'Further Papers respecting the Slave Trade on the East Coast of Africa and the System Pursued for its Suppression' [‎81r] (29/50)

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and went with my people to the Passport Agent at Lingah and informed him. Doubtless
he has written to you, but it was necessary for me to write also. I hope that you will
recover the amount from the Resident at Bushire, and send it quickly, as I have been
oppressed; and if not that, you will refer the matter to Tehran, that I may recover my
property quickly. I have not written to the Governor at Shiraz, but to you only.
Inshallah! you will quickly make arrangements for the recovery of my property, and send
it by this vessel; and if not, tell me what I am to do. If not, 1 will solicit assistance from
the Arab Chiefs and retaliate.
(True translated purport.)
(Signed) A, COTTON WAY, Captain,
First Assistant Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. , Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .
Inclosure 6 in No. 11.
Lieutenant-Colonel Pelly to Sheikh Sultan, Governor of Mogoo.
(A.C.) Qth Mohurrum, 1286 (April 22, 1869\
THE Persian Slave Commissioner at Bushire has shown me your complaint regarding
a bugla Large trading vessel. alleged to have been irregularly burnt near Mogoo.
I have requested the Lingah Agent and Captain Way to take evidence in the case,
and justice will be done.
But in respect to your threat of requesting the Arab tribes to put to sea for retalia
tion, I beg in a friendly but explicit manner to inform you that any such breach of the
peace at sea will be prevented.
(Signed) LEWIS PELLY.
Inclosure 7 in No. 11.
Commander Colomh to Commodore Sir L. Heath.
Sir, 11 Dryad" Trincomalee, July 9, 1869.
IN reply to your Memorandum of the 2nd July, inclosing a copy of correspondence
on the subject of a dhow A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean. recently captured and burnt by me in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , and
directing me to furnish information connected therewith, I have the honour to make the
following statement.
2. I am firmly of opinion that the vessel was not of Persian nationality at the time of
capture; and I may here state the grounds on which I then formed that opinion, and now
adhere to it:—
(o.) The captain of the vessel produced neither papers, colours, passes for slaves, nor
any other objects showing Persian nationality; and having been examined by the boarding
officer, and by me, and having besides the fullest opportunities of communication with
three Arab interpreters on board the " Dryad," he never claimed that his vessel belonged
to any Persian port, and certainly not, as is now alleged, to Mogoo.
{b.) The captain of the dhow A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean. , in the presence of the boarding officer, and afterwards
in mine, distinctly asserted that the vessel belonged to Hassein, on the Arabian coast.
When the capture was complete, I offered to land the captain and crew wherever they
wished, and to the best of my recollection I especially mentioned Mogoo and Hussineh.
The captain asked to be landed at the nearest town (Hussineh), and was so landed near it.
It was to the last moment open to him to have claimed to be landed at Mogoo, which
was in sight, or to have asked me to communicate with the Governor there before
capturing him, but he never did so.
(c.) It is true that he at one time stated that he was bound to Mogoo, as well as
other places; but he immediately denied it on being asked why he was standing away
from the place he was bound to-
(d.) The wind was fair for Mogoo from the place and at the time of capture, and had
been so for some days.
3. As respects the alleged distance from the shore at which the capture was made,
in Colonel Pelly's letter No. 80 of 1869, " within gun-shot of the Persian shore," and in
that of Sheikh Sultan, Governor of Mogoo, "within 1,000 paces of the shore, and in
4 fathoms water," the annexed affidavits show that the distance was over three miles ; and
it will also be seen that this is not an estimate formed after the event, as I especially took
the opinion of two officers before the capture was made, in order that I might not commit
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