JOURNEY FROM BUSSORA TO BUSHIRE, SHIRAUZ, PERSEPOLIS, &c., IN THE YEAR 1821; TO WHICH ARE ADDED COPIES OF SEVERAL HITHERTO UNPUBLISHED CUNEIFORM INSCRIPTIONS AT PERSEPOLIS, BY CLAUDIUS JAMES RICH, Esq. JOURNEY FROM BUSSORA TO BUSHIRE, SHIRAUZ, PERSEPOLIS, &c. ON the 13th of June, 1821, we left Bussora for Bushire, in the Volunteer, Captain Waterman, at 1 P.M. Calms rendered our passage rather a tedious one, and the heat of the weather was very unpleasant. The hospitality of Captain Waterman, however, made ample amends for all these inconveniences; and on the 17th, at 4 P.M., we ranged along the island of Karrack, and passed to the northward of the low flat island of Congo. On the 18th, in the morning, we came to an anchor in the inner roads of Bushire, a pilot having previously come off to conduct us across the spit of sand which separates the outer from the inner roads. The ship lay about a mile and a half or two miles from the town:-a spit of sand, uncovered at low water, runs out in a circular sweep, and separates the inner roads from the basin or harbour, which would be a very convenient one for shipping, provided the bar could be rendered practicable, which I think might be accomplished. Bushire, or more properly Abu Sheher*, is situated on a peninsula formed by the basin or harbour on one side, in which direction the sea makes great inundations in spring-tides, and the sea on the other. The coast is shallow and dangerous, and ships' boats cannot approach it without great difficulty. The new factory, where we were lodged, is situated at the southern extremity of the town, quite open to the sea, and in the most airy and agreeable spot in the place. I was greatly struck with the difference between this place and Bussora, and as yet decidedly give Bushire the preference; but they say, during the calm weather in July and August, the heat is quite intolerable; not from the height of the thermometer, which rarely rises above 100°, but from the weight and humidity of the atmosphere. The nights are said to be dreadful, and indeed I can believe it, from a specimen I had of one on my former passage down to India. The common water of the place is brackish, nauseous, and of a strong purgative quality. At the factory we drank rain-water, which is soft and never cool. When there is no wind at night the dew falls * I find mention of Abu Sheher in the relation of a voyage by a deputy of the Prince of Selan, or Ceylon, to the Mameluke sovereign of Egypt, A.H. 682. Vide Quatremere's Memoirs, &c., vol. 2, p. 284, where are the names of several other places on the shores of the gulf. |