"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الأجزاء Iأ و Iب. ج.ج. لوريمر ١٩١٥" [‎٤‎٣‎٢] (١٧٨٢/٥٧٥)

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was the purchase from the captors, by Saiyid Sultan on his own account
of the British ship " Armenia " which had been taken by the French.
There was also a dispute about the non-expulsion from 'Oman of a party
of Frenchmen who had come from Goa to Masqat, protected, as Sultan
alleged, by a British pass ; but this last case must have been a weak one,
for the men in question, after being seized by a British ship at Masqat and
carried off to Bombay, were eventually sent back to 'Oman for disposal.
For the settlement of these difficulties Saiyid Sultan, in the beginning
ol 1804, sent an agent of his own to Bombay to offer explanations ; and,
at the same time, he invoked the mediation of Mehdi 'Ali Khan, lately
British Resident at Bushehr, who enjoyed special favour with Mr.
Duncan, the Governor. By these means a reconciliation seems to have
been in the end effected between the ruler of 'Oman and the Government
■ f Bombay, by whom the death of Saiyid Sultan, when it occurred a
few months later, was sincerely deplored.
Relations of Saiyid Sultan with France, 1792-1804.
Early rela
tions of
Saiyid Sul
tan with the
French.
Employment
of French
men hy Sai
yid Sultan.
The nature of the connection between Saiyid Sultan's Government
and J ranee has been partially illustrated in the foregoing section, but a
few facts remain to be added.
It is related that Saiyid Sultan, while in rebellion against his father
and besieged by him in one of the Masqat forts, succeeded in capturing a
French sloop of war which put into the harbour, and was assisted by some
of his French prisoners in defending his position by artillery fire. The
favourable impression made on his mind by this incident was probably
confirmed by the action of the French authorities in 1790, though Saiyid
Sultan was not himself upon the throne at that time, in sending a
small vessel to Masqat to replace the a Salih " unjustly seized by a
French piivateei in the reign of Ahmad,—an act for which reparation
had been frequently demanded by the Government of 'Oman.
The friendly relations between France and 'Oman, restored by this
means, were disturbed by the French Revolution ; but Saiyid Sultan,
after his accession, freely availed himself of the services of individual
French subjects whom chance threw in his way. Among these the best
known were Maurelle, a French military surgeon, and Justaigne, a
Fleming by birth, who were both cast by shipwreck, but at different
times, upon the coast of 'Oman. The article in the Saiyid's Agreement
relatinng to the dismissal of Frenchmen from his service was that which