"العراق والخليج الفارسي" [ظ‎‎١‎٠‎٣] (٨٦٢/٢١١)

132
COASTS OF THE PERSIAN GULF
Masud, 3-! miles north-west, are Qida and Hana coves, each steep
sided and containing a date-grove and small settlements. There is a
coastal track from Khasab to Hana.
From Ras Shaikh Masud, a prominent cliffed headland, the Ruus
al Jibal promontory rises gradually to Fine Peak (4,526 ft.), nearly
11 miles south. The coast trends south-west to Ras ash Sham, 16^
miles distant, and is exposed to strong winds. It is steep and rocky,
interrupted by small sandy beaches on several of which are fishing-
villages. The most important of these is Rakha, which has four forts
and is on the shore of a small bight, with date-groves and a cultivated
plain inland. Ras ash Sham, on the south-west boundary of the
Ruus al Jibal principality, rises eastwards to a mountain about 2,500
feet high. The coast is followed by the track from Khasab which then
continues south-west along the Pirate Coast.
2. Arabian Coast, from Ras ash Sham to Ras al Ardh (fig. 32)
General
This coast, which forms the south-east, south, and south-west
shores of the Persian Gulf, will be described from east to west in six
sections: the ‘Pirate Coast’ of Trucial Oman, from Ras ash Sham
south-west to Abu Dhabi; the ‘Trucial Coast’ of Trucial Oman,
from Abu Dhabi west to Khor al Odaid; the east and west coasts of
the Qatar peninsula, from Khor al Odaid to Salwa; the coasts of
Trucial Oman and the Hasa province of Nejd, from Salwa north-west
to Qatif; the Bahrein islands, in the gulf between the Qatar peninsula
and Qatif; and the coasts of the Hasa, the neutral zone, and part of
Kuwait, from Qatif north-west to Ras al Ardh at the entrance to
Kuwait bay.
The whole of this coast is desert, and very flat and monotonous
except for a few small isolated hills. The mountain backbone of
Ruus al Jibal recedes from the shore leaving open desert between it
and the Pirate Coast. Thus the whole Arabian coast from Ras ash
Sham is backed by desert, sandy in the east and more stony in the
west. There are many creeks and backwaters, with mangrove swamps
in the south, and several large salt-marshes. The entrances to the
creeks often change their channels, due to tidal scour, wind, and swell,
and no steps are taken to prevent silting or to provide permanent
navigable entrances. Not a single river enters the Persian Gulf along
this coast. There are freshwater springs in the Bahrein islands
and at Qatif, and scattered wells along the coast. Mirage is often