On the morning of the 10th. we were off the Barnhill. The five ships had thus far kept us in a state of suspense; as we imagined that they might be the fleet of the Imaum of Muscat, who possesses thirty sail of different descriptions. Some of his ships, indeed, are of a thousand tons burthen; and one of forty guns, built at Bombay, is rather a formidable vessel.[10] The Imaum in person frequently parades about the Persian gulph with his armament. He is an independant prince, and his jurisdiction, though principally confined to Muscat, extends yet generally over the province of Oman. At present he is friendly to us, and we have a resident at his court, who seldom remains there long, for the badness of its air has rendered it the burial place of too many Englishmen.
At length we boarded the Arabs, and they proved to be, as we had originally expected, a fleet of the Imaum’s merchantmen, laden with coffee, rice, &c. bound to Bushire and Bussorah. They had been fifteen days from Muscat. One of the five was a fine vessel of six hundred tons burthen, which about four years before was purchased by the Imaum at the Isle of France, and was then called the Sterling Castle. There were also two grabs, which are ships in every respect like the others, except that they have lengthened prows instead of rounded bows. These grabs the Arabs can manage to build themselves in their own ports, as it is easy to extend the timbers of a ship, until they connect themselves into a prow; but they have not yet attained the art of forming timber fit to construct bows.
Before the sun-set of the preceding day, we had discovered through our glasses, the town of Congoon, under a peak, close in the eastern vicinity of the Barnhill. It then appeared in a wood of dates, above which rose the domes of mosques. The Sheik of Congoon is represented as a young and spirited Arab, who can raise a body of two thousand cavalry, and who is able to lead them. His town is resorted to for wood, but, as far as we could judge at a distance, the date is the only tree of the neighbourhood.
We suffered much from the heat in the night, but when the moon rose over the Barnhill, a little refreshing breeze sprang up, which gave us much relief. An Arab ship was not far from us, and I could just hear their singing on board. It brought to my recollection some of the moonlight scenes in the Archipelago; for the music of these Arabs struck me as being very similar to that which I have heard on board a Greek or Sclavonian ship, when the lyra accompanies the voice of some naval Apollo, and is followed by a chorus of his shipmates.
We were off Cape Verdistan this morning, and descried the Hummocks of Kenn. The shoal that runs out from Cape Verdistan, is rendered dangerous by a reef of rocks which extends itself about six or seven miles from the shore. There are good mud soundings on the shoal, and a ship may cross its extremity without danger, though it is as well to give it a good birth. We stood off in the night of the 12th. The soundings in the shoal as laid down by Mac Cluer are not all correspondent to those which we got. We were in seven fathoms for more than an hour, and he has not got such a sounding amongst his. From seven we got to half six, and then to four, when we thought it time to tack. The cause which has been assigned for our ignorance of the gulph, is the prudential reserve which has influenced our Indian governments in their transactions with the states of Persia and Arabia. To avoid suspicion and complaint, they have never professedly made surveys of the shores, though much might yet have been done indirectly, if the object had been considered of sufficient importance. Few, except merchant vessels visited the gulph; and as the charts, which they already possessed (and what is better, their own experience) served their purpose sufficiently in the line of their own navigation, there was seldom any particular demand for more correct surveys. The geographer and philosopher indeed require something more, and therefore it is still matter of regret, that we are comparatively ill-informed in countries, where we have had easy opportunities of acquiring knowledge.
13th Oct. We were becalmed all night under the Asses Ears. These are points of land, which stand a little more erect, and are more conspicuous than the other points which surround them. The whole displays a line of coast the most rugged, barren, and inhospitable that I ever saw; and constitutes, after we passed Verdistan shoal, a very bold shore. We sailed along it, keeping in eleven and twelve fathoms. In the evening we opened Hallilah peak, which is a high and remarkable point of land. As we crept along the coast, we marked some ruined walls embosomed among the date trees.[11] At sun-set we just discovered the low land on which stands the town of Bushire. In the calms which followed during the night, we were unable to make much way, and on the morning of the 14th we were still at the same distance from Bushire, as on the preceding evening. We fired two shots at a small vessel, to bring her to, but without effect. These boats are employed mostly in carrying wood to Bushire. They find it on the coast, probably in recesses of the land, for we could scarcely see a shrub in the whole passage of the gulph.
