straight to the point, and told him how Barkat had promised many things to the naval Commander-in-Chief, none of which he had observed, and quoted instances. His Excellency then remarked he supposed we desired Dadullah, Rahim Dad, and others to be produced; whereupon I replied he would be conferring far greater benefit to the country by removing Barkat Khan himself, Somewhat to our surprise, he immediately acquiesced, said he had heard of all his misdeeds, and would take him away with him, placing Mustapha Khan in charge of the country east of Kuh Mubarak, and Mir Haji in charge of Biaban, This was highly satisfactory so far as it went, but I could not help suspecting there would be a catch in it somewhere. On leaving, His Excellency proceeded straight to the fort, where Mustapha, Barkat, Haji, and Kambar were awaiting his return. There some discussion took place between the Daria Begi and the chiefs, during which Barkat and Kambar nearly came to blows, and were with difficulty separated. This fracas over, the Daria Begi, addressing Mustapha, said: "You are to have Baluchi" (i.e., the country from near the Sadaich river to Kuh Mubarak); and to Mir Haji, "you, Biaban." Turning to Barkat he continued, "And what is left for you?" Never at a loss, Barkat promptly replied, "I will go with your Excellenoy." "Yes," said the Daria Begi, "you will come with me; and I will provide for you in Minab, Bandar Abbas, Abbas, or Lingeh." He then led the way to his boat, and so out to the Persepolis. Meantime Barkat's followers were hanging about, not fully realising what had occurred. And it was not until Barkat's bedding, clothes, and few personal servants were sent for that the situation was thoroughly comprehended. Later, the Daria Begi appears to have summoned Mustapha and Mir Haji on board, and explained to them that Barkat was his "son," but unfortunately was regarded as an enemy by the British; so he was taking him with him. After the Persepolis had sailed, Mir Haji and Mustapha both reported to me that the Governor had omitted to present them with their "sanads" (or letters of authority). So the old boy had been oute to the end; but this trick I intended to scotch by cabling both to both to the actingResident at Bushire and to the Consul at Bandar Abbas, to make the Governor disgorge them. Moreover, it was most emphatically undesirable that Barkat should be installed at Minab, or anywhere else in these regions, by the Daria Begi; so the Resident was asked to prevent this by every means in his power. The Hardinge had arrived from Karachi the previous day; and whilst all this entertaining business was taking place, the troops had been landed from her for purposes of exercise, some little distance do oredit to all concerned. Mirs Haji and Kambar then set forth on the return journey to their homes, after each had been presented with a small sum of money to repay them the expenses to which they had been put on coming to Jashk. east of the station. Barkat's appeared to The flag-ship had left for Lingeh shortly after the On the departure of the Persepolis sailed, and the Persepolis I sent for both Hardinge had proceeded to Mir Haji and Mustapha, and the neighbourhood of Sirik, spoke to them seriously about as reports were current that their future attitude towards the Afghans at Sohar inthis gun-running. Mustapha tended to make a determined in particular was strongly effort to get their arms across cautioned, and he was canto the Biaban coast. Now didly informed that we knew that the season was beginning him to be a deep rogue, as to draw to a close, they were were also his sons; for all evidently anxious to set off their past misdeeds were noted on their return journey to in our records. He had there- Afghanistan, but naturally fore better watch very closely did not feel disposed to leave henceforth, or he might soon in store so large a number of find himself in the same un- their rifles on the Arabian happy case as his younger coast until the following cold brother. The man W88 & weather. On the 14th March shifty old fox, but I judged I received a letter from Mir him to be somewhat more Haji, saying that the Afghans easily cowed than Barkat. were expecting two boatloads from Sohar, and asking us to look after them at sea. would endeavour to prevent the arms being landed; but should he require assistance, he hoped we would be able to furnish it. This information was forwarded by radio to the S.N.O., with the suggestion that touch should be maintained with Mir Haji. Next morning the two chiefs came to me, accompanied by Mir Kambar, who had so far felt he had been left rather out in the cold. Mir Haji and Mustapha had each agreed to allot a portion of their extended territories to the control of Mir Kambar, and desired me to be a witness of this arrangement. I explained that, so far as I was concerned, the subject must be regarded as quite unofficial, since Mir Kambar held no "sanad" from the Daria Begi, but that the proposal He Several enigmatical radio messages were flying about at that period regarding events at Bandar Abbas which I could not quite fathom, not being in telegraphic communi straight to the point, and told him how Barkat had promised many things to the naval Commander-in-Chief, none of which he had observed, and quoted instances. His Excellency then remarked he supposed we desired Dadullah, Rahim Dad, and others to be produced; whereupon I replied he would be conferring far greater benefit to the country by removing Barkat Khan himself. Somewhat to our surprise, he immediately acquiesced, said he had heard of all his misdeeds, and would take him away with him, placing Mustapha Khan in charge of the country east of Kuh Mubarak, and Mir Haji in charge of Biaban, This was highly satisfactory so far as it went, but I could not help suspecting there would be a catch in it somewhere. On leaving, His Excellency proceeded straight to the fort, where Mustapha, Barkat, Haji, and Kambar were awaiting his return. There some discussion took place between the Daria Begi and the chiefs, during which Barkat and Kambar nearly came to blows, and were with difficulty separated. This fracas over, the Daria Begi, addressing Mustapha, said: "You are to have Baluchi" (ie., the country from near the Sadaich river to Kuh Mubarak); and to Mir Haji, "you, Biaban." Turning to Barkat he continued, "And what is left for you?" Never at a loss, Barkat promptly replied, "I will go with 66 with your Excellency." "Yes," said the Daria Begi, "you will come