'A Journey through Persia, Armenia, and Asia Minor, to Constantinople, in the years 1808 and 1809, in which is included some account of the proceedings of his Majesty's Mission, under Sir Harford Jones, Bart., to the Court of the King of Persia. With twenty-five engravings from the designs of the author; a plate of inscriptions; and three maps.' [‎18] (53/524)

18 HISTORY OF THE SHEIK OF BUSHIRE.
summons to hk followers in these emergencies was equally characteristic
and effectual. He mounted two large braziers of Fillau on a camel,
and sent it to parade round the country. The rough pace of the
animal put the ladles in motion, so that they struck the sides of the
fessels at marked intervals, and produced a most sonorous clang. As
it traversed the Dashtistan, it collected the mob of every district; every
one had tasted the Arab hospitality of the Sheik, and every one remem
bered the appeal, and crowded round the ancient standard of their
chief, till his camel returned to him surrounded by a force sufficient to
repel the threatened encroachments. In every new emergency the
camel was again sent forth, and all was again quiet.
The territory, therefore, of Bushire, and the neighbouring district,
remained under the rule of the Arabs, unviolated by the successive
Princes, who have conquered and retained so large a portion of the
: rest of Persia. But A bdullah R esoul, the grandson of S h E ik N asr,
inherited the office only of his predecessor, and possessed no qualities
which could command the affections and the services of his people;
and though at the time of our landing the government was vested in
him as the descendant of the ancient possessors, it was obviously im
probable that Bushire, which had now become the principal port of
Persia, would be suffered to remain long under the administration of a
young Arab, of sluggish, dissolute, and unwarlike habits.
In the evening of the 16th Oct. (the day after our landing)^ the Sheik
of Bushire, escorted by several of the principal men of the town, paid
a visit to the Envoy. They had not sat long, when a man came in and
whispered something in the ear of one of the visitants, which caused
the Sheik to arise, take a hasty leave, and gallop at full speed into the
town. The Government of Shiraz had sent a body of men to seize
him. He had just time to reach Bushire before the party of Shiraz
horsemen could overtake him. He immediately mustered all his little
force, planted a guard on the walls, and himself kept constant watch at
the gates. He had indeed anticipated the probable designs of the
Court of Shiraz; and, though now apparently resolved on the last