Page 588 - Arabian Gulf Intellegence

544 NAVIGATION OF TIIE

SlIARGAII.
Shargah (the square tower) is in lal. 25° 21/ 40" n 1
55° 29' 13" E., and bears S. 441° W., nearly five and a quarter miles
The town stands on the eastern bank of the backwater, which is narrow
and shoal, being from one hundred to two hundred yards wide, with
about three or four feet water at low tides. The entrance is about a
mile to the northward of the town, and, like all others on this coast has
a bar. It runs about three miles, to Aboo Ileyle, where it unites with
the backwater there. The western side is bounded by an insulated
sandbank, on which they are now erecting their huts. Shargah is at
present the chief place of the Joasmee Tribe, and the head of it, Sultan
bin Suggur, chiefly resides here.
The town is long, narrow, and open : the defences are a fort a little in­
land, mounting six pieces of cannon, together with some detached towers.
In case of alarm from an enemy, it is stockaded round with date trees
and wood sufficient for repelling the attack of Arabs, although of little
service against regular troops. The inhabitants consist of the Joasmees,
A1 All, Shehaheen, and some mixed tribes, and are variously calculated
from 2,300 to 5,500 men : but from my own observation, aided by inqui­
ries on the spot, I should think in the pearl season, when most numer­
ous, they may amount to about 3,500 or 3,S00. Shargah sends from
three to four hundred boats of various sizes to the pearl fishery. Each
boat pays the Shaikh a tax of from one to two and a half dollars, accord­
ing to the number of divers employed. The returns are reckoned at
about a lakh of dollars.
The country for some distance inland is a complete desert, with a
few scattered date groves ; in the interior it is said to be better culti­
vated, but it does not afford sufficient supply for the inhabitants, who get
large quantities of dates from Bussora and Bahrein. They have
several considerable sized boats employed in the Gulf trade, and to the
Malabar Coast and Bombay, but Ras-ool-Khyma, on account of its
superior backwater, seems likely to form the principal place of trade on
this side the Gulf.
A number of Banians are also settled here, as pearl merchants,
goldsmiths, and cloth and grain-dealers. They generally adopt the Arab
dress. Sultan bin Suggur, the chief, is, with the exception of Ejman,
Shaikh of all the places from Ramse to this place. He is crafty in the
extreme, enterprising, and, for an Arab, has tolerable abilities. He is
more dignified in his manners than any other chief on this coast. He pre
tends great good will towards the English, but is not to be trusted. e
possesses a good countenance, but rather a crafty one, and he is he as
much in fear as reverence by the different Shaikhs along the coast.
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