File 37/1905 Pt 4 'Aden Frontier Delimitation' [‎43v] (93/1197)

Zureki country (adjoining the Humedi), hut the Zurekis had, nevertheless, fired
on the surveyor "belonging to the British Commission, who was working t ere
under Turkish escort, and the progress of the work had been impeded.^ Un
19th April the Turks reached a camp near Mijza and the British Commission
moved to Mudariba, a place not marked on existing maps, but which is close to
the intersection of the 13th parallel of latitude with the 44th of longitude, ike
Turkish camp was actually in Subaihi country, but they had apparently good
reasons for keeping out of the country of their own subjects, the Zureki. Iheir
men were also on half rations, as they were now far^ from Taiz, and had great
difficulty in getting camels to bring up supplies which they had purchased^ in
Aden. The British Commissioners therefore came to their assistance, inducing
the Juledi (Subaihi) Sheikhs to furnish camels to fetch these supplies, and also
lending the Turks some camels of their own.
154 On 23rd April the Turkish Commissioners arrived at Mudariba, with
an escort of 230 men and a mountain gun, and discussions were resumed. It
will not be necessary to go much into detail in describing the proceedings of
the next three or four weeks. The British Commission moved tinough the
country, which is hilly, barren and difficult, suffering from the heat, and to a
certain extent from the scarcity of water. At one place, Haiki, they encountered
some hostility from the people, acting under Turkish influence, but that was
remedied, and the survey appears to have been on the whole satisfactorily
carried out.
155. The British Commissioners satisfied themselves that the tribal territory
of the Subaihis extended as far to the north-west as Akama and Akkar, res
pectively, about 34, and 24, miles east of Mokha.* But the Turks had succeeded
in obtaining a hold over the people in a considerable portion of this tract; their
Sheikhs paying taxes to the Turkish authorities in Mokha, and making no claim
to British protection. Colonel Wahab, therefore, offered to accept a line which
would include in the British protectorate all the Suhaihis (Juledi, Buremi and
Atifi), who still maintained their independence, and leave to the Turks those
who had accepted their rule. This line would run from the neighbourhood of
Mudariba, which is about 26 miles straight inland from Ras Arab, in a general
west-north-westerly direction for about 15 miles, and would then turn south-
westward, following for the most part the water-shed between the Red Sea drainage
and that running to the Gulf of Aden, down to the eastern side of the Sheikh
Said peninsula. This proposal would leave a large area to which the Subaihis
have or had good claims to the Turks and it has been considered necessary to
require the Turks to recognise our reversionary rights to the tract which
includes Sheikh Said, and to secure for this concession a definite settlement of
the border to the north-east beyond the Bana. Up to the time of writing ( 12 th
June 1904) the Turks have not accepted this boundary, though it appears to be
an eminently reasonable one, but it seems likely that it will be agreed to after
the usual delay.
156. On the night of 20fch May the officers of the British Boundary
Commission, having made their way back to Ras Arab, were conveyed from
thence to Perim, where they proposed to remain while discussing with the
Turks the question of where the boundary should reach the sea. Their
escort, except a few men retained as a guard for a surveyor working at
Sheikh Said, together with the wing of the 94th infantry, which had been
keeping open communications, embarked at Ras Arab for Aden on the days
immediately following. The Turkish Commission in the meantime moved
to Turba, a short range on the east side of the Sheikh Said peninsula and now
crowned by a Turkish fort. The projection of Turba into the sea is marked
<c Warner’s Point ” on the Admiralty charts. At the foot of the hill is the
hamlet of Turba, which consists only of a few mat huts.
157. A brief notice of the history of Sheikh Said may be of interest. In
1869 a Prench Company obtained a footing there, with the idea of creating a
coal depot, though they never seem to have got so far as depositing any coal.
This, it will be remembered, was before the Turkish occupation of Yemen
in 1871, and the country on the Arabian coast in the neighbourhood of
Perim might naturally be presumed to belong to its inhabitants, unless claimed
° The former of these two places has been identified as the El Khamer of the War Office
(10 miles to 1 inch) map. The latter is north of “ Musa ” (properly Moza ?) on the same map.