IOR/R/15/1/22

This volume consists of letters written from the Bushire Residency. The first eighty-two items are attributed to William Bruce; the remaining items, with the exception of a few letters written by Bruce from various locations, are written by James Dow, Assistant Surgeon at the Bushire Residency, who was in charge of the Residency during William Bruce's absence. Most of the letters are written to representatives of the Government of Bombay, with the most common recipients being John Wedderburn (Accountant General, Civil Auditor and Military Accountant), Richard Morgan (Secretary to the Marine Board), Francis Warden (Chief Secretary to the Government) and Mountstuart Elphinstone (President and Governor in Council, Bombay). In addition, a significant number of letters are addressed to army officers, including Major General Sir William Grant Keir and Captain Thomas Perronet Thompson. Many of the letters to Bombay concern the routine sending of bills and receipts relating to expenses (the most common of which being supplies for East India Company ships) incurred by the Residency. Other subjects covered in the volume include: William Bruce joining HMS Eden on her voyage along the Arab coast in search of Wahhābī boats; news and speculation regarding Ḥusayn ‘Alī Mīrzā's plans to launch an attack against Bahrain; relations between Arab chieftains following the General Treaty with the Arab Tribes of the Persian Gulf of 1820; details of the Residency complying with requests for funds or supplies for the British troops stationed at Ra's al-Khaymah, and later, at Qeshm; details of a treaty between the Imam of Muscat (Sa‘īd bin Sultān Āl Sa‘īd) and the Shaikhs of Bahrain, as relayed to Bruce by Rahma bin Jabir; the death of a crew member of the Eliza country ship and the subsequent investigation into the treatment received on board that ship; presents sent by His Highness Ebrāhim Khan, Governor of Kermān, to Mountstuart Elphinstone, Governor of Bombay; the death, on 10 November 1821, of Dr Andrew Jukes, Political Agent in Persia.