"العراق والخليج الفارسي" [و‎‎١‎٢‎٠] (٨٦٢/٢٤٤)

COASTS OF THE PERSIAN GULF 159
mountains and the sea. Precipitous ravines cross the mountains to
fertile plains inland.
The coastline cuts back across the trend of the coastal mountains
at Naband bay, which opens west from the marshy Gabandi plain
extending east-south-east between the main and the coastal ranges.
Naband village is on the south shore of the bay, near the north-west
end of the coastal hills. There is anchorage in the bay, and a track
leads up the Gabandi plain from the north shore, but there are only
mule-tracks to the interior. Asalu, a small pearl-fishing village on
the sandy north shore of the bay, has anchorage inside a reef and an
emergency landing-ground.
Naband to Lingeh (Shibkuh Coast) (fig. 42)
Between Naband point and Lingeh, 145 miles east-south-east, the
coastline trends along and across successive coastal ranges. Where
the coast crosses the mouths of the valleys between these ranges,
there are wide bays opening south-west, as at Mugam, Charak, and
Mughu. There is anchorage in these and in other smaller bays. The
coastal plain is narrow, with small fishing-villages. The dry-weather
motor-road follows the coast closely the whole way. The only roads
to the interior run north-west from Lingeh. The islands of Shaikh
Shuaib, Hindarabi, and Qais lie off the Shibkuh coast.
From Naband point, at the south entrance to Naband bay, the
coast trends east-south-east for 63 miles to Mugam, along the foot
of the coastal hills. It is steep-to and has low cliffs and small sandy
bays. There are good anchorages off the villages of Bustanu and
Shivuh, 34 and 41 miles respectively from Naband point. The
cultivated Gabandi valley, which lies behind the coastal range for the
first 30 miles from Naband bay, is marshy in its lower half and
produces flax for fishing-nets.
From Mugam, a large village, the coast trends south to Ras
Nakhilu; it crosses the ends of a narrow valley and of two coastal
ranges; there is anchorage off the mouth of the valley, which has a
motorable track to a road running inland from Lingeh. The coast
runs east-south-east for 17 miles from Ras Nakhilu to Chiru point,
and rises steeply to the more southerly of the two coastal ranges.
The more northerly range rises to 2,540 feet. Chiru village is in a
small bay east of Chiru point: it has a sandy beach and good anchorage
sheltered from the north-west.
From Chiru the coast trends east for 33 miles to Charak. The only
anchorages are off two small fishing-villages 10 and 15 miles east of