He was popular both with his own people, who loved him
with a religious fervor, and with the English, who unobtrusively
conducted his affairs.
There have been sultans who have acted less wisely than does Hamud
bin Muhamad bin Said. A few years ago one of these, Said Khaled,
defied the British Empire as represented by several gunboats, and
dared them to fire on his ship of war, a tramp steamer which he had
converted into a royal yacht. The gunboats were anchored about two
hundred yards from the palace, which stands at the water's edge, and
at the time agreed upon, they sank the Sultan's ship of war in the
short space of three minutes, and in a brief bombardment destroyed
the greater part of his palace. The ship of war still rests where
she sank, and her topmasts peer above the water only three hundred
yards distant from the windows of the new palace. They serve as a
constant warning to all future sultans.
The new palace is of somewhat too modern architecture, and is not
nearly as dignified as are the massive white walls of the native
houses which surround it. But within it is a fairy palace, hung with
silk draperies, tapestries, and hand-painted curtains; the floors
are covered with magnificent rugs from Persia and India, and the
reception-room is crowded with treasures of ebony, ivory, lacquer
work, and gold and silver. There were two thrones made of silver
dragons, with many scales, and studded with jewels.
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