'GAZETTEER OF PERSIA. VOLUME IV.' [‎44v] (93/652)

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BAS—BAS
and store-houses were, accordingly, allowed to fall into disrepair. Some of
them are now (June 1910) being repaired, and when the work is finished
there will be accommodation for some half-dozen Europeans, and a dozen
native employes. A good stone pier, extending to water mark, leads
to the coal wharf. There is a bungalow, near the flagstaff, £ mile south of the
point, which is being repaired. There is also a rest house, a forge, and a
wireless station, of which the two latter adjoin one another. There are
three reservoirs, in good repair, which are also used by the local population.
A rifle range, laid out to 600 yards, still exists. There were never any per
manent defences, but, in 1910, a non-commissioned officer and 6 men of the
Indian Army were sent there as a guard. The population of the staion,
before it was re-opened in 1910, comprised some 50 souls. The station
benefits by a shamdl breeze during the summer. There are some Portu
guese ruins near the station.
The Arab village consists of about 200 huts and is included within the
bounds of the British jurisdiction. The people are fugitive slaves, Sunnis
by religion, and gain a living as fishermen and weavers of lunqis. The
village has no trade and affords few supplies except water, for the collection
of which there are 8 reservoirs. There are about 25 donkeys, 50 cattle
and 400 sheep and goats.
The anchorage at Basidu extends parallel to the shore on the north side
of the point and consists of a belt i mile broad at J mile from the shore :
the depth is 5 to 7 fathoms and the bottom of clay, is good holding ground.
The landing is inconvenient in a swell on account of the rockiness of the
coast, and at low-water on account of a mud flat which is then uncover
ed. Outside the anchorage lies a channel 12 to 16 fathoms deep called
the “Gut,” in which vessels avoid anchoring. Protection against the
Shamal, which here blows from south-west by west, is given by the
northern point Beacon Shoal, a narrow bank which curves round the west
end of Qishm island from Basidu point for two-thirds of the way to
Has Dastakan ; of this bank the northern half, about 2J miles hmg Her or His Majesty’s Government in London. , is dry
at low water and has its extremity marked by a beacon. There is a deep
but narrow and unnavigable channel between Beacon Shoal and the coast
of the island. Other important features of the approaches to Basidii are
the “ North Bank ” and the “ Flat.” The former is a westward pro
longation of the middle shoal of Clarence Strait which has its final ending
in the sea 7 miles west-south-west of Basidu point. The flat is a great
bank carrying 2 to 3 fathoms at low water and lying round the whole
south-western corner of Qishm Island. It extends for more than 20 miles
along the coast, about | of its length covering the western and the
remainder the southern side of the island, and its northern end overlaps
the south end of the Beacon Shoal and is outside it. The main entrance to
the Basidu roadstead begins between the Flat and the North Bank where
it is 2 miles wide and has 3f fathoms of water ; it then runs between
Beacon Shoal and the North Bank deepening as it goes to 7 and eventually
to 9 fathoms. There is a subsidiary passage between the coast of the island
and the Flat as far as Beacon Shoal where it joins the ordinary entrance;
it has been used by a steamer drawing 14 feet, but it is imperfectly known.
— (Lorimer, 1906; Craufurd, 1910.)