with me; and I will provide for you in Minab, Bandar Abbas, or Lingeh." He then led the way to his boat, and so out to the Persepolis. Meantime Barkat's followers were hanging about, not fully realising what had occurred. And it was not until Barkat's bedding, clothes, and few personal servants were sent for that the situation was thoroughly comprehended. Later, the Daria Begi appears to have summoned Mustapha and Mir Haji on board, and explained to them that Barkat was his "son," but unfortunately was regarded as an enemy by the British; so he was taking him with him. After the Persepolis had sailed, Mir Haji and Mustapha both reported to me that the Governor had omitted to present them with their "sanads" (or letters of authority). So the old boy had been oute to the end; but this trick I intended to scotch by cabling both to the actingResident at Bushire and to the Consul at Bandar Abbas, to make the Governor disgorge them. Moreover, it was most emphatically undesirable that Barkat should be installed at Minab, or anywhere else in these regions, by the Daria Begi; so the Resident was asked to prevent this by every means in his power. The Hardinge had arrived from Karachi the previous day; and whilst all this entertaining business was taking place, the troops had been landed from her for purposes of exercise, some little distance do oredit to all concerned. Mirs Haji and Kambar then set forth on the return journey to their homes, after each had been presented with a small sum of money to repay them the expenses to which they had been put on coming to Jashk. east of the station. Barkat's appeared to On the departure of the Persepolis I sent for both Mir Haji and Mustapha, and spoke to them seriously about their future attitude towards this gun-running. Mustapha in particular was strongly cautioned, and he was candidly informed that we knew him to be a deep rogue, as were also his sons; for all their past misdeeds were noted in our records. He had therefore better watch very olosely henceforth, or he might soon find himself in the same unhappy case as his younger brother. The man was a shifty old fox, but I judged him to be somewhat more easily cowed than Barkat. Next morning the two chiefs came to me, accompanied by Mir Kambar, who had so far felt he had been left rather out in the cold. Mir Haji and Mustapha had each agreed to allot a portion of their extended territories to the control of Mir Kambar, and desired me to be a witness of this arrangement. I explained that, so far as I was concerned, the subject must be regarded as quite unofficial, since Mir Kambar held no "sanad" from the Daria Begi, but that the proposal The flag-ship had left for Lingeh shortly after the Persepolis sailed, and the Hardinge had proceeded to the neighbourhood of Sirik, as reports were current that the Afghans at Sohar intended to make a determined effort to get their arms across to the Biaban coast. Now that the season was beginning to draw to a close, they were evidently anxious to set off on their return journey to Afghanistan, but naturally did not feel disposed to leave in store so large a number of their rifles on the Arabian coast until the following cold weather. On the 14th March I received a letter from Mir Haji, saying that the Afghans were expecting two boatloads from Sohar, and asking us to look after them at sea. would endeavour to prevent the arms being landed; but should he require assistance, he hoped we would be able to furnish it. This information was forwarded by radio to the S.N.O., with the suggestion that touch should be maintained with Mir Haji. He Several enigmatical radio messages were flying about at that period regarding events at Bandar Abbas which I could not quite fathom, not being in telegraphic communi cation with Captain Rae at that place. All I could gather for the moment was that trouble had broken out there, and it was not until the morning of the 15th Maroh, when the flag-ship arrived and I was signalled to go aboard, that I learnt from Captain Dick what had occurred. The excitement had all been due to the Daria Begi having landed himself in difficulties there. Captain Dick showed me a message he had received from the commander of the Sphinx the previous day, the purport of which was that shortly after the departure of the flag-ship from Bandar Abbas on the 13th a wounded Persian was brought aboard the Sphinx (then stationed there) for medical treatment. The man had been shot in the shoulder, and reported a disturbance in the town. This was presently confirmed by a note from Captain Rae, who asked the Sphinx to stand by until it had subsided. Briefly, the facts were that the Daria Begi had taken up his residence in the Governor's house, accompanied by Barkat Khan. On the night of the 12th some 400 "tufangchis" (riflemen) belonging to a henchman of the Lari Saiyid had entered Bandar Abbas and attacked the Government building, in which the Daria Begi was then besieged. Eventually he bought off his assailants with a bribe of 500 "tomans" (then about £100), and the Laris withdrew again at sunset on the 13th. Apparently one man on each side was killed, and about nine or ten others wounded, and peace was once more proclaimed. A truly Persian episode. Subsequent reports made it abundantly clear that Barkat, far from travelling as a prisoner, was being treated by the Daria Begi as an honoured guest, and he appears to have afforded much assistance to the Governor when they were besieged. Further, he was allowed to despatch messengers to his former subjects, calling on them to send armed men with all speed up to Bandar Abbas to enable him and the Daria Begi to deal with local troubles; and he stated in these letters that he was quite free and would soon be back again at Jashk. The Daria Begi, moreover, informed Captain Rae that several prominent people in Bandar Abbas had begged that Barkat Khan should be installed there as their Governor! But thenOriental "diplomats" generally do have vivid imaginations. Shortly after this farcical attitude of the Daria Begi towards Barkat had been disclosed, intelligence was received that Colonel Cox, the British Resident in the Gulf, was returning from leave, and was on board the sloop H.M.S. Odin, then en route to Masqat from home waters. I accordingly sent a radio message to the Odin, asking Colonel Cox if he could kindly spare me an hour or two by calling in at Jashk on his way to resume charge at Bushire, and was informed in reply that it was his intention to do so. He |