The Sun.
London, England, 1836-03-18 00:00:00

THE IMAUM OF MUSCAT.

' The magnificent present made by this Indian Prince
to our Sovereign of a ship-of-war, carrying 74 guns,
is a circumstance too remarkable not to make all the
details relating to it acceptable to the public. This
vessel, which is to be called the Imaum, at the King's
express desire, was, in the first instance, named the
Liverpool, and, according to the description of nautical
men, is one of the most splendid sea-boats ever con-
structed. Her burden is 1,852 tons, and she was built
at Bombay in 1826, by the East India Company's
builders, of the best teak, and in all respects on a
a similar scale to the same class of vessels in the
Royal Navy. She was brought to England with
her entire masts and yards by Captain Cargan, six
Officers, 35 European seamen, and 180 Lascars.
The report of these Officers states that she sails
remarkably well, and possesses every good quality
that can be expected from a ship of that class.
Besides the vessel itself, and all its equipment, the
Imaum has presented to the King two horses and two
mares of the finest Arabian breed. One of the horses

is perfectly black, without a single white hair, and the
other is as pure a white, or cream colour. The black
Arabian has the property, it is said, of going without
water for 12 or 15 days, which is considered the
greatest proof by the Arabs of pure blood. We
are not, however, obliged -to adopt this fact lite-
rally, and to the full extent. One of the , mares
foaled early on the Voyage, and the colt of course be-
came the. pet and plaything of the sailors during the
remainder of it. The account given of the Imaum

himself is, that he is a very handsome and fair man,
about 42 years of age. He has been for 24 years at
the head of his Government, to which he succeeded on
the death of his uncle, and has managed, by a series
of judicious measures, to consolidate his power. He
has a standing army of about 20,000 men to defend

his territories- in Arabia and Africa, and has 12
sail of -ships of war, from 64 guns to 10 guns. He
has been constant in his attachment to the British
Government, and in person accompanied both our ex-
peditions to the Persian Gulf against the pirate states
in that quarter, on which occasions Sir W. Grant
Keir and Sir Lionel Smith, who commanded those
expeditions, received great assistance from him. His
liberality to the British nation is unbounded ; for on
the arrival of any British ship of war at his port of
Muscat, he supplies them with water and fuel gratis,
or any other refreshment that there may be a difficulty
in procuring. He is extremely popular with his sub-
jects, who consider his rule very mild, though highly
energetic in his intercourse with other states. 1e
gives much of his time to his navy, and expends the
greater part of his revenue on that branch of the service.
His Majesty has expressed himself much gratified
by this present. It appears that she entered Ports-
mouth harbour on the sth inst., when, the moment
she anchored, the Britannia saluted the Imaum's flag
with 21 guns, which the Liverpool immediately re-
turned ; and at eight o'clock on Sunday morning the
British ensign was hoisted on board the Liverpool,
and the ship delivered over by Captain Cargan to Sir
F. Maitland, and by his Majesty's commands (in com-
pliment to his Highness of Muscat) she is named the
Inzaunz. It may be a circumstance worthy of notice
that the Liverpool is the first ship of war belonging to
an Indian Prince that ever rounded the Cape of Good
Hope and is an event that may be regarded as open-
in the door to an extensive commercial intercourse
with his Highness s dominions in Arabia, Africa, and
Persia ; which, strange to say, is little known or ap-
preciated by this country ; but of which the Americans
are not ignorant, as must appear from the fact of there
being, on the 9th of November last, two American
frigates in Bombay harbour, where they had just ar-
rived from Muscat, after endeavouring to establish a
commercial treaty with his Highness the Imaum.