RESIDENCE OF THE MISSION AT BUSHIRE. 
59 
more immediate remains occupy an inconsiderable part of the site of 
the old city, and indeed consist rather of the fortress than of the general 
mass of buildings. The place is surrounded by villages built of the 
materials, and (as other fragments about them still attest) upon the site 
also of the original town. One of these villages is called Imaum Zade , 
and is exempt from taxes, because its inhabitants claim all to be de¬ 
scended from Mahomed. 
The fortress itself was built by the Portuguese, though the people 
around are jealous of the acknowledgment, and substitute as its founder 
their own Shah Abbas. On a hasty calculation it must have been a 
square of two hundred yards. The reservoirs for water are still to be 
seen; but a lad, whom we met in the enclosure, told us that he and his 
companions rvere at work in destroying the Hummums. Twenty-five 
years ago the Envoy saw it in many parts entire, with some of the 
houses still standing. It is now a heap of dirt and rubbish. The line 
of the fort, indeed, is traced by the ditch, which is excavated from the 
rock; and the gateways also are discoverable, and some little masonry 
remains to mark their strength. There are some flat and oblong stones 
on the outside of the fort, which we conceived to have been placed over 
Portuguese tombs. There are, however, some curious characters upon 
them, which Sir Harford Jones, who recollects them when they were 
more legible, conceives to be between the old Cujich and the Nehshi. 
In another excursion we advanced to Halila , about nine miles from 
the town, and on. the south of the peninsula of Bushire. Here, indeed, 
there is a projection of the land, where it is still possible for very high 
tides to rise above the surface. The ground is very much broken into 
caverns and deep chasms. Halila is a small village; it has a trifling 
square fort, with a tower at each angle, but without any guns. Cotton 
is sown more systematically in the territory immediately adjacent to 
Halila than in that of Bushire . Here and there over the plain are 
some little spots sacred to the dead, and defended by small works 
of stones. 
The Sapphire lay about four miles off the shore, in four feet and 
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