"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الأجزاء Iأ و Iب. ج.ج. لوريمر ١٩١٥" [‎٥‎٣‎٧] (١٧٨٢/٦٨٠)

537
arrived in Zanzibar in company in February 1894?. It was stated by
some that these chiefs, who on their way to Zanzibar had visited "'Abdul
'Aziz in his place of detention at Bombay, had come to offer the Sultanate
of'Oman to Hamad; and the British Consul-General at Zanzibar,
Mr. Cracknall, was accordingly iustructed to caution Saiyid Hamad
against lending-himself to any such intrigue. In May 'Abdullah-bin-
Salih ; Muhsin-bin-'Amr and Hamud the Jahati returned to 'Oman, and
the two former paid a visit to the S ultan at Masqat. It was ascertained
that 'Abdullah and another Shaikh of tlie l iirth had between them
received, at their departure, three field-pieces and 300 barrels of powder
from the Sultan of Zanzibar; and that prince, on the probable consequences
of such gifts being pointed out by the Grovernment of India,, was again
warned, and promised that in future he would not give 'Omani visitors
anything beyond the customary sword or dagger and robe of honour,
unless he was specially requested to do by Saiyid Faisal. In the follow
ing year, when the serious financial difficulties of Hamad came to light,
the British authorities at Zanzibar reported that they were partly due to
his extravagant liberality to Arabs from 'Oman.
In October 1894, some months after the return of his son from Suspicious
Zanzibar, Salih-bin-'Ali moved to Samad on pretext of settling disputes
among the Habus, Zikawinah and Warud of that place. He was next Ali, 1894.
heard of as chastising, witli a large force, the Bani Shahaim of TV adi
Dima ; and about the same time, in the month of November, one of his
sons arrived in Wadi Tayin with a considerable following. During these
proceedings of Salih, tlie Ghafiri tribes in charge of the Sharqiyah passes
had closed them against caravans proceeding towards Masqat, and the
Sultan had seized and imprisoned two sons of one of their Shaikhs hom
he found at Matrah ; but he refused to see in the conduct of the tiibes
any sign of disloyalty towards himself on the part of Salili, and, on the
passes being reopened towards the end of November, he released the fovo
hostages on a request from that chief. In "December a sanguinary affiay
took place at Nizwa between the Ba.ni Hina and the Bani Kiyam inhabi
tants of the town, and Salih in the following month sent his son
'Abdullah to mediate between Badar-bin-Hilal and Sulaiman-bin-Saif, the
heads respectively of the two factions; in the end a six months tiuce was
arranged.
From Nizwa 'Abdullah-bin-Salih went towards Masqat, ostensibly to ToW n of Mas-
confer with the Sultan regarding Nizwa affairs; and Saiyid Faisal, ^ reac j ierv y
hoping perhaps that the interview might be the means of recovering and su^'me,
1 • w 'AlwInllaVi 13thlebru-
Nizwa for himself, showed no disinclination to receive him. A n j§95 >
arrived at the capital on the 11th of February with Muhsin-bin- Ami,