Page 222 - The Tigris Expedition

Wc Search for a Pyramid and Find Mahan
The last wc heard was a sudden new outburst mv’esSe[was
their voices back as they passed our companions swear-
duly marked as from Oman. Wc were sure wc c< n
ing But no, said Rashad: ‘They are accusing their own countrym
of keeping company with a vessel full of Shatans. He i no
to translate that familiar Semitic word.
If the berdi reeds had been as dry and brittle as they were w cn wc
built our ship in Iraq, this intended police inspection would have
put an end to our expedition there and then, in the calm waters ot
Oman, barely south of the Hormuz Strait. But what happens to
papyrus happens to berdi too: when sun-dried first and then soaked,
the fibres gain an incredible strength. Fortunately for us, the rough
sea during the last days in the gulf had wetted all reeds and canes so
thoroughly that the Tigris bundles had become as tough as compact
rubber fenders, and the plaited cabins flexed like leather shoes. Even
in daylight we could find no damage either above or below the
waterline, apart from slight displacement of a few deck planks and
bamboo ribs, all easily pulled back into place.
The sight of the police boat’s bow inside our cabin door made us
more alert to the possibility of a similarly unexpected encounter
with a bow of vastly superior dimensions. Such bows had thun­
dered past to the right and left of us for forty-eight hours as the old
year went out and the new year began. In fact, after two nights and
two days feeling like snails between feet in a crowded ball-room,
this was the first night we had spent in calm waters, away from
traffic. When night fell on us after the first day of the year, there was
not a ship-light to be seen from horizon to horizon, and the sea
along the coast was so calm that stars were reflected in the water.
Relaxed and secure, we had crawled to bed only to wake up to a
collision.
It had not been without doubt that we had decided to lay our
course down along the east coast of Oman. Rarely have I relived the
sentiments of early travellers more intensely than when we
emerged from the narrow Hormuz Strait and had the choice of
where to steer. We had - no predetermined itinerary. The Gulf ot
Oman opened before us like a funnel as land ran away from the
strait in two directions, east and south. The greatest temptation in
our case was to avoid further threats from cliffs and coastlines by
steering straight for the open Indian Ocean while the wind still blew
in that direction. But that is hardly what the first ma-gur on
explorations outside the gulf would have done. The fascinating
appearance of both the shores running in different directions out-
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