Page 473 - PERSIAN 4 1899_1905

ADMINISTRATION REPORT
OK THE

PERSIAN GULF POLITICAL RESIDENCY

AND
MASKAT POLITICAL AGENCY
FOR
1S03-1901

Part I.—GENERAL SUMMARY.

1. Rainfall and Harvest.—The rainfall though late has generally been i.-GeneraL
good throughout Southern Persia, and the prospects of the harvest are good.
At the close of the year wheat was selling in Bushirc at 17 brans and barley
at 12 krar.s per hasmi uiaund of 124 lbs.
In October 1C03 the Persian Government imposed an embargo on the
export of sheep and goats from the Persian Gulf ports, owing to the alleged
scarcity of stock in the interior. Considerable inconvenience on this account
is being felt at Bahrein and other places on the Arab Coast which are depen­
dent on Persia for their meat supply.
2. The Governorship of Bushire and Gulf Boris.—His Excellency the
Salar-i-Moazzim left Bushire in- the end of March, having been recalled to
Tehran. It is understood that the Derya Beggi is on his way from Tehran
to Bushire to succeed him. The Foreign Office Agent, Mirza Ali Mahomed
Khan, Mowaker-ed-Dowleb, is acting as Governor pending the arrival of the
new Governor.
Good order has been maintained in Bushire and the surrounding districts.
The four guns of position mentioned in last year’s report remain where
they were. The Artillery Officer who came from Tehran for the purpose of
preparing the forts where these guns are to be placed died in August. He
lias been succeeded by another man, but the forts have not yet been constructed.
3. Bublic Health.—There was an outbreak of plague at Bahrein during
the year. The first cases occurred during the first week in May and the
disease disappeared towards the end- of June. It has been estimated that 600
cases with 301 deaths occurred, but the figures are not very reliable. It is said
that there was a mild outbreak of plague in El Hassa early in April which
died out towards the end of the month; and Katif is said to have been
affected.
The town of Minab, 60 miles distant from Bunder Abbas, has suffered
from what was apparently a severe epidemic of cholera which however had died
out in January. The sanitary service in the Persian Gulf is in the hands of
the Residency 8urgeon, whose supervision and that of the officers subordinate
to him has been very effective.
The recent outbreak of cholera at Basra is a cause for some anxiety, hut
it is to be. hoped that the measures taken will prevent the disease from
appearing, in any of the Gulf porta.
B