'GAZETTEER OF PERSIA. VOLUME IV.' [‎126v] (257/652)

244 . HAN—HAN
and a slave released. The anchorage is a double one lying on both sides
of a sandy spit at the northernmost point of the island, cn which a beacon
and high-water mark have recently been erected by the cable ship of the
Indo-European Telegraph Department. The anchorage is sheltered
from the prevalent winds, but the bottom is hard and a ship is liable to
drag her anchor, especially in consequence of the tides which run strong
during the ebb. Vessels drawing about 10 feet can be beached on the spit.
The western part of the anchorage is the better, but is partially exposed
to the Shimdl, to avoid which vessels must change their position to the
other side of the cape. The depth in the anchorage is about 9 fathoms.
Masheh Bay is the place where vessels load salt from the Namakdan mines
on Qishm island for the Calcutta and other markets ; there being no safe
anchorage off Namakdan the salt is brought here in lighters, a distance
of over 20 miles, and transhipped.
The principal authority on the island is the Shaikh of the village of Han-
jam, who appears to have no relations with the Persian authorities.
No revenue or tribute is paid by the islanders and a Persian Customs post
and two Persian flag staffs at the north end of the island are as yet the only
evidences of Persian sovereignty.
No account of Han] am w^ould be complete which failed to mention the
ruins on the north coast. The principal are two mosques 275 yards apart
of which the eastern appears to have been a Persian construction and the
western stands on a cliff overhanging the sea. On the northern side of the
former, along the beach, extend traces of a settlement which appears to
have consisted of 200 or 300 houses : among the remains here some coppers
dating from 113 to 164 years back have been discovered. Immediately
to the south of these ruins is a hollow 250 yards square containing
graves and headstones, and in the vicinity of the mosque are 9 reservoirs
hewn out of the solid limestone rock and lined with an imperishable
hydraulic cement locally called Sariij. The largest of these reser
voirs is 60 feet long, 12 feet wide and 12 feet deep and has a cylind-
rically vaulted roof of ordinary Gach and stones. The western mosque
appears to have been built with the ordinary maroon-coloured cement
of the island ; it is also adjoined by reservoirs, 3 or 4 in number, and by
a graveyard which with the remains of houses on the hill behind indicate
that it may have been the nucleus of a distinct settlement. About a mile
from the village of Ghail are three blocks of granite, the largest weighing
several tons, of which the presence is not in any way accounted for
except by a superstitious tale.
HANJABEH or HANJIRA —Elev. 4,200'.
A halting-place in Sarhad, 70 miles east-south-east of Rigan, on the road
to Bazman. It is situated on the edge of the Bazman Kuh off-shoots,
and due north of that peak, and has a spring the water of which is plenti
ful and sweet, but tepid. The camel-grazing in the plain is excellent.
Fuel, too, is procurable. There is no arable ground at Hanjareh, but
a mile off there is a plain which has fair soil.— (Shaikh Mohi-ud-Din,
J$93; Wood, February 1899.)