94 



The Persian Travels 



Book II. 



CHAP. IX. 



A Continuation of the <l{oad from Balfara to Ormus. 



m ^He tenth of April we fet out from Balfara for B ander -Congo , for which 

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

 I are laden with Dates are generally fo overcharg'd , that if a Storm rifes* 

 JÊL they are in danger of being overfet. The River of Balfara is very dan- 

 gerous, by reafon of the Sands which alfo lie up and down the Per fan Gulf , and 

 are very prejudicial to Navigation in that place. On both fides the Gulf that fepa- 

 rates Per fa 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 Veflel, they require 

 nothing for it but Rice -, and not the beft neither , but fuch courfe ftufF 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 all is the Ifle 

 of Baharen , where they fifh for Pearls , of which I have lpoken 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-Congo 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 'Bandar-Congo , is becaufe the Road to Lav 

 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 tollerable. We ftay'd at 

 Bandar-Congo two days , where there is- a Portugais Faftor , who receives one half of 

 the Cuftoms by agreement with the King of Per fa. 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 Veffel for Bander-Abaffi , and after three or four 

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

 mijhe. 



Keckmijhe is an Ifland three Leagues about , and about five or fix from Ormus. It 

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

 ley but at Keckmijbe is a Magazine of both, without which Ormus 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 preservation of which , the 

 Perfians have built a Fort, leaft the Portugais when they held Ormus , ftiould get it 

 into their Pofleffion. 



In 1641. aud 1642. the Hollanders falling out with the King of Per fa about their 

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

 ing into Per fa , the Dutch were jealous that they came to fetch away all the Silk } 

 and thereupon enhancM the Market from forty-two to fifty Tomans. When the 

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

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

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

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

 the Hellanders befieg'd the Fortrefs of Kechmifhe , but the Heats were fo intolera- 

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

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

 than forty-fix Tomans. 



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

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



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



put 



