"14/115 X، B 31، الأكسيد بجزيرة أبو موسى" [و‎‎٥‎٥] (٤٥٦/١٢٢)

J*
2.
The trouble, as I see it, is how to deal with the Sheikh,
direct and immediately; I think I gathered from you that if we
sent a representative to Sharjah, he would be put in the fort
reserved as a resthouse as a safety measure - how would .he be
able to investigate the possibilities and sample the ore of Musa.
The persian Gulf may have changed since I knew it but I
imagine, even today, that the Resident at Bushire might be unlikely
to welcome the idea of a British subject, unused to Arabs and
their ways and not knowing their language, wandering about the
islands in a native vessel, exploring the possibilities of the
deposits. Incidentally too there is the physical difficulty of
sending out a technical representative during the hot weather
season who would be quite unacclimatised, and who would not, of
necessity, be able to enjoy the proper housing and so forth, which
those permanently serving in the Gulf, have provided for them.
But there is the fact of this man, on the spot, a native of
those parts, ready and willing to make a bargain forthwith.
The only thing which at the moment occurs to me, is that
if we could be informed what he is prepared to pay the Sheikh for
the concession, we might thus informed, be given the opportunity of
considering whether, even with the meagre information we have, we
would be prepared to make an equivalent or better offer and thus
keep the matter within the British zone of interest.
If however, the necessity for an immediate decision could be
staved off for a reasonable period, it may be that there are
established and trading in the Gulf, reputable British firms, who
by their experience and so forth could be trusted by the Resident
to undertake for us, negotiations and investigations on the spot,
without undue fear that by inexperience and lack of local know
ledge they might involve the country in undesirable political
troubles.