464 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1812. 



but rather to open a communica- 

 tion with this particular chief, and 

 through him to the Wahabee him- 

 self, advising the one to prohibit 

 the piracies of his dependants, and 

 requiring the other to respect the 

 flag of England. In answer the 

 Wahabee observed, " The cause 

 of the hostilities carrying on be- 

 tween me and the members of the 

 faith, is, their having turned away 

 from the Book of the Creator, and 

 refused to submit to their own 

 prophet Mahomed. It is not, 

 therefore, those of another sect, 

 against whom I wage war, nor do 

 I interfere in their hostile opera- 

 tions, nor assist them against any 

 one; whilst under the power of 

 the Almighty, I have risen superior 

 to all my enemies." * * ♦ 

 *' Under these circumstances, 1 

 have deemed it necessary to advise 

 you that I shall not approach your 

 shores, and have interdicted the 

 followers of the Mahomedan faith 

 and their vessels, from offering 

 any molestation to your vessels : 

 any of your merchants, therefore, 

 who may appear in, or wish to 

 come to my ports, will be in secu- 

 rity ; and any person on my part 

 who may repair to you, ought in 

 like manner to be in safety." 

 * * * « Be not, therefore, 

 elated with the conflagration of a 

 few vessels, for they are of no 

 estimation in my opinion, in that 

 of their owners, or of their coun- 

 try. In truth then war is bitter; 

 and a fool only engages in it, as a 

 poet has said." 



The want of timber has always 

 been felt so much by the people of 

 the two Gulphs, and of the western 

 coast of the Indian ocean, that a 

 check on their supplies from the 

 Malabar coast, which Brigadier- 



General Malcolm very seasonably 

 suggested, will probably keepdown 

 the future growth of the pirate 

 power. The fleet of the soldan of 

 Egypt, which was destined to re- 

 lieve Diu, was formed of Dalmatian 

 timber, transported overland to the 

 arsenals of Suez ; and even some 

 of the houses at Sirafi^, on the 

 gulph of Persia, were formed of 

 European wood. In the seventeenth 

 century, the Arabs of Muscat, who 

 subsequently formed connections 

 on the Malabar coast to procure 

 timber, obtained permission from 

 the king of Pegu to build ships in 

 the ports of his country. If there- 

 fore the importation of foreign 

 wood were cut off", the Arabscould 

 hardly, without extreme difficulty, 

 maintain a naval force. 



{From Semple's Present State of 

 the Caracas.) 



The general manners and cus- 

 toms of the province are those 

 of Spain, by no means improv- 

 ed by crossing the Atlantic, or 

 by the mixture of Indian and Negro 

 blood with that of the first con- 

 querors. It may be laid down, as 

 an axiom, that wherever there is 

 slavery, there is corruption of man- 

 ners. There is a reaction of evil 

 from the oppressed to the oppres- 

 sor, from the slave to his master. 

 Here it has been weakened, by the 

 general mildness observed towards 

 domestic slaves ; but it has not 

 been destroyed, and, even should 

 slavery be finally abolished, its 

 influence over private life will long 

 be felt. After great debates, the 

 importation of slaves has been for- 

 bidden by the new legislature ; 

 although many still remain of opi- 

 nion. 



