'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.' [‎394] (477/524)

394
NOTES.
four months sooner than in the West Indies, O livier , torn. v . p. 218, 233. On the capa
bility of Persia to supply Russia with sugar and cotton, see O livier , p. 336.
Grampus, possibly the whale of Arrian , p. 50.]—The whales in the Indian ocean have
been celebrated from the time of P liny ; and Sir H arford J ones , in a note to V in
cent's Nearchus, mentions them high up in the Persian Gulph: it is probable there
fore that the bones, of which the houses on the coast were constructed, were those of
real whales.
Kharrach,p. 52.]—The island of Kharrack at one time excited considerable interest;
when it was seized and fortified by the Baron K niph ausen . The motives of his enterprise
are very unimportant, although it may be added, that the heroical character in which he
appears in I ves , as the founder of a new settlement, is somewhat reduced in the " Free
" Merchants' Letters," of J oseph P rice , p. 172. It is sufficient that even in its first
days this colony was dependant on a neighbouring island (Cor go), and the main land of
Persia for its provisions. N iebuhr indeed relates the singular and fatal stratagem con
nected with this supply. The Sheik of Bushire, who furnished these necessaries to
Kharrack, was at war with the Sheik of Bunder-righ, and as the Dutch were alike involved
in the hostilities, the communications between the island and Bushirc were often carried
on by night. The Sheik of Bushire profited by this circumstance; and putting poultry into
two armed ships, sent them against two galvettes, laid up under the walls of the citadel:
" A I'approche de I'isle on secuoit les cages pour faire crier les poules, et la sentinelle
" Hollandoise entandant ces cris de la volaille crut que c'etoit les vaisseaux (TAhu
" schdhr (Bushire), and qu'il etoit inutile d'eveiller les autres matelots." Descr. del
Arabia, p. 280. This success was soon followed up, and the Dutch were expelled from
the island. I ves recommended to our government the possession of Kharrack. Voyage,
p. 226: but independently of the precariousness of its supplies, N iebuhr mentions the
mortality among the Europeans there, though he adds indeed, that they died " moins pas
c< I'air mal sain de I'isle, que pas leur maniere de vivre," p. 281. It was an early object of
the French government. By a treaty signed at Paris, and negociated by M. P yrault at
Bassora, K erim K han , the Regent of Persia, engaged to cede Kharrack', but, the sup
pression of the French East India Company iijtervened, and the object was neglected. It
was again surrendered by the treaty of 1808, and in the intermediate time, when he was
himself sent by the Directory as a secret agent, O livier observes, that the Persian
government would have repeated the cession. His conclusion is remarkable; the object
would have been advantageous to us, says he, " si nous avions voulu serieusement nous
" etablir en Egypte; si de la nous avions voulu porter nos vues de commerce sur le golfe
" Persique, sur Bassora, sur Bagdad ; si nous avions voulu reprendre un commerce actif
" avec I'lnde; si nous avions voulu ouvrir des communications entre I'isle de France,
" Mascate, and Bassora." Tom. v. p. 137.
Ormuz, p. 52.]—When O livier , was in Persia, the Imaum of Muscat was negotiating
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