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'DIARY OF A TOUR IN THE PERSIAN GULF AND IN TURKISH ARABIA, DECEMBER, 1906 (WITH MAP)' [‎6v] (12/106)

The record is made up of 53 folios. It was created in 1907. 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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6

and one could imagine how difficult must be
the navigation in thick or stormy weather,
and what good cover these islands would give
to the pirates who formerly infested these
parts, and who even now occasionally make
an appearance in these narrow waters. From
the entrance of the Gulf we shaped our course
towards Bushire, with the mountain wall of
Persia faintly visible on our right. As the
day wore on it became evident that we were
in for a “ shamal,” as the fierce north-wester
ly gales of the Gulf are called. In the after
noon it got decidedly lively, and I am afraid
appetites for dinner that night were not so
robust as usual. Next morning found us
off Bushire, but we could not get a very
good view of the place as the waters are
shallow and we lay a long way out. The town,
however, from what one could see of it was
not particularly impressive. Away in the
background one could see the mountain walls
of the great plateau of Persia, and in fine
weather should have been able, they say, to
see the snows on the still higher hills beyond.
The only shipping visible in Bushire roads
was the British paddle-wheel gunboat
Sphinx and the Persepolis, sole sea-going
vessel of the Persian Navy. We got away
from Bushire after a couple of hours’ stay,
and headed for Koweit, a place which was
not originally included in our ship’s pro
gramme, but had now to be visited owing to
the failure, due to deficient water, of the
previous week’s mail boat to go there.
In the meanwhile the wind had changed
to a strong southerly gale, which, in these
comparatively shallow waters, soon raised
a long rolling swell and cross sea. Our
little 700-ton steamer, purposely light and
high out of the water in order to get across
the shallow bar of the Shatt-el-Arab, was as
lively as a cork, and we bobbed about in the
most eccentric and disconcerting fashion.
Evening brought no respite, unfortunately.
At nightfall we were still 25 miles from
Koweit, and as it is dangerous to try and
navigate these totally unlighted and un
buoyed shallows by night, we were obliged
to anchor, which meant that we rolled
and pitched about all night somewhat
worse than would have been the case had
we been moving. At the first streak of
day we went on to Koweit, that squalid-
looking Arab town on the edge of a howl
ing sandy desert which is important not
only from its position and comparatively
good harbour, which makes it a centre of
local trade and the head-quarters of the
northern part of the great Gulf pearl fishery,
but from its possibilities as a terminus
to the Baghdad Railway. Incidentally I
was told that the pearls annually gathered
Bushire.
Koweit.

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Content

Wilfrid Malleson, Diary of a Tour in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. and in Turkish Arabia A term used by the British officials to describe the territory roughly corresponding to, but not coextensive with, modern-day Iraq under the control of the Ottoman Empire. (Simla: Government Monotype Press, 1907). This is the diary of a tour in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. and Turkish Arabia A term used by the British officials to describe the territory roughly corresponding to, but not coextensive with, modern-day Iraq under the control of the Ottoman Empire. by Lieutenant-Colonel Wilfrid Malleson, 7th-29th December, 1906. It describes his journey up the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. from Muscat to Basra, Muhammerah [Khorramshahr], and onto Baghdad, including periods in quarantine stations as well as the competing shipping lines, types of boats, date trade, and life in Baghdad. Includes his description of life in Muscat for the British Consul and encounters with German and Russian diplomats.

Includes 53 annotated photographs (ff 23-50) of the journey including views of Baghdad, Basra, Ctesiphon, and Musandam as well as two maps (ff 51-52).

Extent and format
53 folios
Arrangement

Folios 3- 14 are the written diary of the tour. Folio 23 has two prints (Muscat harbour; the telegraph station and post office at Fao. Folios 24-50 are photographs. Folio 51 is a map of the entrance to the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , folio 52 is a map of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. .

Physical characteristics

Foliation: The foliation sequence commences at the front cover and terminates at the inside back cover; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio (except for f 52, where the folio number is located on the verso The back of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'v'. ). Pagination: The volume also contains an original printed pagination sequence.

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'DIARY OF A TOUR IN THE PERSIAN GULF AND IN TURKISH ARABIA, DECEMBER, 1906 (WITH MAP)' [‎6v] (12/106), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/20/C260, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100117294308.0x00000d> [accessed 31 October 2024]

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