Page 28 - The Postal Agencies in Eastern Arabia

which a telegram was sent by post from Karachi in April 1882. Once
again, the year can only be established by reference to the manuscript
date entered on the registration cachet. A similar cover forwarding a =
telegram is back-stamped with the MUSCAT postmark (Type 7) in
August 1882, the year likewise being identified by the registration
cachet.

The Type 6 date-stamp originally showed the letters ‘K’ and
‘T’ complete, but the majority of examples show the ‘K’ with short
upper diagonal stroke and the ‘T with short stem.

askXt.
JJL;24«,

Type 6 in its original state

(MUSCAT
MUSCAT
\ c E P. 8 4 i IAUG93

Type 8 Type 8A

The lack of the year in date-stamps, apart from providing
problems for philatelists of later generations, proved to be embarrass­
ing to the Indian Postal Department and, by 1883 or 1884, a new type
of cancellation had been introduced. It consisted of the letter “B” in a
circle of horizontal bars in duplex with a date-stamp as before, but
including the year (Type 8). This is another rare Muscat cancellation
as it was replaced in the early part of 1885 by the small “squared
circle” (Type 9) which continued in use until the turn of the century.

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