'Selections from the Records of the Bombay Government' [‎110] (152/733)

^ ^ GRANE—PIIELEECHI—KATEEF.
The place to the land side is surrounded by a dilapidated mud wall
wi h round towers for bastions; in some parts the wall is levelled to the'
ground and mothers the sand has been allowed to drift nearly , 0 i t8
top fhe seaward side has never been fortified, and in no part has
anything like a ditch ever existed.
tw' 16 W f er r S bro,, g ht from wells about a mile beyond the walls
extremity 6 t0Wn beinS t00 bad t0 drink ' eXCe P ,in g in ^
P heleechi.*
Pheleechi, an island about ten miles distant, and in faet forminsr one
sue of the harbour, .s about eight miles long, by two or three wide,
I lemely low and to aU appearance swampy after rain or high tides
e soil, though sandy, is by no means bad, and there is plenty of fresh
water at uo great depth from the surfaee. The only village present
n labited is Zoor, situated on the western side of the island, conlainin<.
f.om a hundred to a hundred and fifty families, mostly engaged in
stung, and governed by one of the relatives of the Koweit Chief The
climate is said to be very bad, fever being very prevalent. On the
western and protected side of the island fhe shoals run out so far that
s earners and the smallest sized ships could not approach nearer than
four miles. On the eastern side there is water enough at half this
istance, but then the anchorage is exposed, and there are no inha-
bitants. A
Koweit has unquestionably for the last twenty years been considered
as closely connected with the Pasllalic of Bagdad. The vessels
belonging to that port all carry the Turkish flag, and Shaikh Subah
the Governor, receives an annual allowance of 200 karahs of dates from
C.iubda, by the express order of the Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. , in return for which he is
bound to protect Bussora from foreign aggression.
Koweit is one of the ports which have benefited by the internal dis
turbances and hostilities on the island of Bahrein.
Kateef,
Situated forty miles to the north of Bahrein, possesses a very respect
able and spacious fort. The citadel is strong, having been built by the
Portuguese when they had possession of Bahrein; and the whole fort is
in good repair, but surrounded by dense groves of date trees, which run
c ose up to the walls on three sides, the fourth being washed by the sea.
Kateef contains 500 houses, and at least a like number of fighting men —
(Lieutenant Edmunds, 1839.)
The approach by sea can only be attempted by vessels of small draft,
and then only at high-water. There is, however, good anchorage for
* Vide Trigonometrical Plan, at page 52 of this Selection.