Page 29 - PERSIAN 5 1905_1911

RESIDENCY FOR TIT* YEAR 1906-1006. 19

•with a view to reporting to them on the position. This gentleman arrived at
Maskat on 19th February whore tho R.I.M.S. Lawrence was placed at bia
disposal for tho rest of his tour. Accompanied by the Residency Surgeon he
visited all the Gulf Ports including Bahrein and Koweit and after completing
his local investigations left for Bombay on 19th March to confer with the
Government of India before going home. His report has not yet been issued.
On 3rd September reports reached His Britannic Majesty’s Consul, Shiraz*
that the bodies of persons who had died
Health at Ehiros.
of cholera in the epidemic of 1904 had
been exhumed for transport to Kerbela. On receiving confirmation of the
news from Doctor Palmer, Mr. Grabame addressed His Royal Highness the
Shoa es-Sultaneh warning him of the danger and recommending that the
exhumation should be prohibited for one year. He also interviewed the Imam
Juma on the subject and Dr. Palmer furthermore reported it to the Sanitary
Board at Tehran urging that the necessary steps be taken to stop the exhuma-
tioD and this was apparently done.
The total rainfall in the Bushire District was almost up to the average of Miscellaneous.
the last ten years but did not fall season­
Rainfall and Harvest.
ably and only an 8-anna crop resulted.
In Shiraz, however, and other parts of Fars, especially Dashtistan, the fall
was more propitious and the harvest again most satisfactory. Prices of food
stuffs consequently fell considerably. Opium was the only exception, the
poppy crop being a poor one.
The Derya Begi has remained in office throughout the year and though
bereft of most of his power under the
The Governorship of Bach ire and the Gulf Ports.
existing regime and inclined to be prodi­
gal of promises which be can seldom fulfil, he has at all events been concilia­
tory and cordial in his dealings with the Residency.
Telegraphic news was received from Hon jam on 29th April 1905 to the
effect that there had been several shocks
Earthqcukes.
of earthquake in the vicinity of Bunder
Abbas resulting in landslips at Isin and Ginao by which some houses had been
thrown down and two persons killed. There was also an earthquake shock at
Henjam on 25th April and one at Kishm on the 27th. The former caused a
fissure in the plinth 20 yards from the outhouses of the Telegraph Department's
buildings but no other harm resulted.
In the beginning of July petty robberies became again prevalent on the
outskirts of Bushire and were stated by
Lawle»»oe*» io Baa hire.
the local authorities to be the work of
Tangistanis; but episodes which occurred during the Derya Begi's last
Governorship gave rise to.the suspicion that this lawlessness may have been
instigated by tho Governor himself as a pretext for a lucrative punitive expedi­
tion into Tangistan.
On the night of 245th August a robbery took place at the house of an
Arab named Najaf bin Gbalib, Agent in Bushire of the Sheikh of Koweit, and
claimed by the latter as a subject. The owner was spending the evening with
a friend and returned to find that his house had been ransacked and cash and
property to the value of RIO,000 stolen. It was a matter of common report
that the robbery has been committed by certain of the Persian artillerymen
stationed in the town; and the local authorities have been continually pressed
to bring the offend ere to justice, but in spite of constant promises no effective
action has been taken and it has been necessary to move HU Majesty’s
legation in the matter for such friendly overtures as be may feel in a position
to make on behalf of the Koweiti.
It is worth recording that a parcel of office stationery under despatch from
the Residency to the Coal Agent at Bassido,
, . csre of the Residency Agent at Lmgah,
was desonbed m the transhipment pass issued by the Customs Administration
as being exjzorte, % e., under export to foreign territory.
n £