Page 79 - The Postal Agencies in Eastern Arabia

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Between May 1924 and November 20th, 1931 (at least) it was
the custom of merchants in Dubai to post letters addressed to Bombay
- on board the BISN mail steamers calling at Dubai — probably after the
■i out-going mail had been bagged at the Post Office. Such letters, being
in effect Paquebot mail (indeed, one bears a Paquebot mark), were
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normally handed to the Post Office at the next port of call, Karachi.
i However, it seems that some sorting of these loose letters may have
occasionally been done on board: of 23 covers, all emanating from
Dubai between May 1924 and June 1929 and all addressed to Bombay,
12 were landed at Karachi where the stamps were cancelled
(KARACHI A, B, C, D, E, F, or SET—2), and 11 were landed at
& Bombay (Ballard Pier) where the PERSIAN GULF SECTION.
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BOMBAY G.P.O. datestamp was used to cancel the stamps. This
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datestamp also exists with REG above the date-band.

•V Those landed at Karachi bear Bombay Delivery backstamps
2-4 days later than the Karachi cancellation, which indicates that,
after being landed at Karachi, they were bagged and sent on by the
same ship. Those landed at Bombay normally bear Delivery back-
stamps of the same date as the cancellation, though very occasionally
there is one day’s difference. The Dubai origin of such covers can, of
course, only be established with certainty if a sender’s address
appears.
The Imperial Airways Service to India, previously following the
Persian side of the Gulf, was changed to the Arabian side in October
1932, stops being made at Basra, Bahrain and Sharjah. At that time,
Shaijah had no post office and Dubai had no airport. First flight
*7'
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