'دليل الخليج، الجزء الثاني، مواد جغرافية ووصفية، القسم الثاني، الجانب الغربي من الخليج' [ظ‎‎١‎٢‎٩] (٢٨٦/٢٥٧)

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there are always many Kovveit boats moving between Koweit and Basra whence
dates are brought. Kovveit sailing vessels run as far as Bombay and Il'd Sea;
one or two of these are said to be lost in the Indian Ocean every year. All carry
dates and bring rice, cloth, wood, etc., from India, rice and cloth from Maskat,
and coffee from Red Sea. In lLi39 there was also an import of tobacco and dried
fruits from Persia ; of grain and dates from Basra ; of cloth, dates and tish from
Bahrein ; of spices and sugar from India ; does the trade in these articles still
continue? Irom Bombay to Koweit takes days uith a favourable
wind. There is an extensive boat-building yard at Kovveit. More baghlas
belong to this port than to any other in the Gulf. The trading fleet lias been
variously estimated, e.y., in 1^29 at 100 sail of vessels large and small ; in 1839
at 150 trading boats of 15 to IcO tons and 15 big baghlas of 150 to 400 tons;
in 18'0 at V00 trading baghlas; in 1808 at 130 vessels of 20 to 800 tons.
Doweling says that there are vessels of as much as 1,000 tons running to Bombay
and Mesopotamia. Gulf Pilot (1898) says Koweit sends40 boats topearl-tishpry
and these do not go south of Abu Ali. Dowding (1903) states the pearl-fishing:
fleet at 600 boats with crews of 15 to 40 men each. Pelly in 1863 estimated
the imports from India at 2 lakhs of rupees (chiefly long-cloth, rice, coffee,
planks, spices, etc.) and exports at l^s. 3,80,000, viz., 800 horses, Hs, 2,40,000 ;
wool, Bs. 40,000 ; dates, Bs. 60,000 ; and miscellaneous, lis. 40,000. At an
earlier period the total imports were estimated at 5 lakhs of dollars and the total
exports at less than 1 lakh. (7) Local resources are small. 'Ihe harbo 'Jr yields
an abundance of excellent fish, including soles. Onions are the only (?) vege
table grown, and water melons the only (?) fruit. Only agricultural resources
are at Jahara where a small amount of cereals and green fo Ider and dates is
raised. During winter there is sparse grazing for goats on plain near Koweit ;
but best pastures, much frequented by Bedouins, are those round Jahara,
Kathama Bay and thence along north shore between Aghthi and water's
edge. Barley and wheat are (or used to be) brought from Basra and Indii,
rice from Mangalore, dal from Basra and Bushire. Cattle, sheep, poultry, milk,
butter, truffles and fuel are obtainable, supplied by the local Bedouins. Stone
and chunam are plentiful, the latter cheap and good. Plenty of teak plank
obtained from Bombay for boat-building, used to bo available ; also a hard
wood (what?) from Maskat for knees and timbers. There is abundance of
dates from the Shatt-al-Arab. Ilorse forage comes in part down Khor-as-Sabiya
from Bander Zobeir. Water is brackish. The best in 18G3 came from wells ^ a
mile south of the (own ; now it apparently comes from a place 2 miles distant.
(8) (9) (10) Government has already been dealt with under Koweit principality.
It may be noted that Bedouins are not allowed to enter the toa r ti armed,
[" Koweit " appears to be an Arabic diminutive of the non-Arabia word " Kot
a fortitied place. The older name, spelt Grain, Grane or Graine, w r as probably
taken from the adjacent islet of " Kurein " (little horn). Pelly says that this
namo was applied rather to the shore-line of the whole bay than to the town.]
KG WEIL 1 BAY.—Large inlet of remarkable form leading out of the ex
treme north west corner of the Persian Gulf, on the southern shore of which
stands the town of Koweit. Its extreme length east and west is over 20
miles, and breadth north and south 10 mile?. Its shape approaches a crescent
with the convex side to the north and one of the horns pointing south-west.
The Bay proper is an indentation in the true Arabian coast line re
presented on the north by the western bank of the Khor-as-Sabiya
and on tho south by the coast south of llas-al-Arz ; but its shore line
is artificially prolonged on the side towards the Shatt-al-Arab by a mud-
flat extending 20 miles south-east from the mouth of Khor-as-Sabiya, on
which stands the island of Failaka. The entrance to the bay between this
mud-flat and llas-al-Arz is about 4 miles wide and open to' the south-west
and south-south-west. In the southern shore of the bay are 3 minor coves ;
the easternmost cove between Ras-al-Arz and Bas-al-Ajuza is shallow, and vessels
are recommended not to enter it; the middle cove, between Eas-al-Ajuza
and Has Asheivij contains Koweit town on its eastern shore, a large
mud-flat known as A1 Akkaz in the centre, the islet of Kurein at the south
east corner of A1 Akkaz, and the island of Umm-an-Namil near Has Asheirij ;
the westernmost cove (Duhat Kathama) between Eas Asheirij and Has Kathama
forms the head of the whole bay and contains the village of Jahara. In most
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