KENN. 
33 
destroyed by Atta Begj then King of Fars, and since then their posses¬ 
sions have been annexed to the Persian dominions. 
It blew so fresh a gale from the N, W. on the 25th February, that 
we were obliged to close-reef our topsails. Finding that we could 
make no way against the wind, we determined to anchor under the lee 
of an island, and kept our wind, hoping to fetch Kenn, which we for¬ 
tunately did I and at about seven o’clock in the evening anchored at 
two miles from its shore, in eleven fathoms. One of our Lieutenants 
went on shore the next morning, to buy fresh provisions, and it was 
the intention of most of the passengers to follow him after breakfast, 
when a breeze springing up from the eastward, the ship was again 
under weigh, and stood on between the island and the main. The 
Lieutenant returned with a small bullock, for which he had paid twelve 
rupees, and a sheep which he had purchased for two. He said that 
there were about one hundred male inhabitants on the island, besides a 
proportionate number of females. In appearance they resembled those 
on board the two boats, which we had detained off Cape Musseldom. 
The women were veiled, just showing their eyes and a part of the 
nose. Their chief they called Emir. They lived in a small mud fort, 
chequered at the top with loop-holes for musquetry, and flanked by 
two towers, which were entered by an aperture, to which, as it was half 
way from the ground, they ascended by a rope. They complained 
(and the appearance of the place justified the complaint) that their 
houses had been ransacked not long ago, by a set of people, who they 
said were white, and they seemed suspicious of the Lieutenant and his 
crew. However, as it was difficult for an English Lieutenant, who 
only spoke English, and an Arabian Emir, who only knew Arabic, to 
hold much intelligible conversation, we could not comprehend much 
of the story that was brought on board. The trees which grow on 
Kenn are chiefly date; besides which they have banian trees, tama¬ 
rinds, and the cotton plant. At six feet from the surface of the earth 
they get water, and their habitations are every where well supplied 
with wells. Many shells are found here; and it would seem that the 
whole surface of the island has been inundated, for large beds of shells 
F 
