a stipendiary by name Shaikh Ali Mana, the Saqladi. The Nuqaba of Mausatta, two of whom share the stipend granted to them by His Majesty's Government under the terms of their Treaty, assert that they have considerable influence in Shaibi; and Shaikh Ali Muhsin Askar, the son of Muhsin Askar (one Mausatta stipendiary), frequently visited the country as mediator. In recognition of his importance, Ali Muhsin Askar was granted an allowance of $20 a month, so long as he remained faithful to Government. In 1906 Ali Muhsin Askar, owing to a fancied slight which he asserted that he had received in Aden, returned to the Shaibi country and knock- ed down a boundary pillar. His allowance was stopped till he came into Dhala before the Resident and asked for pardon. In 1913 Sultan Qahtan died, without having succeeded in getting himself reinstated. He was succeeded by his son, Sultan Umar, but his recognition was withheld by Government who gave him one year's time within which to bring about his rehabilitation, and continued to him provisionally the stipend paid to his father. The period was extended from year to year till 1919, when he abdicated in favour of his uncle Salih. The latter had been accepted by the Muflahi section as their Sultan in 1911, and in 1920 he was recognized by His Majesty's Government and was granted the stipend previously paid to Sultan Umar. In November 1919 the Imam of Sanaa's troops captured Shaib', Rubiatein, Nawa and Dhabiani. They were compelled to evacuate Shuib in July 1928 but still occupied the other three Yafai sections. In 1923, with a view to cheeking the advance of the troops of the Imam of Sanaa, Khan Bahadur Sayyid Husein bin Hamid el Mehdar, the Minister of the Sultan of Shir and Mukalla, paid a special visit, to Upper Yafa, with the approval of the Resident, and obtained the signatures of the Yafai Shailchs to an agreement by which they declared themselves bound by their existing treaties with Great Britain and pledged themselves to tribal unity and combination against any aggressors. This agreement contributed to the successful co-operation of the Upper Yafai tribes in the expulsion of the Imam's forces from Shaibi territory in July 1928. Sultan Salih bin Umar abdicated in 1927 in favour of his son, Sultan Muhammad bin Salih, who was accorded recognition by the British government. In 1931, the numbers