At one of the most considerable contractions stands the handsome
fort Luft. Fifteen years since the principal stronghold of the
Persian pirates was in this neighbourhood. A severe battle was
fought between them and the English, near Luft, in which upwards of
800 were killed, many taken prisoners, and the whole gang broken up.
Since that event, perfect security has been restored.
5th May. We left the straits, and three days later came to anchor
off Buschir.
There are considerable quantities of sea-weeds and molluscae in the
Persian Gulf; the latter had many fibres, were of a milk-white
colour, and resembled a forest agaric in form; others had a
glistening rose colour with small yellow spots. Conger eels of two
or three feet in length were not uncommon.
8th May. The town of Buschir is situated on a plain six miles from
the mountains, whose highest peak, called by the Persians Hormutsch,
by the English Halala, is 5,000 feet high.
The town contains 15,000 inhabitants, and has the best harbour in
Persia; but its appearance is very dirty and ugly.
The houses stand quite close together, so that it is easy to pass
from one to the other over the terraces, and it requires no great
exertion to run over the roofs, as the terraces are enclosed only by
walls one or two feet high. Upon some houses, square chambers
(called wind-catchers), fifteen or twenty feet high, are erected,
which can be opened above and at the sides, and serve to intercept
the wind and lead it into the apartments.
The women here cover up their faces to such a degree that I cannot
imagine how they find their way about. Even the smallest girls
imitate this foolish custom. There is also no lack of nose-rings,
bracelets, sandals, etc.; but they do not wear nearly so many as the
Hindoos. The men are all armed; even in the house they carry
daggers or knives, and besides these, pistols in the streets.
We remained two days in Buschir, where I was very well received by
Lieutenant Hennelt, the resident.
I would gladly have left the ship here to visit the ruins of
Persepolis, and travel by land from thence to Shiraz, Ispahan,
Teheran, and so onwards; but serious disturbances had broken out in
these districts, and numerous hordes of robbers carried on their
depredations. I was in consequence compelled to alter my plan, and
to go straight on to Baghdad.
10th May. In the afternoon we left Buschir.
11th May. Today I had the gratification of seeing and sailing on
one of the most celebrated rivers in the world, the Schatel-Arab
(river of the Arabs), which is formed by the junction of the
Euphrates, Tigris, and Kaurun, and whose mouth resembles an arm of
the sea. The Schatel-Arab retains its name as far as the delta of
the Tigris and Euphrates.
12th May. We left the sea and the mountains behind at the same
time, and on both shores immense plains opened before us whose
boundaries were lost in the distance.
Twenty miles below Bassora we turned off into the Kaurun to set down
some passengers at the little town of Mahambrah, which lies near the
entrance of that river. We immediately turned back again, and the
captain brought the vessel round in the narrow space in an
exceedingly clever way. This proceeding caused the uninitiated some
anxiety; we expected every moment to see either the head or stern
run a-ground, but it succeeded well beyond all measure. The whole
population of the town was assembled on the shore; they had never
before seen a steamer, and took the most lively interest in the bold
and hazardous enterprise.
About six years ago, the town Mahambrah experienced a terrible
catastrophe; it was at that time under Turkish rule, and was
surprised and plundered by the Persians; nearly all the inhabitants,
amounting to 5,000, were put to death. Since that period it has
been retained by the Persians.
Towards noon we arrived at Bassora. Nothing is visible from the
river but some fortified works and large forests of date-trees,
behind which the town is situated far inland.
The journey from Bombay to this place had occupied eighteen days, in
consequence of the unfavourable monsoon, and was one of the most
unpleasant voyages which I ever made. Always upon deck in the midst
of a dense crowd of people, with a heat which at noon time rose to
99 degrees 5' Fah., even under the shade of a tent. I was only once
able to change my linen and dress at Buschir, which was the more
annoying as one could not prevent the accumulation of vermin. I
longed for a refreshing and purifying bath.
Bassora, one of the largest towns of Mesopotamia, has among its
inhabitants only a single European. I had a letter to the English
agent, an Armenian named Barseige, whose hospitality I was compelled
to claim, as there was no hotel. Captain Lichfield presented my
letter to him and made known my request, but the polite man refused
to grant it. The good captain offered me accommodation on board his
ship, so that I was provided for for the present.
The landing of the Persian women presented a most laughable
spectacle: if they had been beauties of the highest order, or
princesses from the sultan's harem, there could not have been more
care taken to conceal them from the possibility of being seen by
men.
I was indebted to my sex for the few glimpses which I caught of them
in the cabin; but among the whole eighteen women I did not see a
single good-looking one.
