'File No. II/9 Foreign Dept Memoranda of Information re. affairs in Persian Gulf, Maskat & Arabian Shore of the Persian Gulf. Nov '07 - Dec '08.' [‎21r] (43/132)

Wonckhaus, but on learning the precise text
of the document he at once repudiated it.
If Hassan had such a letter as that sug
gested, and if it was of any value, he might
have sued his co-partner on it in the Resi
dency Court, since both parties were British
subjects under the jurisdiction of the Resident
in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .
In any case it was considered that this
question was one between the partners them
selves, and could not be said to concern the
Germans, whose complaint was against the
action of the Sheikh of Sharga. The said
action was based not on the question whether
the third partner did or did not agree to the
German contract, but on the fact that the
said contract conferred a monopoly which the
concessionaires, whether two or three, had no
power to give, and to which the Sheikh alto
gether objected.
As regards the alleged firing on Mr. Brown,
the following were the facts reported :—On
22nd October, the son and miners of the Lingah
concessionaire were evicted from the mines
and despatched to Lingah and a strong guard
was then left on the island by the Sheikh of
Sharga with orders not to allow anyone to land
at the mines. Meanwhile, Mr. Brown, who
had previously sent a letter to the Sheikh
threatening to send over his own employes
“ to protect our property *' and who, it was
stated, before leaving Bahrein informed
persons in Lingah that he intended to plant
the German flag on the oxide mines, proceed
ed to the island in a native boat dying the
German flag, and anchored off the oxide
mines. In spite of repealed warnings shouted
to him by Sheikh’s guard that he would not
be allowed to land, he persisted in attempting
to do so, and as he neared the shore the guard
therefore fired two shots in the air to deter
him. On his expostulating at this and assur
ing them that he only wished to see how
matters stood, the guard allowed two of his
men to land and see all they wished and then
escorted them back to the boat; Brown sailed
back to Lingah after this and the incident
closed.
On the 7th January, the Secretary of
State for India was informed that the
Resident considered that the proper course
for the aggrieved party to follow would be to
institute a suit in the Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. Court or at
any rate refer the matter to the Resident.
The Government of India concurred in this.
Messrs. Wonckhaus and also both con
cessionaires, who were naturalised British
subjects, were well aware that the Sheikh of
Sharga w as under the Resident’s political juris
diction. Mr. Wonckhaus himself, in a
somewhat similar case in Bahrein in 1905,