appendix: 
405 
does your master like this, and how does he like that ? and so on. — Tired with 
being questioned, he said, He like all very well; but one thing he not like — 
old man ask too many questions.” Upon this he got up laughing, leaving 
the old gentleman to find out that he had been speaking to the Ambassador in 
person. , ^ 
If the whole history of his residence in England were worth the narrative, 
it is evident that this note might be greatly lengthened j but, perhaps, that 
which would afford-the most amusement, would be the publication of his'own 
journal, which he regularly kept, during his absence from Persia; and which 
on his return there, was read with great avidity by his own countrymen. 
■ r \ f\ 'NOTE Br-— Page 30. 
' E am indebted to Mr, Bruce, Resident of the East India Company at Bushire, 
for the following intelligence concerning the Island of Ormus : —- 
j “ Ships may go close to the fort, which stands on a low sandy point, where 
‘‘ a mole has been formed, that enables boats to go up to the gates. There 
“ is no other water on the island but that which is collected in reservoirs 
“ during the rainy season from November to February. The island is covered 
f* with ruins, among which the reservoirs are found, but most of them are in 
“ a state of decay. We collected some specimens of rock-salt, of which the 
soil of this island is principally composed. Its high peaks, which have a par- 
“ ticular white appearance, as if covered with snow, are in fact composed of 
rock-salt. The only habitable place in Ormus at present, is the fort, which 
“ is said to have been built by the Portuguese General Albuquerque, in 1507, 
“ when he took the island from the Persians: it is now in tolerable repair and 
“ still possesses some very large Portuguese cannon. 
“ The Imaum of Muscat keeps a garrison here of 120 Nubian slaves and 80 
“ Arabs, to prevent the Joassimi pirates from taking possession of it. One of 
the inhabitants with whom I conversed, said that silver crucifixes are fre- 
“ quently found amongst the ruins, and that only a few years ago an old man 
“ had died, who had been an inhabitant in the time of the Portuguese. 
In clear weather the islands of Larrak, Kishmis, and the fort at Gomberoon 
“ are to be seen from the roads ; fish is found here in great plenty, as indeed 
it is all over the Persian Gulf.” 
