'The Transactions of the Bombay Geographical Society. From January 1863 to December 1864. (Edited by the Secretary.) Volume XVII.' [‎216] (389/524)

REPORT ON THE LINE OF TELEGRAPH
Bu-shehr to Fau .—The cable would take from Rishir the course
shown, so as to pass up the de^) water in the gut or seaward continua
tion of Khor Abdallah, and be landed at Fau. Hie depth decreases to
20 fathoms at the mouth of the gut, the bottom between this and Bu-
shehr being soft mud. The water further decreases as you advance up
the gut, but there is a sufficient difference of depth between it and th e
banks on either side, to render it desirable it should be marked off with
buoys, as the deep water is very narrow. A series of common buoys,
say water casks, (which need not be larger than 00 gallons,) laid at in-
tervals of 1 £ miles, would be the only effectual mode, and even then a
Pilot vessel would have to go in advance to prevent the tide setting the
paying-out vessel over to one side or the other. The total number of
buoys required would be, say 25 to 30 : my views on the number and
description of beacons having been modified since my conversation with
Colonel Stewart on the subject, by the pilots grounding our vessel twice
in the entrance to the Shat al Arab, where the buoys are only 2| to 3
miles apart.
Nature of Bottom .—The bottom becomes softer as Fau is approach
ed ; the dry banks off which place near low-water mark deserve the
name of quick-mud: a man sinks in up to the middle in a moment; a
bamboo pole was thrust down 10 feet with ease. It is a fine alluvial
mud, and the cable would sink several feet in it at once ; thereby, I
imagine, in a measure obviating the objections on the score of the
shallowness of the water to a great extent.
Landing at Fan .—The flat mud bank, extending from the back of
the date grove to low-water mark, a distance of four miles, has a slope
so gentle as to be almost imperceptible; near Fail it is hard enough to
walk on, but becomes gradually softer to low-water mark.
Landing the Cable. Ihe best way would be to take a flat bottomed
iron vessel, which would require to have six to seven miles of cable on
board at starting from the ship, then paying out, and consequently
lightening her, as you go, get at high-water (springs if possible) as far
in on the flat as she will go, and let her ground there.
As such a vessel, with the necessary remaining quantity of cable,
would not draw more than 12 to 18 inches, or less than any raft, she
might be biought certainly within 1 £ or 2 miles of the date grove,