‘Persian Gulf pilot comprising the Persian Gulf and its approaches from Ras al Hadd, in the south-west, to Cape Monze, in the east.’ [55r] (114/404)
The record is made up of 199 folios. It was created in 1932. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
Chap. III.]
COAST OF LAS BELA
59
Chart 41.
coral, lies about 3^ miles westward of Cape Monze; foul ground,
over which the depths are from 7 to 9 fathoms (12 m 8 to 16 m 5), extends
about half a mile south-south-eastward and one mile north-north
westward from the reef.
Churma island, situated about 4 miles north-westward of Cape
Monze, is about 580 feet (176 m 8) high; from southward, its almost
precipitous light-coloured hills appear to rise to a peak, but from
westward, it looks like a flat-topped hill with sloping sides. The
island is steep-to, barren, and uninhabited; there is no fresh water
on it.
Anchorage may be obtained, in a depth of 5 fathoms (9 m l), sand,
at a distance of about 2 cables offshore, with the summit of Churma
island bearing about 225°.
On the northern side of Cape Monze is a small bay with a sandy
beach to which descends a valley between the Lakhi ridge and some
detached hills, about 560 feet (170 m 7) high. The seaward side of
these hills, which extend to the mouth of the Hab river, is cliffy.
Foul ground extends for a distance of about one mile offshore for
over 2 miles northward of Cape Monze.
Southward of Cape Monze, in depths greater than 20 fathoms
(36 m 6), and eastward of it, in depths greater than 10 fathoms (18 m 3),
the bottom is everywhere soft.
Chart 38.
Sonmiani bay. —This bay is entered between Cape Monze and
Ras Kachari, situated about 60 miles north-westward. For the
first 20 miles, the shore of the bay trends north-north-eastward
and consists of a succession of small bays between rocky points;
thence it trends north-westward and westward and, becoming sandy,
is covered with small jungle, with sandhills here and there.
Pab mountains rise, on the northern bank of the Hab river, about
10 miles north-eastward of Cape Monze and extend north-eastward
and northward gradually increasing in elevation to over 3,000 feet
(914 m 4). Westward of these mountains is a plain, about 35 miles
wide, which extends to the foot of the Haro range. This plain
is drained by the Purali river which flows through a swamp into
the sea at the head of the bay. The Haro range trends north-north
eastward from the northern shore of the bay, and at its southern
end attains an elevation of about 3,150 feet (960 m l); these mountains
are of light colour and irregular outline.
Bela, the capital of the State of Las Bela, stands in the valley ,
distant about 65 miles by road, northward of Sonmiani {Lat.
25° 25'N., Long. 66° 35' E.), which latter is situated near the mouth
and on the eastern bank of the Purali river.
The depths in Sonmiani bay decrease regularly towards the head
of the bay, there being depths of 4 fathoms (7 m 3) close to the bar
at the mouth of the Purali river.
Tidal streams. —In Sonmiani bay, the tidal streams are weak
and set eastward and westward, following the curve of the land.
Hab river. —This river rises in the mountains at the northern
end of the Pab range, and, after a course of over 150 miles, reaches the
sea about 3J miles north-north-eastward of Cape Monze. There
is no fresh water within several miles of its mouth, except during
freshets. The rocky hills on its southern side end about one mile
5
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Chart 748b.
About this item
- Content
Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. pilot comprising the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. and its approaches, from Ras al Hadd, in the south-west, to Cape Monze, in the east. Published for the Hydrographic Department of the Admiralty by His Majesty’s Stationery Office, London, 1932. Eighth edition.
The pilot begins with a number of introductory sections:
- Notice of caution when approaching British ports, including the closure of ports and examination of vessels entering ports (folio 1v, inside front cover);
- Notations of supplements and annual summaries of notices to mariners relating to this book (folio 2);
- Cautionary notes on the measurements, including those for (bearings, longitude, latitude, depth) given in the pilot, and the different methods of shading used to indicate colours of flags, tidal light signals and beacons in the pilot (folio 5);
- Advertisement to the eighth edition (folio 6) providing an outline history of the pilot, and updates to the latest edition;
- Contents page (folios 7v-8), referring to the pilot’s pagination;
- A list of views (illustrations), with reference to the pilot’s pagination (folio 8v);
- A glossary of terms (folio 9), organised alphabetically, and with an indication of their origin (Arabic, Baluchi, Hindustani, Persian);
- Notes on the system of orthography (folios 10-11);
- Information relating to Admiralty charts and other hydrographic publications and general navigation (folios 12-19), with sections on the correction of Admiralty charts, and their degree of reliance, navigational publications, including the Admiralty lists of lights and wireless signals, tide tables, and general remarks relating to practical navigation;
- A map of the head of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , dated July 1932, indicating those areas covered by Admiralty charts (folio 20v);
- A map of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. and Gulf of Oman, dated July 1932, with an indication of those areas covered by Admiralty charts mentioned in the pilot (folio 21v);
- An insert (folio 22) detailing those elements not included in the present volume.
