Page 229 - The Tigris Expedition

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The Tigris Expedition
been swept towards the side facing the gulf and the setting sun,
leaving wide plains on our side, which faced the sunrise and the
open road into the ocean. Here, indeed, on this friendly open beach,
an ancient explorer would have steered his raft-ship in to go ashore.
We were aching to do the same, but the last radio contact had given
us strict instructions first to clear our passports and obtain landing
permits in Muscat, way down the coast.
With our binoculars we could see a large number of small boats
pulled up all along the white beach behind the islands. They were
too far away for us to distinguish any details, and I had yet to learn
what I would have missed if the Sultan of Oman were to refuse us
’
: access to his carefully guarded Sultanate. The few vessels that came
close enough to be seen clearly showed no details of outstanding
interest.
As the evening drew near, the long beach as far as we could see
became alive, and numerous small fishing-boats, all with motors,
left the beach and swarmed like ants into the sea. A few canoe-like
rowing-boats came around our island to tend to fishing-nets. In one
shaky craft were two old men brought by a young boy who
wielded a natural branch with a make-shift paddle-blade lashed to
the end. A charming old rascal with eagle nose and long white beard
offered us live fish at a modest price. Lacking local cash we showed
him a far too large note in Bahrain dinars and a still larger one in
Qatar currency. He grabbed both and told Rashad they were going
across to the dhow to learn the values before they made their choice
and paid us back the change. Once they were around the dhow they
suddenly put three pairs of oars into the water and rowed away
behind the island so fast that they would have won any boat race.
When we were left alone again that evening there were fish and
sea-birds everywhere around us. A couple of turtles raised their
heads like periscopes above the calm water and looked at us. And
more than once a huge creature we never saw, probably a whale,
barely touched the surface and loudly took in a deep breath before
submerging, leaving only ripples to mark the spot.
What a marvellous place. The islands formed a cluster with
friendly slopes and bright beaches along the sheltered channels
between them, but with cliffs almost 300 feet high on the side facing
the open sea. We all itched to swim ashore. But Captain Said begged
us for his sake not to touch the shore with our feet; he now admitted
he felt responsible, as the police had seen him in our company in
Oman waters.
Norman suddenly made excellent contact with a shore station
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