IOR/R/15/1/157, ff 76-82

The letter and its enclosures relate to ongoing efforts by British officials to recover property plundered from a shipwrecked vessel at Sharjah, or to obtain compensation from Shaikh Sultan ben Suggar [Sultan bin Saqr]. The following enclosures are included with Jones’s letter:

1. Letter no.70 of 1856 (folio 76v) from Commodore Richard Ethersey, Commanding Officer Persian Gulf Squadron, to Jones, dated 1 April 1856. Ethersey’s letter itself encloses a copy of a report (folios 77-79) from Lieutenant Carpendale of the Honourable Company’s schooner Constance, dated 31 March 1856. The letter is a report of the Constance’s patrol of the Arab coast and includes details of Lieutenant Carpendale’s meeting with the Native Agent at Sharjah [Hajjī Yaqoob], during which various topics are discussed, including competition and conflict over pearl banks, ships sailing to Zanzibar to take part in the slave trade, and attempts to recover compensation from Shaikh Sultan bin Saqr for the plunder of a cargo from a shipwreck at Sharjah. In lieu of payment, Carpendale reports that Shaikh Sultan handed over gold and jewels. A list of the valuables handed over, dated 17 March 1856, follows the letter (folio 79);

2. Letter no 130 of 1856 (folio 80) from Jones to Ethersey, dated 7 April 1856, discussing the true value of goods recovered from Shaikh Sultan bin Saqr;

3. The substance of a letter (folio 81) from Shaikh Sultan bin Saqr to Jones, dated 18 March 1856, reiterating his position relating to the punishment of his subjects for involvement in the plunder, and stating that compensation will be paid at the end of the pearling season;

4. The translation of a letter (folio 82) from Jones to Shaikh Sultan bin Saqr, dated 8 April 1856, insisting that when payment is due, it should be paid without delay.