HOW BRITAIN ENFORCES HER DEMANDS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXX, Issue 88, 15 April 1899, Page 2 (Supplement)

HOW BRITAIN ENFORCES HER DEMANDS.

DETAILS OF THE MUSCAT INCIDENT

Sometime ago our London cables stated, that it had come to the ears of the British naval officers stationed in the Gulf of Oman that the Sultan of Muscat had signed an agreement with the French Consul at Muscat by which Prance was to be ceded the port of Bunder Jissah, that the cession was so strongly resented by the British officers, backed up with the guns of their warships, that the Sultan found it prudent to 'back down' at once, and cancsl the agreement. A correspondent of the Bombay 'Gazette Budget' writing from Muscat on February 18, says:—'When His Highness the Sultan was first questioned by Major Fagan about the reported cession of a port to the French, he refused to give an answer, on the ground that he was an independent sovereign and could do as he pleased with his own. This answer pleased the common people vastly, as it raised them in their own estimation. It was, however, of no avail for His Highness to fence with the British Government, for by this time it was. well known to everyone that he had ceded a port, and that the port was Bunder Jissah, a snug anchorage, about six miles to the southward of Muscat. Affairs were still in this- unsatisfactory condition when H.M. Eclipse, with RearAdmiral Douglas on board, came into the harbour and anchored, and the Sultan's flag was saluted with 21 guns. The arrival of such a big uhip produced a tremendous effect. Nearly all the inhabitants of the town turned out to look at her. A very anxjous feeling was aroused in the town when it was seen that the Admiral did not pay the usual visit to the Sultan, and rumours spread abroad that if His Highness did not carry out the British demands the town and forts would be bombarded. In the meanwhile His Highness agreed to but remained obdurate on the important point. On Thursday morning, however, a complete change took place, after the arrival of H.M.s. Redbreast and Jask. A notification was sent round to His Highness that if he did. not attend on board the flagship at 2 p.m. for a durbar with His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief of the East India Squadron at 2.30, the forts would be bombarded. Naturally this notification—which was also sent to the British, American and French' Consulates—produced a tremendous effect" in the town, and the shops were all shut up in the bazaar and all business was at a standstill, no other topic of conversation being of the slightest interest. Hauled, with her broadside commanding the whole town, lay the Eclipse. Close to th« Eclipse lay the Redbreast, similarly placed, but forming a portion of a Bemicircle with the agflship, while quite dose in shore was the Sphinx, with her guns commanding the largest* fort. Early in the morning the Sphinx was at the othe side of the harbour right in the way of th« Eclipse, and it was.the sight of• the Sphinx hauling across 4h&.- harbour; so as

("to get out of the line of fire of the flagship and taking up a position tocommand the largest fort, that finally conI vinced the Sultan that the British were in earnest, and not playing bluff. Even at this juncture of affairs His Highness could not be induced to act quite straightforwardly, for about noon he sent his 1 brother off to the flagship as his deputy. The Admiral, however, refused to hold any conversation with him, and sent him on shore again. Learning this, His Highness ordered a notification cancelling the cession of a port to the French to ba placed in a conspicuous place at the Cus- ' tomshouse, and on each of the two gates of the town, and then at 1.30 went off to the flagship, where he was received with the usual honours. After a long conference, lasting nearly three hours, His Highness left the flagship in the Admiral's own boat, and was saluted with 20 guns. Immediately His Highness left the flagship, the multitudes lining the Customhouse, the shore, and every coign of vaneage on the hills cheered vociferously, and this continued until His High* ness arrived on shore, when everyone who could get near him fell on his neck and kissed him—in the good old Biblical style. One feature of the affair was that the house tops were lined with the ladies of the.harem, whose shrill voices could be distinctly heard above the uproar raised by their presumably better halves. On his return the Sultan intimated to the French Consul that his dragoman could no longer be received by him owing to the part that he had played in the negotiations which had taken place with the French.'