"استطلاعات في بلاد الرافدين وكردستان وشمال غرب بلاد فارس ولرستان في الفترة من أبريل إلى أكتوبر ١٨٨٨، كتبها المقدم ف. ر. مونسيل، فرع الاستخبارات. يوجد مجلدان. المجلد الأول: تقرير سردي ووصف للمدن الكبرى والطرق المؤدية منها. شيملا: فرع الاستخبارات، إدارة قائد الإمداد والتموين، ١٨٩٠" [و‎‎٩] (٣١٢/٢٢)

Pao Port.
The Turks have recently built a fort on the extreme end of the low spit of land
■called the Ras-el-Bisheh, forming the south-west side of the entrance of the river.
It was begun in May 1886, and has been built under the superintendence
of Kamil Bey, who lived in Busra.
Work has gone on with some intermissions since 1886, and the construc
tion seems now nearly complete and ready to receive its armament. Its cost
when completed was estimated at £107,000 to £150,000. Any approach to
it is most jealously guarded by the Turkish officials and soldiers quartered
near it. A good view can, however, be obtained from passing vessels.
The fort is nearly rectangular, and is of the shape known as a blunted
Construction. redan. The south-east or front face of the work is
designed to command the only navigable deep water
channel, and the approach, of ships from the bar.
The left face, that parallel to the river bank, looks out north-east across
the river.
The right face looks out south-west over the mud flats of the Khor
Abdallah.
The gorge abuts closely on the line of date plantations which fringe the
bank in rear of the work.
The south-east face consists of two flanking bastions joined by a curtain
of masonry.
In the curtain are two emplacements, in which it would seem two heavy
guus are to be mounted in open casemates fronted by iron shields. There is a
central traverse between the gun emplacements. No shields have as yet been
brought into position, and the embrasures are loosely bricked up ; but from
the trace it is certain that some such method of mounting will be employed.
The two guns to be mounted on this face will probably be not less than 25 to
St) tons each.
This is the face which immediately commands the main channel, and
would naturally be expected to be the heaviest armed. Two heavy guns would
be quite sufficient to defend this long narrow channel, which is the only one
by which ships can approach.
There are no signs of circular emplacements for barbette mountings in the
corner bastions ; and these are intended as traverses for the right and left faces,
or to be filled with casemated barracks, or ammunition stores, judging from the
ventilator tops that can be seen appearing above them.
The escarp wall shows above the glacis crest some 15 feet, and is of
strong masonry, faced with white sandstone brought from Kouait. This
makes the fort easily visible from the seaward against the dark background of
date plantations.
The left or river face is not as strong as that just described. The con-
Left face. struction is similar, namely, two bastions connected
by a curtain. The command of the escarp wall is
about 4 feet lower than that of the main face. By this means the south
east bastion acts as a traverse, and defilades it from fire from the sea side.
In the curtain are three openings, meant for embrasures, but still unfinished,
and used as openings to carry building material into the interior of the work.
It may be intended to close up these openings, and have the gun firing
from disappearing carriages. The north-east bastion is casemated over,
containing either quarters, or shell and cartridge stores for the guns close
by it.