The main body of the pilot is arranged in chapters and appendices as follows:
- Chapter 1 - General Remarks: physical features, depths, political and administrative divisions, British representation, ports and anchorages, towns and population, languages, supplies, products, trade, currencies, weights and measures, the pearl fisheries, health, meteorological information (pressure, winds, cyclones and depressions, climate and weather, humidity, rainfall, dew, fog, visibility), currents, tides, tidal streams, signals, communications, pilots, deratisation, native craft, piracy, obtaining information, presents, coal, fuel oil, docks, repairs, standard time, passages;
- Chapter 2 - Approaches to the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. from the south; the coasts of Oman, Batinah, and Ash Shamailiyah; Ras Al Hadd to Dibah;
- Chapter 3 - Approaches to the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. from the east; the coasts of Las Bela, Makran, Persian Makran, including Jask; Cape Monze to Jask;
- Chapter 4 - Entrance to the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ; Ruus al Jabal and the Persian coast, including Bandar ’Abbas [Bandar-e ʻAbbās] and Qishm [Kīsh] island; Dibah to Ras Ash Sha’am and Jask to Charack [Bandar-e Chārak];
- Chapter 5 - Northeast side of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ; the coast of Persia; Charack to Ras Ash Shatt, including Bushire;
- Chapter 6 - The southwest side of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ; the coast of Trucial Oman A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. , and the eastern side of Qatar; Ras Ash Sha'am to Ras Rakan;
- Chapter 7 - The southwest side of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ; western side of Qatar, Bahrain [referred to as Bahrein throughout], and the coasts of Nejd [Najd] and Kuwait; Ras Rakan to Khor ’Abdullah;
- Chapter 8 - The head of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ; coasts of Persia and Iraq; Ras Ash Shatt to and including the Shatt al ’Arab; the Tigris and Euphrates;
- Appendix 1 - List of ports available for underwater repairs, with details of the largest dry or floating dock or patent slip at each port;
- Appendix 2 - List of principal ports, showing the particulars of depth at approach and anchorage, rise of tide;
- Appendix 3 - Meteorological data (air pressure, air temperature, rainfall, wind) - for Muscat, Pasni, Jask, Bushire, Bahrain; Kuwait, Mohammerah [Khorramshahr], Basra;
- Appendix 4 - Places suitable for magnetic observations;
- Appendix 5 - Tidal streams, with tables for four locations, including Henjam, and semi-diurnal and diurnal factors.
Throughout the main chapters there are illustrations of the parts of the coastline being discussed by the accompanying text. These illustrations, which are a mix of line drawing and reproductions of watercolours, indicate the profile of the land, and highlight distinctive topographical features such as trees and forts.
- Extent and format
- 199 folios
- Arrangement
The pilot is arranged into eight chapters (I-VIII) and five appendices (I-V). The arrangement of chapters is geographical, moving from the easternmost point of the Gulf in chapter II to the westermost point in chapter VIII. The contents page (ff 7-8) and alphabetically ascending index (ff 182-93) refer to the pilot’s pagination system.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: There is a foliation sequence, which is circled in pencil, in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. of each folio. It begins on the front cover, on number 1, and ends on the inside of the back cover, on number 199.
Pagination: There are two printed pagination systems, which generally situate numbers in the top-left corner of versos and the top-right corner of rectos. The first, which uses Roman numerals, runs through the pilot’s introductory pages (ff 6-19). The second pagination system uses Arabic numerals, and runs through the remainder of the pilot (ff 23-197).
The number of each chapter is indicated throughout the chapter (expressed as ‘Chap.’ and the chapter number as a Roman numeral) in the top-left corner of rectos and the top-right corner of versos. The lines of text on each page in each chapter are numbered in intervals of five (i.e. 5, 10, etc.)
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- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/20/C251
- Title
- ‘Persian Gulf pilot comprising the Persian Gulf and its approaches from Ras al Hadd, in the south-west, to Cape Monze, in the east.’
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:145v, 145ar:145av, 146r:198v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence