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

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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.