"الخليج الفارسي وخليج عُمان. الموارد والدفاعات الساحلية. ١٩٠٣." [ظ‎‎٢‎٨] (١٢٠/٦٣)

52
PERSIAN GULF.—RESOURCES AND DEFENCES.
Rifle range.
Supplies.
Communica
tions.
No defences.
Special re
port on Bas-
sidu in 1900.
(4.) Three other buildings in ruins.
(5.) A serai (only suitable for natives) has been put in a state
of repair by the native Agent. It consists of five small
rooms and a verandah with a kitchen attached.
The native Agent lives in private quarters about £ mile from
the flagstaff and jetty.
There is a rifle range (length 600 yards) which is used by
vessels of the East Indian Squadron employed in the Persian
Gulf.
Coal .—There is no coal supply at present.
Water .—There are three Government birkas (reservoirs) for
rain water, each measuring 60 feet by 8 feet and 16 feet deep.
In 1902, according to a Press account, these reservoirs were in
very good repair. The supply of good water is limited. When
the reservoirs are empty water has to be brought from Nakhli-
stan (Old Bassidore), nearly 2 miles distant, and in this case
vessels are advised by the “Persian Gulf Pilot,” 1898, that
water is more quickly obtainable at Linga (Persian coast) or
some other port.
Food .—A few provisions and necessaries are procurable.
There is no information as to roads, and at present there is
neither steamer nor telegraphic communication. The nearest
cable station is Jashk. It has been proposed to connect Bassidu
by a T-pi ece with one of the cables Jashk-Bushire, and to
prolong this through Clarence Strait to Bunder Abbas. (See
also under Henjam Island, pp. 55 and 56, for another proposal.)
There are no defences.
Apparently no traces can be found of the former Portuguese
fort which is supposed to have been at “ Kalat Haji Karim”
(? Kalat Hajji Karitu), E. of the provisional boundary.
According to a special report made in 1900, there is very
good harbour accommodation at Bassidu for vessels drawing not
more than 16 feet, and the anchorage is well sheltered by
surrounding shoals. Bassidu would be unsuitable as a naval
station except for small ships,* and it is inconveniently far from
the entrance of the Gulf for purposes of observation and control.
The place could be defended by forts built on the land side and
on outlying shoals.
Remarks .—Bassidu was the headquarters of the (troops and)
ships after the expedition of 1819 and remained a station for the
Indian Marine up to 1879. It is reasonable to infer from the
continued use of Bassidu for 60 years that it was not without
natural advantages as a naval station.
T he discovery of the deeper approach to the anchorage would probably
modify this opinion.