Page 83 - 4 Persian Trade rep KUWAIT 2_Neat

3

The arrangements for lightering and landing cargo from 1 s. to Is. U., a carpenter from is. to 8#., *
at Kuwait arc superior to those at any other port mason from 3s. to 9s. and a boat-builder from 4#.
in the Persian Gulf. to 8s. per diem.

Freight, Shipping and Navigation. Mineral*.

over
over 230 tons. parts of the principality.
Forty-five boats were employed constantly in
bringing drinking water to the town from the Shatfc
al-’Arab. On an average six such boats arrive Domestic Animal*.
Hail/ and bring 48,000 gallons of water worth £40. ^ moat valnab,e domestic are
These figures are not included in the Report of which there are large numbers, sheep, goats and
returns. donkeys, of the latter many of a large white breed.
The British India Steam Navigation Company originally from Ha.sa, are found in the town. These
maintain a weekly service from India and a fort­ are sometimes over thirteen hands in height, and a
nightly service to India. good one will fetch about £20. There are also some
The steamers owned or chartered by (1) The horses and a few homed cattle.
Bombay Persia Steam Navigation Coy. Ltd., (2)
The Niruazi Steam Navigation Coy. Ltd., (3) The
Hansa Steam Ship Coy. Ltd., (4) The Eastern Steam Agriculture.
Navigation Coy. Ltd. (5) The Strick Line Ltd. Neither Kuwait l.or its environs can boast of any
also called as inducement offered. agricultural resources. There are no date planta-
SS’vtK: SM&W
v ThC
and &rachi to Kuwait and from Kuwait to Bombay SUPP!-V * hm,t®J.but ^creasmg quantity of vegetable,
and Karachi was £1-13-4 per ton respectively, The ^r.cu.tural comrc m tne prnu-
throughout the year. p hty is Jahrah wnich is greatly .mprov- o uunng
° J tne year owing to the facilities afforded by motor
The average rate of freight by the other lines was
,
.
_
„
t •
. transport in taking the products into town. The
£1 per ton from Bombay and Karachi to Kuwait staple crops are wheat, barley and lucerne but,
and vice versa. melons, water melons, pumpkins, beans, and some
other vegetables are also grown in increasing quan­
Sea Fisheries. tities. There are -=onie 2,300 date trees. The
The only truly local produce of Kuwait is that a^m'e cr0P3”e nilost.;.r irrigated, but a small amount
yielded by the harbour fisheries, which are a valu- °* . eat auc* Bariev Ls grown by rainfall alone. The
aide asset. Besides float-and-weight nets and lines, agriculture of Jahrah might be considerably in­
traps or tidal weirs, constructed of reed hurdles, creased j more money were sunk in it.
are also employed: the fish enter them with the important agricultural centre is the
flowing tide and are left behind at the ebb. The island of Failakah where wheat and barley are grown
majority of the fish caught is consumed locally, some success on the clayey patches, also some
but a small proportion is dried and exported to vegetables specially carrots, which are of an ex-
Basrah and elsewhere. ceptionally fine quality but the agriculture of the
islaud is generally inferior to that of Jahrah.
Boat Building.
Forty boats of an aggregate value of £4,4G7 were Rain fa IL
built during the year. Of these one had a carrying The total rainfall during the year was 5 U3* and
capacity of about 90 tons, and the rest were all was distributed as follows:—
small. These figures are not included in the trade
report. April 1927 . 13*
May 1927 or
November 1927 Mo'
Labour. December 1927
January 1928
The price of labour remained nearly same as fo* February 1928 2 21*
the prerioui year. An unskilled labourer earned March 1928 . 3S#