Page 143 - The Pirate Coast (By Sir Charles Belgrave)

carriers, with their goat skins on their shoulders. They brought
fresh water from springs in the date gardens, some miles away,
which they sold in the town. The well water in Bushirc was
brackish, though Loch says ‘strange to say, after becoming accus­
tomed to it, the water appears sweet to the palate’.
The people of Bushirc, among whom were many Armenians,
and a few Jews, were mainly occupied in trade. ‘The greater
part became merchants in some way or other ... all look on their
superiors with awe, but when it is in their power, they oppress
those under them.’ They were fond of good living, and they
smoked and drank coffee from morning till night: they drank
wine, too, but not in public. Of the coastal Persians, Loch says:
‘an Englishman may land in any part of the coast of Persia, and
will be assisted from place to place, certain of experiencing good,
and even kind treatment everywhere - otherwise it will be his
own fault.* Another characteristic which lie mentions more than
once was the Arab’s ‘great hatred of labour. Seldom docs he
cultivate more ground than is absolutely necessary for himself.
A man is rich indeed if he possesses some horses, goats and one
or two camels.’
Loch was in Bushire during the festivities at the end of the
month of Ramadhan, when the town took on the atmosphere of
a fair. Walking through the bazaar, he came upon a group of
people watching a strolling player, a little hunchback. Laid on
a carpet before him, were a number of different dresses, which he
put on and off with great rapidity, ‘at the same time, altering his
appearance, so that you would not swear that it was the same man’.
The audience were delighted with his performance, and he kept
them in roars of laughter, but in the middle of the most amusing
part, he stopped, rolled up his carpet, and moved some distance
away. The crowd followed him. He then went among them,
begging, and only continued his act when he thought he had
received a suitable reward for his performance.
In another place, there were tumblers and mountebanks, and
a ‘Pahlawan’ (a champion athlete). These men used to travel
from village to village, challenging the local strong men to feats
of strength. They still ply their trade and sometimes visit the
Arab towns in the Gulf, but now-a-days, they arc more likely
to be seen pitting their strength against a motorcar, in gear, with
the engine rimning, or lying on the ground supporting a board,
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