"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الجزء II. ج. ج. لوريمر. ١٩١٥" [‎٢‎٤‎٨‎٨] (١٢٦٢/١٠٠٥)

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1002. On the 29th of April 1902 a difficult case occurred at Abu Dhabi
through the escape to H.M.S. a Eedbreast" of a slave belonging to a
relation of the Shaikh. The "Redbreast ^ had brought Captain Cox,
the Political Agent at Masqat, to Abu Dhabi for the purpose of
making an arduous and somewhat dangerous journey by land from
that place to Masqat; and it was highly inadvisable that Captain Cox's
enterprise should be prejudiced at the outset by an act so unpopular
as the manumission of a slave,—especially of a slave who appeared to
have been in all respects perfectly well treated. The slave was
accordingly landed, and Captain Cox arranged to purchase him with
a view to giving him his freedom ; but in the end the man spontaneously
decided to remain at Abu Dhabi,
Meaning of In 1892 a question arose as to the exact effect of the direction
the^M^ at containecl in Article 1 of the Masqat Treaty of 1873, that a persons
Treaty ^of 1 ^ erea ^ er entering the Sultan's dominions and dependencies shall be
1873. free/ ; the occasion being an application for protection to the British
Consulate at Masqat by a slave, born at Arbaq near Masqat, whose
parents were slaves lawfully imported into the Sultan's dominions
before the Treaty of 1873 ; the doubt in this case was due to the
fact that the slave, along with his father, had more than once visited
Calcutta in recent years and might therefore be said to have a entered 13
the Sultanas dominions after 1873. The ruling of the Government of
India was to the effect that the slave in question, by entering British
territory, had ipso facto become a free man, and that, had he been
forcibly carried back to Masqat, he might have been regarded as
imported into 'Oman after 1873 and therefore as entitled to his freedom;
but they considered that, by voluntarily returning to Masqat, he had
abandoned the privileges acquired by visiting British territory and had
reverted to his original status of a lawfully owned slave. The Govern
ment of India added that this principle would apply in the case of all
slaves lawfully imported into the Sultan's dominions before 1873 and
also to the cases of the children of such borne in the Sultan's dominions;
but they explained that all slaves brought to Masqat for the first time
and otherwise than voluntarily, after the date of the treaty, were
entitled to their freedom.
The In 1877 a case occurred at Bushehr, giving rise to several difficult
"Rokeby'' points which were not finally settled until 1881. The presence of slaves
case, 77. 011 the British steamer "Rokeby " having been reported, that vessel
was searched under arrangements made by Captain Clayton commanding
H.M.S. "Rifleman," and seven imported slaves were discovered, who
were seized, landed, and made over to Captain Prideaux, the officiating
Political Resident. The surrender of an eighth imported slave, landed
from the "Rokeby " by a Persian subject, was also obtained by Captain
Prideaux through the Persian Kar^uzar at Bushehr. The proceedings
in the case were held before Colonel Miles, Consul at Masqat, whose
was the "consular East African court" nearest to BusLehr ; it resulted
in the forfeiture of the eight slaves, who were at the time at Bushehf)
to Her Majesty the Queen. Doubts having arisen as to the validity
of the proceedings, a reference was made to the Home Government;
and it was held by the Law Officers to the Crown that the seizure of