مجموعة ٥/١١ "المسار الجوي إلى الهند: طريق الساحل العربي - مهبط الطوارئ في قطر" [و‎‎١‎٠‎٩] (٣٤٥/٢١٧)

only sorYots to ronoor furthor nogotint tons aioro cUftlcult.
The fUiaikh In quootlon goto wind in the he an from tim foot
tiiat ho hao boon able to •’turn aeon 4 a jttrltlah officer, and
hating done oo not unnaturally hie attitude hardens. Ho
flnde It difficult to retreat fron the position ho has taken
up, and will only do so—-unless under threat of oompulslon
—under oover of exorbitant demands. Unfortunately two
oases of such rebuffs to offloors have occurred m the last
two nonths: to the Political a^ ent, bahrain, at ^atar, axkL
to the Political Agent, Muocat, at aalfea.
3* In order to aYdld, If It Is practicable, such
Incidento In the future X propose, when air—or other-
facilities are required fron shaikhs, to adopt a procedure
used with some success in areas outside the Gulf where
1 haYe served: to find out beforehand by weane of unofficial
—or denl-offlclal—"repreeentatlvee* Hhat reception the
Shaikh concerned Is likely to give to the proposal. An Arab
Shaikh, is wore likely to reveal—in tut flrat instance at
all events—the tortuous vorklngi of his Arabian mind to a
fellow Arab than to a hritlah officer, unce these pre~
liainary soundings have been taken, and 1 an wore or less
au felt with what is the iihaikh's attitude on tin subject, as
well as that of hie relatives and trlbeanen, the questioner
sending a Political officer to open official negotiatlcne can
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b< considered. These methods nay seen protracted but with
the Arab often nhe longest way round is the shortest way
hone*, and it Is obvious that when an officer finally visits
a fthalkh. after this preliminary reoonnalsanoe has beets
he dees ee with the decided advantage of knowing pre
viously how the land Ilea. I would have liked to adopt times
methods in the case of qatar and before the Pblltloal Agents
first visit to Kalba, but time did not permit, and of course
if on any fuXtnre occasion long notice Is not possible and