'File 5/1 I Mineral and oil deposits in Kuwait territory: surveys' [‎8v] (16/216)

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Shaikh’s unreserved request to us is not only a very satisfactory sign of his confi
dence, but, incidentally, the establishment of a scheme for Water Supply under Brit
ish management would constitute a most convenient sign and considerable enhance
ment of our predominant position at Kuwait. I, therefore, venture to hope that
Government will be pleased to treat the matter urgently and to authorise me by
telegraph to inform the Shaikh that they are primd-facie glad to meet his wishes,
but before arriving at any definite proposal or decision they propose to depute a
Geologist, as soon as it can be arranged, to examine the question on the spot and to
give him and themselves expert advice as to the best means of effecting the object
in view.
The season is favourable now, and, if it is decided to co-operate in this way, the
sooner the Geologist could arrive the better. He need not be absent more than a
month from date of leaving Karachi or Bombay.
No. 459, dated Kuwait, the 13th November 1912.
From— Captain W. H. I. Shakespear, LA., Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. , Kuwait,
To—The Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , Bushire.
I have the honour to enclose herewith a letter in original from Shaikh Sir
Mubarak-as-Subah, K.C.I.E., to your address together with a translation from
which it will be apparent that the Shaikh begs the assistance of Government in
furnishing the town of Kuwait with an adequate water-supply.
2. The supply of water to this town has become a very serious matter in its
development, and I will, therefore, endeavour to explain how the present necessity
has arisen. The town used to be supplied from wells on its outskirts, all more or
less brackish and shallow, giving what was really only the scanty percolation of
each season’s rain water. When the rainfall was slight, numbers of these wells gave
out while the remainder became still more brackish as they were deepened. In
1908, owing partly to the failure of the rains during the winter of 1907-08 and partly
to the bad pearl season of 1907, reducing the pearling fraternity to poverty, it oc
curred to some dhow A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean. -owners to employ their vessels in the off-season by carrying
water from the Shatt-al-Arab. The idea at once commended itself to owners, who
were thus able to employ their vessels to some profit in the off-season and to
boatmen and divers, who are at the same time ordinarily without employment and
could thus earn a living. It was found that water so brought could be sold cheaply
and yet return a sufficient profit so that within a year there were at least 20 native
craft engaged solely in this trade. Consequently the donkey-owners, who formerly
brought water in skins from neighbouring wells, finding themselves hard put to it
for a living, sold off their animals and took to other trades.
3. As the town’s population increased and the advantages of good water from
the Shatt-al-Arab came to be more appreciated, the number of boats employed
rose until in 1910 there must have been at least 40 to 50 large boats alone, specially
fitted with tanks for the trade and carrying from 3,000 to 5,000 gallons a trip,
each vessel taking at least one trip every 4 to 6 days. By this time the town had
become so dependent on the water brought by these boats that a severe storm,
lasting only three days and preventing the boats from putting to sea, would cause
a water-famine. Serious shortage of water began to be felt during the summer of
1911 when, owing to the previous good pearling season having stimulated the
demand for divers, the water-boats experienced difficulty in obtaining crews. At
the same time the population of the town continued to increase rapidly as trade
recovered in sympathy with improvement of the pearl-market, and during the last
two years there has been in consequence a large influx of Persians of the artisan
and labouring classes, who have taken up a more or less permanent residence in
Kuwait.
4. During the past summer (1912) the shortage of water was much more
severely felt than formerly, though approximately the same number of water-boats
continued to ply. This was the case when the town’s population is at its lowest
owing to the absence of the pearling dhows with their crews ; on the return of the
pearling fleet at the beginning of the cold weather the shortage became even more
acute, and it has now become chronic. During the 3J years I have been in Kuwait
the growth of the town in population has been very noticeable, several new bazaars
have been opened and all are thronged, a large number of new boats have been
added to the pearling-fleet, most of whose crews have to find dwellings in the