Page 6 - Arabian Gulf Intellegence

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

Bombay
[Selections from the records of the Bombay Government,
new series, vol. XXIV, 1856]. Arabian Gulf intelligence:
selections from the records of the Bombay Government,
new series, no. XXIV, 1856: concerning Arabia, Bahrain,
Kuwait, Muscat and Oman, Qatar, United Arab Emirates
and the islands of the Gulf. — (Arabia past and present; v. 17)
1. Persian Gulf region—History
L Selections from the records of the Bombay Government,
new series, vol. XXIV, 1856 II. Title El. Thomas,
g 953 DS326
R. Hughes IV. Series

ISBN 0-900891-54-8

Frontispiece
The port of Muscat described by Capt T. C. Fowle of the 40th Pathans in his
Travels in the Middle East: ‘The boom of the ship’s signal gun woke me with a
start, and by the grey dawn I saw that we were floating peacefully on the dark
waters of a great lake - so it seemed - girdled with high cliffs still ringing with
the echoes of the shot, while from in front a silent white-faced town stared
gravely down on us with innumerable window-eyes. And this was Maskat- the
Maskat of my First impressions, at any rate. Later there were others. The lake
was no lake, but a harbour; two castles flanked the town on either hand, and
behind towered a peak-topped hill. Later still I went ashore.
Maskat keeps its windows for the sea front Once past the British Consulate,
and you find yourself in narrow bye-ways, scarce room for two abreast, while
on either side the blind walls of houses rise cliff-like to a thin strip of sunny
sky. But down below there is no sun, or heat or sound - only the cool shade,
the shuffle of one’s feet in the sand, and the solitary figure of a cloaked Arab
striding leisurely.’

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