File 600/1905 Pt 5 'Aden Hinterland: Treaty with Sultan of Balahaf' [‎115r] (13/152)

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on my return to that port in three or four days time. I had previously ascertained
that this was fully sufficient time for them to comply with my demand, should
they decide to do so.
5. The “ 3fnyo” then left, and arrived at Uokalla the same evening. I
then addressed letters to Sultan Husain Abdulla at Shear, and to Sultan Munasir
Abdulla at Al-Ghail, informing them that I had been instructed to personally
inform them of the orders of Government, and requesting them to come onboard
the “ Mayo ” at Shehr on Tuesday the loth, together with the chiefs of their
troops, in order to hear them read. I also desired Sultan Husain to write to his
brother and urge him to meet me. These letters were entrusted to His Highness
the Sultan to convey to their destination by camel sowars, and I have since
ascertained that both letters were delivered early on Monday morning. Al-Ghail
is about twenty miles from Shehr, and thus plenty of time was allowed to
Sultan Munasir to comply had he any intention of so doing.
His Highness the Sultan and his son landed to make arrangements to
despatch a reinforcement of troops to Shehr, in case his nephews should prove
contumacious and offer resistance.
6 . Next day, the 14th, was spent at Mokalla at the request of His Highness,
and was occupied in ascertaining whether plague still existed at the port, and
in obtaining the statements of the Nakoda and others, whose evidence was
„ , , „ available in the case of the buggalow Large trading vessel.
Enclosures Nos. 1 «nd 2. i j j j. i> i 1 n n • £ i. 4 .
plundered at nalahaf. Copies of state
ments are attached, marked Balahaf 1 and 2. Assistant Surgeon Niaz Ali
Khan, L. M. and S., who is in the employ of His Highness the Sultan com
plained that, though supplied with Haffkine’s serum, no syringes had been sup
plied to him. He stated that the last case of plague had occurred about the
end of May. He could not give the exact date, as no record of deaths was
kept. He was given the box of Lustig’s
Gorernment Memos. Nos. 1738 and WM-R dated curative serum. There being no plague
at Mokalla, the Hospital Assistant was
not landed, and proceeded with the ship. As H. M. S. “ Perseus ” was expected
early next morning, Khan Bahadur Muncherji Rustomji Dholu, C.I.E., pro
ceeded on shore to accompany His Highness and his son Ghalib to the ship.
7. H.M. S. “ Perseus” was sighted at 9 a.m. next morning, the 15th* and
both ships proceeded to Shehr, arriving there at about 1 p.m.
8 . A brief description of the town of Shehr may here be useful to explain
subsequent events.
The town of Shehr is situate on an open sandy plain about three hundred
yards from the shore, and contains about 6,000 inhabitants. The houses are
mostly of stone, and are built on the lines of the ordinary Arab “ Dar ” or fortlet,
and are intersected by narrow streets. Except on the seaside, the town is sur
rounded by a wall about twenty feet in height, having towers at frequent
intervals about thirty feet high, and placed about 150 yards from each other
along the wall. The town is about a mile square. The principal buildings
in the town are Husn-Al-Riadth, a fort about fifty yards square, with walls
said to be 5ve feet thick, about thirty feet high crenelated, and armed with
some old S. B. guns.
This fort commands both the town and the sea shore, and is the key of
the position, and is said to contain a large store of munitions of war, etc. The
fort is impregnable to any means in possession of the Sultan, or to anything but
modern artillery.
The anchorage is about a mile from the shore, where landing is impossible,
except in regularly constructed surf boats, of which there are only some five or
six. When passing in front of this fort to our anchorage the fort doors were
closed, and a number of armed men appeared on the walls. The only other
building, of which mention is necessary, is called Dar Nasir, and is situate to the