and dockyard of the navy which he aspired to create in the Persian
Gulf, and the British commercial factory of the East India Company,
established at Gombrun, the modern Bander Abbasi, was transferred to it in
1759. At the beginning of the 19th century it had a population of 6000 to
8000, and it is now the most important port in the Persian Gulf, with a
population of about 25,000. It used to be under the government of Fars, but
is (since about 1892) the seat of the governor of the Persian Gulf ports,
who is responsible to the central government, and has under his
jurisdiction the principal ports of the Gulf and their dependencies. The
town, which is of a triangular form, occupies the northern extremity of a
peninsula 11 m. long and 4 broad, and is encircled by the sea on all sides
except the south. It is fortified on the land side by a wall with 12 round
towers. The houses being mostly built of a white conglomerate stone of
shells and coral which forms the peninsula, gives the city when viewed from
a distance a clean and handsome appearance, but on closer inspection the
streets are found to be very narrow, irregular, ill-paved and filthy.
Almost the only decent buildings are the governor's palace, the British
residency and the houses of some well-to-do merchants. The sea immediately
east of the town has a considerable depth, but its navigation is impeded by
sand-banks and a bar north and west of the town, which can be passed only
by vessels drawing not more than 9 ft. of water, except at spring tides,
when there is a rise of from 8 to 10 ft. Vessels drawing more than 9 ft.
must anchor in the roads miles away to the west. The climate is very hot in
the summer months and unhealthy. The water is very bad, and that fit for
drinking requires to be brought from wells distant 11/2 to 3 m. from the city
wall.

Bushire carries on a considerable trade, particularly with India, Java and
Arabia. Its principal imports are cotton and woollen goods, yarn, metals,
sugar, coffee, tea, spices, cashmere shawls, &c., and its principal exports
opium, wool, carpets, horses, grain, dyes and gums, tobacco, rosewater, &c.
The importance of Bushire has much increased since about 1862. It is now
not only the headquarters of the English naval squadron in the Persian
Gulf, and the land terminus of the Indo-European telegraph, but it also
forms the chief station in the Gulf of the British Indian Steam Navigation
Company, which runs its vessels weekly