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‘Persian Gulf pilot comprising the Persian Gulf and its approaches from Ras al Hadd, in the south-west, to Cape Monze, in the east.’ [‎121v] (247/404)

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. .

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180
PERSIAN gulf— SOUTH-WESTERN SIDE [Chap. VI.
Chart 2830.
good berth at night. There are depths of from 10 to 15 fathoms
(18 m 3 to 27 m 4) close to the reef and for several miles round the island,
so that soundings Measurements of the depth of a body of water. are not a good guide when approaching it.
5 The island is uninhabited, but on it are a few wild cats, a fair
number of sea birds, and some curlew. It is barren, nothing but
brushwood growing on it. The water in the wells near the eastern
side of the island is brackish, but there is a deep well of good drinking
water to which tracks lead from the south-eastern point of the island;
10 the water is, however, so hard that it is of no use for washing. Iron
ore and some sulphur are reported to exist on the island.
During the pearl fishery, the island is visited by numbers of boats,
to open the oysters, etc.; in winter, a few boats, fishing chiefly for
sawfish and sharks, usually make it their headquarters, and erect
i5 temporary huts for their families.
Anchorage, sheltered from the shamdl but exposed to the nashi,
may be obtained on the eastern side of the island, in a depth of
about 13 fathoms (23 m 7), at a distance of about half a mile offshore,
with the peak bearing 275°, and the low south-eastern point bearing
20 202°.
Chart 2837a.
Rak az Zakum.—Shoals. —Rak az Zakum is a pearl bank lying
about 35 miles north-westward of Abu Dhabi. Its extent is not
accurately known, but it appears to be about 13 miles in length, in
25 an easterly and westerly direction, within the 5-fathom (9 m l) line.
The least depth over it (La/. 24° 48' N., Long. 53° 48' E.) is 2|
fathoms (4 m 6) and those round it afford but little guide when
approaching it. It is not marked by discolouration.
Southward of Rak az Zakum, between that bank, Abu Dhabi,
30 and Rak al Hajji, see page 182, the area has been imperfectly
sounded. In many places there are great overfalls.
Three shoals, lying respectively about 12 miles south-westward,
8 miles southward, and 10 miles south-south-eastward of the shoalest
part of Rak az Zakum, were reported in 1927; they have not been
35 examined and their positions are only known approximately.
A shoal, over which there is a depth of fathoms (8 m 2), lies
eastward of the foregoing, about 22 miles north-westward of Abu
Dhabi.
A shoal, over which there is a depth of 3^ fathoms (G 1 ^), was
40 reported, in 1926, to lie about 11 miles southward of the shoalest
part of Rak az Zakum; its position is not accurately known.
The chart shows a detached 5-fathom (9 in l) patch about 27 miles
westward of Abu Dhabi.
Charts 2837a and h.
45 Coast. —The southern shore of the Persian gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. is low and sandy
or stony, with here and there hills of rock or sand of moderate height,
but there are few, if any, distinctive features; it is entirely barren
and desolate; water is only obtainable at a few places, and even
then it is of very indifferent quality. From Abu Dhabi to Al
50 Wakrah, see page 195, 157 miles west-north-westward and about
60 miles southward of Ras Rakan, there are neither villages, houses,
nor permanent inhabitants. The coast is occasionally visited by
Bedawin who might attack a small unarmed party; but it is seldom
visited by Europeans.
Chart 748b.

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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:

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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English in Latin script
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‘Persian Gulf pilot comprising the Persian Gulf and its approaches from Ras al Hadd, in the south-west, to Cape Monze, in the east.’ [‎121v] (247/404), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/C251, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100023623199.0x000030> [accessed 9 January 2025]

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