Page 489 - PERSIAN 5 1905_1911

POLITICAL RESIDENCY FOR 1009. 79
a slave is far loo valuable as property to be wantonly ill-treated or made
away with. . ,
The 1909 pearling season proved to lx a very successful one, and many
1 ° 0f the divers have been able to get out.
rcari Fisheries. 0f ^ c]utchcs of their nakhudas and
towashes. Some gambling at the beginning of the season forced up prices
very high with the natural result that, towards the end of the year there was
a slump with low prices at which there were no sellers. The total sum real­
ized on this season’s pearls by Kuwait merchants is estimated at anything
between 25 to 30 lakhs of rupees.
No pearl divers were required for the winter season of 1909-10 by
the Ceylon Pearl Fisheries Company, and consequently no passes were issued
by the Agency.
The B. I. S. N. Co.’s slow and fast mail services continued to make the
port in alternate weeks until the end of
Shipping.
July when the placo of the fast mail
was taken by the Agency steam launch, “ Lewis Pelly,” running to and from
Fao. The arrangement has worked well enough for the mails, but passengers
and the trading community are undoubtedly much inconvenienced, the former
having to make a journey of over a week via Bahrain and Bushire to reach
Mohammerah and Basrah, whilst the latter find their trade^hampered by being
restricted to shipping specie to India only once a fortnight and that by a very
slow service. A weekly service of any kind would be a boon.
M. A. Varin, formerly of the Belgian Customs staff at Bushire, visit­
ed Kuwait in February with the osten­
Foreigners and Travellers.
sible object of introducing German gold
jewellery and booking orders for other gcods of German manufacture
In January Mr. J. C. Pearson, accompanied by a Greek interpreter,
arrived on behalf of the Carnegie Institute of Yv ashington, U. S. A., in connec­
tion with a scientific enquiry in terrestrial magnetism.
One Ibrahirn-bin-Adhami, a Turk, arrived on the 22nd April with a pre­
sent of 10 bags of coffee for the Shaikh, said to be from the Sultan of Lahej.
On October 7th a Hungarian, named Emmanuel Lacon, landed in Kuwait.
He described himself as travelling round the world on foot, having started
from Transylvania, in April 1905, with no funds. He desired to walk to
Baghdad but was induced by the Political Agent to accept a free passage in
a sailing boat to Fao, as offering a better chance of his eventually fulfilling
his ambition.
The Resident did not visit Kuwait during the year, but Major Trevor,
First Assistant, and Captain Rae, Second
Tours and Visits of British Officials.
Assistant, both paid short visits in
January and March respectively.
In March His Majesty’s Consul at Basrah, Mr. Crow, stayed a week in
Kuwait during which questions connected with the Turkish demand for certi­
ficates of Ottoman nationality from Kuwait subjects, and the Shaikh’s pro-
perties on the Shatt-el-Arab, were thoroughly discussed.
The Political Agent made two trips up the Shatt-el-Arab and met His
Britannic Majesty’s Consul at Basnah
Political Agent’8 Tours.
. During November and December he also
made a short tour of 18 days into the hinterland south and west of Kuwait
during which much difficulty was experienced in obtaining forage and water
”ps„.er»“pdpis S" “oush °i>po't"ni,>' ™ ““
The charge of the Agency continued to be held by Major S. G. Knox
Political Changes. up to the 28th April, when he proceeded
the close of the year by Captain W. EL I^ShakS^ar^ ^ date

w. H. I. SHAKESPEAR, Captain,
Political Agent, Kuwait.