"مذكرة تتعلق بترسيم حدود عدن" [ظ‎‎١‎٧‎٦] (٢٢/١٠)

4
and in October 1901 the Government of India
suggested a delimitation of the frontieij an
independent proposal to the same effect being
made almost at the same time by the Ottoman
Government.
The proposal was accepted, and the Commis
sioners met at Dthali, the chief village of the
Amiri, in February 1902. The British Com
missioner was Colonel Wahab, R.E., of the
Survey Department of the Government of India.
He was familiar with the country, having carried
out surveys in 1891—92 as far north as Dthali.
It transpired, however, that the Turks had
utilized the interval before the Commissioners
met to occupy with regular troops and artillery
a number of points in Amiri territory which had
hitherto been in the possession of the Sheikh,
among others Jalela, which they had previously
occupied in 1885. They also established irregular
Arab levies over a great part of the Amiri terri
tory, terrorising the natives and making them
believe that Turkish rule was to he established.
Inflammatory religious appeals against the
British were also circulated.
The Turkish troops and levies had orders to
prevent any British party from moving about
for purposes of survey or inquiry, and persons
attached to the Commission were actually fired
on. The British escort at this time consisted of
only 150 men, while the Turks had, apart from
levies, over 800 regulars and eight guns on the
Dthali plateau in the immediate neighbourhood
of the British camp.
His Majesty’s Government protested against
these encroachments without result, and eventu
ally. to ease the situation, it was proposed in June
that the delimitation of the Amiri country should
be postponed, and that the delimitation of the
country of theYaffai (another of the nine tribes),
lying to the north-east of the Amiri, should be
proceeded with. This led to no result, as though
the Turkish Government professed to accept the
proposal, the Commissioners on the spot received
instructions not to recognize the Yaffai as one
of the nine tribes. A complete deadlock ensued,
the Turkish Government being unable or un
willing to control their local authorities.
In these circumstances it was decided, on
the recommendation of Sir N. O’Conor, that
Mr. Eitzmaurice, second dragoman of the
Embassy at Constantinople, should be appointed