At about half past three o’clock on the 14th October, we anchored in Bushire roads, where we found one of the Company’s cruizers, and a merchantman. Before we cast anchor, a boat came off from the shore, the captain of which, a little sharp Persian, answered Sir Harford Jones’s interrogations with much vivacity, and swore to the truth of every assertion ten times over by his head and eyes. Having learnt that the East India Company’s assistant resident, Mr. Bruce, was at Bushire, the Envoy sent a letter to desire his attendance on board immediately, and at the same time requesting that he would notify the arrival of the mission to the Sheik, Abdallah Resoul, who then governed Bushire. We could see with our glasses Mr. Bruce’s residence, which was at some distance without the town, and could observe that the letter had been safely delivered; for in a few minutes we discovered Mr. Bruce on horseback, riding full speed to the boat. In an hour he was on board.
He commenced by informing us of a report of the death of our King, which had reached Bushire from Bagdad; and which, originating from an article in a French paper, had been circulated in Persia by the French, for an obvious purpose. The Envoy delivered to Mr. Bruce, a paper containing all the communications which he wished to be made to the Sheik of Bushire. He then added, desiring that his object might be clearly explained, that He expected from the Sheik all the respect due to the station which he filled, and that if he did not receive those honours to which the King of England’s Mission was entitled, the Sheik should be held responsible till the wishes of the court of Persia were known. Mr. Bruce assured Sir Harford that the Sheik would make no difficulty in coming off the next day to pay his respects, and the hour of his visit was in consequence fixed at ten o’clock.
The colours of the New Factory in the country, and of the Old one in the town, were hoisted on the morning of the 15th. While we were expecting the arrival of the Sheik, we regaled ourselves with the grapes, citrons, and pomegranates, which had been sent to us from the shore. At length we espied a boat with a crimson awning, and apparently much filled with passengers. It was beating against the sea breeze, which, rather unfortunately for the party, had set in uncommonly fresh. When she came in a line with our ship, the sail was lowered, and the men took to their oars. In a short time however we observed from the frigate, that the boat got very slowly a-head, and that the strength of the crew was nearly exhausted. Captain Corbett then sent his barge to tow up the Sheik to the ship, which was done in a very masterly style; and we were delighting in the idea of the enjoyment which the Persians must have received in the close at least of such an excursion, when we were mortified at discovering the misery in every face, which the unusual voyage had too evidently produced. But the sea-sickness was forgotten as soon as they were on board the frigate. The Sheik was received with a salute of five guns; the number was esteemed a mark of particular distinction, as three are considered in Persia a sufficient allowance for a great man.
The marines were under arms; Captain Corbett with much courtesy handed him across the quarter-deck, and assisted him with some difficulty to descend from the deck to the cabin by a steep and narrow ladder, which, however, no attention could render convenient to a man encumbered with an immense large cloak and slip-shod slippers. At the bottom he was received by Sir Harford Jones. The ship was immediately filled by the suite of the Sheik, who, with all the curiosity and effrontery of Asiatics, spread themselves through every part. Our guest was attended on his visit by the principal men and merchants of Bushire, among whom the Envoy recognised the face of many an early friend. All the party seemed much pleased with their reception, and expressed their high admiration of the beauty, order, and cleanliness of the ship. The conversation was general, and consisted mostly in inquiries after former friends, and in reviving the recollection of the histories of old times. Sir Harford Jones had known the Sheik when he was a fine boy: there was now indeed little left to be admired; his face was inanimate, and his body bent double with excessive debauch. The whole party were generally but a rude sample of the elegance of Persians, nor indeed is the true Persian to be found at Bushire, where the blood is mostly mixed with that of Arabia.