THE PIRATE COAST.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXI, Issue 47, 25 February 1911, Page 10

THE PIRATE COAST.

MAJOR COX, BRITISH RESIDENT. The first time I met Major Cox was in Bushire, at the head of the Persian Gulf, says the special correspondent of the Daily Maih I had ridden from the I North of Persia, and had spent many arduous days in those terrible mountains of barren rock that guard the entrance to Persia from the south. For two days my horse had carried me over the plain that was a sea and had brought mo safely to the waters of the Gulf. And there ib looked as if 1 must be marooned, for further progress was impossible. While I talked to the Arabs in. the hope of finding a way out of my difficulties my rescuer appeared. A boat put off from an Arab dhow that lay in the shallows, and I was invited to embark for Bushire. Bushire is not an earthly Paradise, though it seemed to me on that day to hold all the attractions of the world. Its miserable hovels and squalid bazaar contained at least the promise of comforts that had long been denied. A few miles across a sandy plain was the Residency in which Major Cox lives, and from which he exercises the prerogatives of the British and Indian Governments over the Persian Gulf and the chiefs of the Pirate Coast. He has ateo a summer residence at Shiraz, one of the romantic cities of Persia, but it is usually occupied by the British Consul, as the journey to Shiraz is long and tedious, and Major Cox cannot often be spared from the Gulf. What is the Resident in the Persian Gulf, and what is he doing in Persian territory? you ask. The Resident is a political officer under the Indian Government, and the reason for his" presence in Persia is this : — For centuries the Persian Gulf was the haunt of pirates, and became known as the Pirate Coast. From the shores of Arabia came hordes of Arab rovers, who" put to sea in their dhows and fell upon the helpless merchantman making for the Shat-el-Arab, the waterway to Southern Persia and Mesopotamia, or upon the pearl | fisher returning from his hazardous yet profitable search in the bed of the sea. The Salli rovers of Morocco, who terrorised Europe for generations, were not more daring and diabolical in their methods than these ruffians of the Pirate Coast. As they were a constant danger to India, the British Government took them in hand, and for many years waged a relentless war with the pirates. Peace was established at last. The chiefs were coerced into submission, and their good conduct wag guaranteed by grants of money and by the support of the Indian Government when in trouble with their neighbours or with their own tribesmen. In order to enforce these conditions a Resident was appointed, and as Bushire, at the head of the Gulf, is the most convenient sally-port, it was chosen as the seat of his government. This is why Major Cox is in Bushire, and why he has gone to Dibai in order to discover who is responsible for the attack on the landing party of tha cruiser Hyacinth. And a more efficient envoy could not have been found than this soldier-administrator, who unites the suppleness of the East with the vigour and courage and determination of the West. He knows how to punish and to reward, and he speaks the language and is familiar with the mind of the native. Many are the little ware he has saved us by the speed with which ,he descends upon a restive, chief and by the confidence he inspires in his justice and His power to punish evildoers. The stories told of Major Cox would make an exciting romance. Not long ago an Arab chief had a quarrel with one of . his neighbours. He dared not attack openly, for he knew that Major Cox _ sits in a whispering gallery at Bushire and would swoop down upon him like a hawk. So the chief, being an Arab and therefore ingenious, hit upon a plan that would not excite- suspicion until ho had wrought his vengeance. Among his papers he dißcovercd a letter from the Resident, invitiug him to a <;ertain plaoe on the coast for a friendly talk. It was a very old letter, but the alteration of a date and a name made it serve the purpose of the wily chieftain. The invitation was despatched by camel to his enemy, who, believing that he was being honoured by a visit from the Resident, set out joyfully to the appointed meeting. To his consternation and undoing he found awaiting him, not his friend Major Cox, but hi* sworn enemy, who had taken the precaution to bring with him many armed retainer?. The deluded chief did not submit without a strugle, but his comrades were quickly put to flight and lie was made a prisoner. Stripped of his robes and tied with ropes to an ass, the unhappy chief was carried to his enemy's territory, where he was subjected to many indignities and threatened with the loss of his life. But before many hours one of the relatives of the captive was riding on a swifb camel to the nearest British post. By night and by day ho rode, and came at last to Bussora, on the Euphrates, where the telegraph soon made Major Cox acquainted with the outrage and the danger of a tribal war. A mile from the shore at Bushire there lies at anchor bhe armed paddleboat Lawrence of the Royal Indian Marine awaiting the orders of the Resident. Major Cox is quickly on board, and the Lawrence steams full speed for the Pirate Coast. A messenger is sent ashore with a peremptory order to the offending chief. If he is not on board the Lawrence with liis captive by noon his village will be bombarded. Noon approaches, and there is no sign) of tho culprit. The Lawrence manoeuvres into position and her guns look hungrily towards tho Arab houses. That is all the chief wants to persuade him. He comes to make submission. But Major Cox's work has not ended. He has to ensure the peace and to restore the self-respect of the captive as well as the> confidence of his tribe. Here is scope for the "Oriental diplomatist. Major Cox dons his finest uniform, and, putting himself at the head of the Arab cavalcade, with the released captive on his right and the baffled chieftain on his left, rides through tho desert to the captive's home. This triumphal entry at once restores the selfrespect of the chief and the confidence of his tribe, and the danger of reprisals is removed. I could tell many stories of breathless rides through the desert in Arabia to circumvent marauders and hostile expeditions, and of cunning intrigues exposed and brought to nought that are tne gossip of the Persian Gulf. But Major Cox is one of those public servants whose adventures are chronicled in the archives of the India Office, where he prefers that they should remain.

One of the last acts of the present U.S. Republican Congress will be to increase the pension list, which is already so high as to constitute a severe strain upon the public resources annually. When it is remembered that the Civil War took place forty-eight ye^ars ago, i and the war with Mexico sixty-four years ago, the continual increase in the amount of pensions and in the number of pensioners is surprising and lays the Republican Congress open to a suspicion of jobbery and a bid for popularity, j Owing to the activity of agento, known as "pension sharks," the number of pen- ! sioners has steadily increased from 85,986 in 1865 to 946,194 in 1909. Many of these pensioners never actually served in the field, though called to arms, and very many are in no need whatever of the monej, i

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