without involving the British Government in an in
convenient protectorate. Colonel Pelly, the Resident at Bushehr,
on the ground that no practical advantage was likely to be gained,
whereas the suspicions of the Arabs would probably be aroused and
inconvenient claims by Persia, Turkey and the Wahhabi ruler might be
provoked, deprecated inquiry or any attempt to systematise the rights
and customs of the fisheries; and at the same time he suggested that the
proclamation of a mare clausvm in the Persian Gulf was a serious step,
which might bring the British Government into conflict with European
or American powers, and that a reserved attitude on the question
would be preferable. In the end, no proclamation was made, and the
demand for detailed information regarding the pearl fisheries was
withdrawn by the Bombay Government.
The international position of the pearl banks attracted no further
attention until 1872, when it became known that Mid-hat Pasha, the
Turkish Wali of Baghdad, contemplated the exploitation of certain pearl
tanks in the Persian Gulf by means of an English diver. The diver
reached Baghdad in May 1872, but a personal warning that
British protection would not be extended to him in his operations
apparently had the desired result, for, in the end, the Turkish scheme was
not carried into effect.
In 1873 a British firm, Messrs. Smith and Company, of London,
favoured to obtain a footing as pearl fishers in the Gulf; and in
uetober of that year—-while a request which they had made to the
-oreign 0 fg ce for recognition and assistance was still under consideration
-their representative in the person of Mr. Grant, an officer of the
a J e Indian Navy, made his appearance at Bushehr. Here he had an
Mierview with Colonel Ross, the Political Resident, who declined to
Discussions
regarding
British
policy, 1862-
1863.
Mid-hat
Pasha's
scheme, 1872,
Messrs,
Smith and
Company 's
project,
1873.