94 tte Persian Travels Book II. 



CHAP. I X. 

 A Continuation of the %oad from Balfara to Ormus. 



THe tenth of jSftil we fet out from Balfara for Bander-Congo , for which 

 paffage we hir'd a Terrade or a Barque for the purpofe } tor they which 

 are laden with Dates are generally fo overc ha rg'cl , that if a Storm riles, 

 they arc in danger of being overiet. The River of Balfara is very dan- 

 gerous, by reafon of the Sands which alfolieup and down the Perfian Gulf, and 

 arc very prejudicial to Navigation in that place. On both fides the Gulf thatfepa- 

 rates Perjfia from Arabia the Happy , live a fort of poor people that follow no other 

 Trade than fifhing ^ fo poor, that when they bring fifh to your VefTel, they require 

 nothing for it but Rice *, and not the heft neither , but luch courfe fluff as we feed 

 our Hens and Pigswithall. I gave them a Sack of thirty or forty pounds, and bid 

 them make merry with it , but they told me , they muft be careful how they fpent 

 fuch Rice as that, unlefs it were for their Sick, or at their Weddings} fo that if 

 the reft of Arabia the Happy be like that , afluredly 'tis rather a moft unfortunate 

 Country. 



There are feveral Ifles in the Perfian Gulf , but the chiefeft of al! is the Iflc 

 of Baharen , where they fifh for Pearls , of which I have ipoken in its proper 

 place. 



Near to the place where Euphrates falls from Balfara into the Sea , there is a little 

 Ifland , where the Barques generally come to an Anchor , in expectation of the wind. 

 There we ftay'd four days , whence to Bandar-Conga it is fourteen days Sail , and we 

 got thither the twenty-third of April. This place would be a far better habitation 

 for the Merchants than Ormus, where it is very unwholefom and dangerous to live. 

 But that which hinders the Trade from ISandar-Congo , is becaufe the Road to Lay 

 is fo bad, by reafon of the want of Water, and craggy narrow ways , which only 

 Camels can endure :, but from Ormus to Lar the way is tollerablc. We ftay'd at 

 Bandar-Congo two days , where there is a Portugal Factor , who receives one half of 

 the Cuftoms by agreement with the King of Perjia. By the way take notice , that 

 they who will go by Water from Ormus to Balfara , muft take the Natives for their 

 Pilots , and be continually founding befides. 



The thirtieth , we hir'd a VefTel for Bander- Abaffi , and after three or four 

 hours Sailing , we put into a Village upon the Sea-fide , in the Ifland of Keck? 

 mifoe. 



Keckrnijhc is an Ifland three Leagues about, and about five or fix from Ormm. It 

 exceeds in Fertility all the Iflands of the Eaft , that produce neither Wheat nor Bar- 

 ley, but at Keckntijhe is a Magazine of both, without which Ormm would hardly 

 fubfift , in regard it furnifhes that City with moft of their Provifion for their Horfes. 

 There is in the Ifland a Spring of good Water, for the prefervation of which, the 

 Perfians have built a Fort , leaft the Portugals when they held Ormus , fhould get it 

 into their PofTeflion. 



In 1 64 1. aud 1642. the Hollanders falling out with the King of Perfia about their 

 - Silk Trade , befieg'd this Ifland. For the Ambafladors of the Duke of Holftein com- 

 ing into Perfia, the Dutch were jealous that they came to fetch away all the Silk -, 

 and thereupon enhane'd the Market from forty-two to fifty Tomans. When the 

 AmbafTadorswere gone, the Dutch would pay no more than forty-four, which was 

 two Tomans more than they were us'd to do. The King nctl'd that they would not 

 ftand to their words , forbid that they fhould make faleof their Goods 'till they had 

 paid their Cuftoms, from which 'till that time they were exempted. Thereupon 

 the Hollanders befieg'd the Fortrefs of Kcckmiflic , but the Heats were fo intolera- 

 ble , that they were fore'd to quit their defign with great lofs of their Men } 

 and at length by great Prefents to the chief Courtiers, they obtain'd to pay no more 

 than forty-fix Tomans. 



Larec is an Ifland nearer to Ormus than KeckyiflS, well inhabited , and fo ftor'd 

 with Stags and Hinds , that in one day we kill'd five and forty. 



From Kccfynifhe we Sail'd for Ormus, where we arriv'd the firft of May. I had 



put 



