Page 46 - 4 Persian Trade rep KUWAIT 2_Neat

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Beams and masts are 6old by the Calicut kandy was no dearth of oysters, but few of them had ar«y-
or 10 cubic feet 29 cubic inches: round rafters or thing in them. The pearl market too was extra-
spars by the korjah or score and boat ribs b}’ the gari ordinarily bad.
«*r cart load .of 40 pieces or upward according to size. Imports.
The 4 gallon kerosinc oil tin is used as a measure The total imports by sea amounted to r347 595 .
of capacity for the sale of water. anil show.<1 a <loor,asc of 26-88 as
Jif the smaller weights is the Kabbah, equivalent the figures lor 1920-26. This is accounted for hv tin-
t" 3 trains Troy, used in the sale of gold and silver. decreased import of coffee, firewood, rice
Gold is normally sold by the mith'qul 'atlari of 18 and wheat. vnpcie
hnlbihs, or 54 grains, and also by the Turkish pound The import of piece-goods shows an increase of
and fractions thereof. Silver is sold by the milhqdl 40-68; and that of tea 29-52 over their
Shirazi of 24 habbahs, .or 72 grains. The mithqal imports for the year 1925-26. respective
'r.tturi and the milhqdl Shirdzi are also both used for Of the total import trade 65-75 per cent, was with
uruirs and silk thread ; but for this purpose they are India, 16-41 per cent, with ’Iraq 13-01 per cent,
ia»r divided into habbahs, but only into halves and with Persian Coast, 1-71 per cent, with Arabian
quarters, the niceties of weight being arrived at using Coast and 3-12 per cent, with other countries.
the two tnilhqals and their fractions in conjunction.
Perfumes as also gold thread, are sold by the tolah Exports.
of ISO grains. The total exports by sea amounted to £91.947 at,d
In the pearl trade the following weights and mea­ showed a decrease of 37-26 as compared with Series
sures are most commonly used in Kuwait. Whole­
sale purchase of pearls from the Captains of pearling for 1925-26. This was clue largely to the fact that-
there was no export of pearls and specie. Accurate-
boats are made chiefly by size. For this purpose, figures for pearls and specie can, however, never he
after any exceptionally good pearls, which it is
desired to dispose of separately, have been removed, obtained as these are often exported amongst per­
remainder are assorted by being passed through a sonal luguage. It is, however, known that ov.ing
to the bad market the biggest merchants did not sell
series of perforated brass or copper bowls, the stan- their stocks of pearls during the year under repott.
duid set of which consists of four; the perforations
of the largest called rat are •18"’ in diameter: those There was also a decrease in the export of wheat,
rice. sui:ar. tea rafters, fish oil. hides and sk,i s,
cf the second, bain *15'; those of the third, dhail
•13' and those of fourth rdbfah -11'. After being drugs, coffee and barley. At the -ann- time there
was increase of 49-31 per cent, of the oxp< it *-i
assorted into ras, bain, etc., they change hands at piece-gocris.
u previously arranged rate, at so much the milhqal
Arabi which is equivalent to 50 grains. The ordi­
nary pearls then usually pass from one dealer to Customs Administration and Lighterage.
another on the more precise kind of estimate based The administration of the Kuwait Custom.- i»
upon weight. In Kuwait the Bombay milhqdl, supervised by a local Arab and the system wuk>
equivalent to 7o grains Troy, ar.d sub-divided into satisfactorily. An import duty of 4 per cent, ad
24 raids each.of 15 dnaks is usually employed. The valorem is charged, and there is no export duty except
unit in the dealers’ system is called a chau, and, on goods brought in from the interior. su»-h as clari­
although derived from a weight, it is not in itself fied butter, hides, wool, etc-., on which 4 per cent,
u weight. The number of chaa* in a pearl is found is charged if exported.
by squaring the weight of the pearl in mithqdls and The arrangements for lightering and landing cargo
multiplying the result by 330. ' The chau is divisible at Kuwait are superior to those at any other port
into 100 dihahs, and the dukrah into 100 laddms. in the Persian Gulf.
There aue other kind of chaus also occasionally Freight, Shipping and Navigation.
used, and obtained by an identical process from other Kuwait owns about 250 sailing vessels or.ess>d in
milhudls, such as the Poona milhqdl of 6$J grains. the carrying trade, as distinct from pearling, ami
The normal unit of length is the dhira or cubit fishing boats ; of these sixty have a carrying capacity
of 19'; but for rope, which is also sold by the weight, of over 100 tons, including eight of over 3«H« ?r.r.>
the bif or fathom is usually employed. There is no nnd 20 over 230 tons.
square measure in use; and a plot of ground is des­ Fortv boats were employed constantly in bring­
cribed as being so many dhira's according to the sum ing drinking water to the towD from the Shaft al-
of its sides. ’Arab. On an average four such boats arrive daily
and brim: 27.200 gallons of water worth £16.
The Year 1928-27. In addition to the above 884.000 gallons of water
Thfi. rear was ext»-«melv unfavourable for *rade. worth £Cc0, were imported in barges during the year.
There was still no trade with Najd, and the pearl These figures are not included in the Import
season was quite- ouc- of the worst on record. There returns.