'SUMMARY OF THE PRINCIPAL EVENTS AND MEASURES OF THE VICEROYALTY OF HIS EXCELLENCY LORD CURZON OF KEDLESTON, VICEROY AND GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF INDIA IN THE FOREIGN DEPARTMENT. I. JANUARY 1899-APRIL 1904. II. DECEMBER 1904-NOVEMBER 1905. VOLUME IV. PERSIA AND THE PERSIAN GULF.' [‎166v] (337/386)

wfls despatched to Mashat with the ostensible object of conductmsr tliis exarni-
n at ion and of investigating the question whether any dhows with Preach papers
were implicated in the slave trade.
The actual proceedings of the Commander of the Preach vessel were
Telegram to secretary of state, dated the 26th reported by Captain Cox to be of a very
August 1900. different nature. He made no enquiries
into the question whether the French flag-holders were implicated in the slave
trade, but directed his endeavours mainly towards intimidating the Sultan into
returning to the dhow A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean. owners the French papers which they had handed over
to him: and to persuading His Highness to receive as an intermediary
between His Highness and the French Consul one Abdul Aziz whom the
Sultan had dismissed from his service. The attitude maintained by the
Sultan in this situation was most satisfactory. He persisted in his refusal to
receive Abdul Aziz, and declined tc return the papers to their owners. The
French vessel then visited Sur, and apparently persuaded some of the Sheikhs
to recant from their undertaking given to the Sultan, and to plead that they
had given it under pressure. Two of the owners of the papers, however, who
had handed them over to the Sultan, came into Maskat and, after receiving
their papers back from the Sultan, handed them over to M. Ottavi. On her
way to Sur, the “ Drome ” met and stopped several Suri dhows proceeding to
Basrah, and compelled them to come to Maskat flying the tri-colour.
It is important to notice that, in the course of this incident, no exception
was taken either by M. Ottavi or by the French Commander to the terms of
the Sultan’s edict, and that M. Ottavi stated, with a somewhat remarkable
divergence from the truth, that he had never claimed to give the flag-holders
protection.
It was not until the “ Drome ” had left Maskat that the Government of
* Secretary of State’s telegram, dated the 20th India Were authorised* to CODVey to
A second French vessel (the “ Catinat called at Maskat in December
1900, and took the opportunity to visit Snr. The French Commander is said
that he had settled the matter of the flags with the Sultan in a satisfactory
way, and that His Highness had agreed to let them all remain French subjects.
In April 1901, Captain Cox suggested that the Sultan might be advised to
issue a further notification, in continuation of his edict above referred to, to
to fly within his territories or in his territorial waters any foreign flag except
with the written authority of the Sultan : and that any one acting in contra
vention of this order would be liable to fine or other punishment.
This suggestion was forwardedf to His Majesty’s Government with the
+ secret despatch to Secretary of state. No. 69 remark that, in the opinion of the Govern-
(kxtemai), dated the 9th May 1901. ment of India, the Sultan would be within
his rights in issuing the notification. But they required the authority of His
Majesty’s Government before advising the Sultan to issue it. That authority
has not yet been accorded.
The subject of the increase of French influence in Oman was again brought
into prominence in the summer of the present year, when Captain Cox, with
a geological expert deputed by the Government of India, visited the neighbour
hood of Sur in order to examine a coal reef said to be situated in the vicinity.
The exploration was conducted with the full knowledge and consent of the
Sultan ; it met with considerable opposition from the local tribes, which Captain
Cox attributes, apparently with justice, to the adverse influence of the French
Consul and Abdul Aziz, who arrived at Sur in a French vessel (the “ Infernet ”)
a lew days before the British party, and stirred up the tribes against them.
On the 7th June 1901, a telegram was received from the Secretary of State,
intimating that the Foreign Office considered it impossible to maintain that
French protection and the use of the French flag are limited to the high seas