Page 293 - The Tigris Expedition

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The Tigris Expedition
i his men. He had come to this desolate bay on instructions from the
Norwegian salvage company Salvator in Bergen, as a result of a
message from Bahrain Radio reporting that the vessel Tigris of
Larvik, Norway, had been wrecked west of Ras Ormara in Pakis­
tan.
The ship s shallow landing-barge hit the bottom before reaching
I
the beach, and the captain and his first officer left the men to hold
the bouncing boat as they waded ashore and hurried over to the
! crowd. They forced their way gently into the inner circle and found
themselves front row spectators of a party which included drums,
oriental dancing and wrestling competitions in the sand. Guests of
honour within the ring were bearded foreigners of different ethnic
types, strangely mixed, and they and their hosts were all so amused
i that the newcomers were scarcely noticed.

H I myself was not there and was the next to be surprised. I had been
S over in the village with Gherman; and returning on foot across the
G isthmus we hurried so as not to miss the dancing which the village
a schoolmaster had arranged for our entertainment on the beach.
: -i Coming back over the dunes we had already sighted the most
peculiar kind of ship anchored beside our own, where we had
moved when the weather had calmed down two days earlier. I had
never seen such a vessel, but realised I was to meet the captain when
uri came to meet me with two blond Europeans.
i Do you speak English?’ I asked, introducing myself. I could see
i that Yuri was having fun.
Captain Hansen, replied the stranger in Norwegian and added
t at, yes, he could speak English, but if I didn’t mind we could use
our mother tongue.
Shark-skin drums and Pakistani songs filled the air and dancers
an wrestlers tumbled about in the sand during the improvised
cac party as I recovered from my surprise and asked Captain
ansen w at he was doing with a Norwegian salvage vessel in such
a eso ate place as Ormara Bay. I told him that in spite of this
triend ly welcome dance the village police had confided to me that
°re!f jCrS VCnLnot aM°wed to come to Ormara. The village people
recalled only the visit of one foreigner before, and he had come
overland to collect stones.
Captain Hansen replied that he came with permission from the

41. Into the Indian Ocean.
swells Far ^0m ^3nCl T^riS always f°und sPace between the ocean

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