A Journey through Persia, Armenia, and Asia Minor, to Constantinople, in the Years 1808 and 1809. James Justinian Morier
and, as they shouted their religious invocations, they shook their weapons at the ship. When the engagement became closer, they maintained a fire of twenty-five minutes, and one of their shot killed the boatswain of the Nautilus. Of these pirates an interesting account was published in India by Mr. Loane, who was taken prisoner by them. It is unnecessary, therefore, to add more on the subject than that their chief resort is at Roselkeim, on the Arabian coast of the Gulph of Persia: another, but tributary, chief of the same people resides twenty-five miles from Roselkeim at Egmaun, S. S. W. of Cape Musseldom, where they possess an extensive and lucrative pearl fishery. This, with the market which their plunder finds there, is the principal source of the traffic of the place. Though it may not be necessary to enter into a detail, which may be better found in original authorities, it must be very obvious, that the honour of our flag, as well as the interest of our commerce in the East, will require the destruction of a fleet of pirates, which, assembling to the amount of fifty sail in the harbour of Roselkeim, issue thence to capture every English as well as native ship, and to spread terror through the Gulph of Persia.22
On the arrival of the Nautilus, under these circumstances, the Envoy dispatched a letter to Captain Davis of the Sapphire, requesting him to proceed to the entrance of the Gulph, to secure the Sylph, if possible. On the 6th Nov. a boat arrived from Roselkeim, at the date of the departure of which no such capture had been made; but in three days, another boat came in, which brought an account that four vessels had been taken, one of which contained a Nawab. We immediately recognized by this description the unfortunate Persian Secretary, the splendour of whose dress had imposed him as a Nabob on the pirates. The next day a still more circumstantial account of the capture reached us, which convinced us that the vessel taken was the Sylph; but the report added, that a large vessel from Bushire (which we instantly identified with the Nereide) came in sight during the action, and having sunk one of the pirates, (of whose crew of three hundred scarcely any escaped), retook their prize. In the action too, the pirates lost one of their first chiefs, Sal ben Sal. The loss of one individual, the most insignificant, of their tribe is sufficient cause for a declaration of war; but the destruction of so large a portion of their whole numbers would dispirit rather than so animate the remainder; and the tribe would probably agree never again to approach an English ship. The pirates had, in fact, been so disheartened by their disaster, that when, a few days afterwards, a single Arab ship (commanded indeed by an Englishman) fell among them, and, finding herself unable either to fight or to escape, bore down upon them to try a shew of resistance, they all fled. At length on the 26th Nov. the Minerva, H. C. cruizer, Captain Hopgood, arrived, and brought the Persian Secretary, who had been captured in the Sylph. The Secretary was much connected at Bushire, and his detention had of course excited great uneasiness among his relations, who had been putting up prayers in the mosques for his safety. His account of their fate was not uninteresting.
At the time when the pirates were standing the same course with herself, the Sylph discovered the Nereide bearing down upon her. When the Nereide came close, she hove-to; but as the commander of the Sylph did not send a boat on board of her, she filled her sails and stood on. When the Nereide had already passed at some distance, the two dows stood towards the Sylph. The Persian Secretary advised the officer of the ship not to permit the dows to approach; but he would not listen to the suggestion, as he declared they would not touch him. The dows, however, did approach so close, that the Sylph had only time to fire one gun, and to discharge her musquetry at them, before they were alongside, and poured on board her in great and overwhelming numbers. It is unnecessary to state all the circumstances. The Persian Secretary from the concealment to which he had fled, was still able to ascertain that, as the first act of possession, the Arabs threw water on the ship to purify it; that they then proceeded to the deliberate murder of the men, who were on deck or discoverable; that they brought them one by one to the gangway, and in the spirit of barbarous fanaticism cut their throats as sacrifices; crying out before the slaughter of each victim, “Ackbar” and when the deed was done, “Allah il Allah.” In the space of an hour they had thus put to death twenty-two persons; and were proceeding with lights to look for more, when they were astonished by a shot through the Sylph from the Nereide. On perceiving the disaster of the Sylph, Captain Corbett had immediately hauled-up; and though far to the windward his shot still reached. The Arabs immediately took to their dows; and, elated by the havock of their success, made for the Nereide. As soon as Captain Corbett perceived that they were bearing down upon him, he ceased firing altogether. The Persian Secretary told us, that he saw the dows approach so close to the frigate, that the Arabs were enabled to commence the attack in their usual manner by throwing stones. Still the Nereide did not fire; till at length when both dows were fairly alongside, she opened two tremendous broadsides. The Secretary said he saw one dow disappear totally, and immediately; and the other almost as instantaneously: they went down with the crews crying, “Allah, Allah, Allah.” Nine men only escaped, who had previously made off in a boat. The Sylph was taken to Muscat, where the Persian Secretary was put on board the Minerva.23
We had thus recovered the Persian Secretary; but the mission soon suffered the less reparable loss of one of its own members. On the 19th November, the Benares H. C. cruizer (which brought our tents, some of the body guards, presents, &c. from Bussora) landed at Bushire Mr. Coare, the Persian and Latin Translator. He had carried with him from Bussora a fever, which was gradually wasting him away; and after lingering out his few remaining days apparently without pain, he died on the last day of the month. He was a young man of whom all spoke well; his talents were promising; and his prospects in the world were fine. He was laid in the Armenian burying-ground, without a coffin; because plank is so dear and scarce at Bushire, that his remains would have been disturbed for the sake of the wood which had enclosed them. His corpse was escorted to the grave by the body guard and the seapoy guard, and followed by the Envoy and the gentlemen of the mission. I read the funeral service over him, amid a crowd of Persians and Arabs, who were collected to see the ceremony; and who seemed to partake the interest of the scene. Nothing excites a better impression of our character than an appearance of devotion and religious observance. If, therefore, there were no higher obligation on every christian, religious observances are indispensable in producing a national influence. We never omitted to perform divine service on Sundays; suffered no one to intrude upon us during our devotions; and used every means in our power to impress the natives with a proper idea of the sanctity of our Sabbath.
CHAP. IV.
RESIDENCE OF THE MISSION AT BUSHIRE.
I. PERSIA—ADMINISTRATION OF THE GOVERNMENTS—FARSISTAN—MEKRAN—BALOUCHES—COAST OF THE GULPH—ISLANDS OF THE GULPH—PEARL FISHERY.—II. BUSHIRE: SITUATION—DESCRIPTION—TRADE—VIEW—RUINS OF RESHIRE—HALILA—BUSHIRE ROADS—WATER—WEATHER—HEALTHINESS—WOMEN OF BUSHIRE—SUPERSTITIONS.—III. ANIMALS OF THE DASHTISTAN: HORSES—DOG—WHITE FOX—WILD BEASTS—HAWKS—THE JERBOA.
I. In historical interest, Persia is perhaps superior to any Asiatic empire, because more nearly connected with the fortunes of Europe; and its natural situation shares the importance; for its boundaries (defined and fortified by lofty ranges, which are pervious only through passes of very difficult access,) are prominent and decided objects in the general geography of Asia. We had hitherto seen only the southern chain: nothing can be more strongly marked than the abrupt and forbidding surface of those mountains, which bind the shore from Cape Jasques to the deepest recesses of the gulph. The little plain of the Dashtistan, (that of Bushire) which seems to have encroached upon the sea, is yet the most extensive portion of even land, which relieves however momentarily the constant and chilling succession of high and dreary lands along the coast. But beyond these mountains are frequently extensive plains, confined by a second range, which likewise run parallel to the coast. This is the case behind Congoon: and in the route to Shiraz we found several successive plains, (of great absolute elevation