"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الأجزاء Iأ و Iب. ج.ج. لوريمر ١٩١٥" [‎٩‎٦‎٨] (١٧٨٢/١١٢٣)

968
ment towards him would be * folfilled ; and on tie 5th of June Colonel
I'elly was further iustruoted to interdict the Trueial Shaikhs fr™
maritime operations, whether on the side of or against the Turks, and to
use his influence with all other chiefs for the purpose of maintaining the
peace at sea. No reply was sent at the time to the Wahhahi Sa'nd,
\\hen the crisis arose there was not a single British war vessel in the
Gulf; hut eventually the "Bullfinch" reached Bahrain on the 3rd of
J une, the " Magpie " passed Jashk on the 5th of June, and the " Lynx "
arrived at Han jam on the 16th of July.
The Turkish Government were subsequently informed of the instruc
tions given to the British Kesident, and the Grand Vazir expressed his
thanks ; he added, however, that, if any of the Tracial Shaikhs should
voluntarily offer their services to the Porte, the same would he accepted,
as the Turkish Government had no cognisance of the arrangements in
regard to the maritime peace in the Gulf. To meet this evasion the
nrkish Minister was immediately supplied with copies of the engage-
ments between the British Government and the Tmcial Shaikhs.
Precise details regarding the Turkish operations are, for the most part,
wanting The naval portion of the expedition, seen by Colonel Herbert
at Basrah at the beginning of May, consisted of the steam corvette
roussa, 23 guns; the steamer " Ninone " originally unarmed, in which
four guns had been placed; the " Khojab Bey," an old wooden guardship
ong eemed unseaworthy, 18 guns; and three Basrah-built brigantinee,
m ; tter than the " Kh »iah Bey/' carrying 12, 6 and 4 guns.
Iwo other steamers were added later; but the bulk of the transport must
have been provided by the Shaikh of Kuwait, who was subsequently
oun o ave joined the expedition in person with 300 vessels belonging
o us port. Sarynl Muhammad Sa'id, a eon of the Naqib of Basrah,
* a ® a l kh 0f the Mu " tafl k. and other influential Arbas from 'Iraq
Zrmrfl JT 8 ' aPParen% 38 " parkmentaires" or political
troor '.iT'r.o, 6 klsl1 force ' which consisted of about 4,000 regular
ZLr ; 0 aMiliarieS With gTins, disembarked a^Ras
meetine with 1' bt " May 1S71 and marched by laud to Qatif town,
Qatif ha^m? ^ °VV™tio n by the way. The Wahhabi Governor of
on the 3rd of Ji i" S " 11 ' enJer ' tlle town was attacked by land and sea
column was ^^ 00! wht" ^ h0UrS bomba " A
1C occll P i ed Auik after a show of resistance,
* A general assurance of Bunnorf- tm 10 f u .
however, protection by Britain pyp f • aVe e0n ' n ^ en< ^ e< i' 1° the Convention,
not appear to be promised. ^ agaiI18t " Chiefs ^ tribes of this Gulf " does