The Twin City star., 1918-07-20

TlO THE world the Persian gulf
is an unknown water, land
locked arm Of the sea where
slave trading, gun-running
and piracy survive as legitimate occu-
pations, with coast Of towering cliffs
and desert wastes where yellow sands
rise in waves and float in sitting
clouds Of heat-a region whose OBJ
scurity and perils guard and screen
mysteries and romances that date
back to the beginning Of mankind.
writes Louis A. Springer in Asia. To
the European statesman, however, the
Persian gulf is an issue fraught with
deep significance in the struggle for
world commerce and power in Eastern
politics.
The traveller after leaving Alden and
rounding the Ras-el-Hadd feels that
he is truly departing from the beaten
lanes and entering land that lies
buried in a world of its own. The un-
friendly coast, range upon range OF
high hills without sign Of vegetation
or life, seems to raise barrier against
the mysterious Arabia beyond. In a
recess Of the cliffs, and so securely
hidden that you do not catch glimpse
Of it until the ship suddenly points
Its prov to the narrow entrance Of its
harbor, lies Muscat, the first port.
Two towering rocks, crowned by the
ruins Of old Portuguese forts, stand
sentry on either side, and below, built
close to the sea wall, Is the town..
Few places have a more picturesque
situation and none could present q
more enticing picture than Muscat's
compact mass of little white houses set
In the azure Of an eastern sky and re-
flecting In the shimmering waters OF
its harbor. But unfortunately for the
foreigners who try to live there few
places have such an appalling heat, a
heat which Dutch traveller described
as $50 intense that it burned the mar
row in the bones, the sword in it's
scabbard melted like wax, and the
gems which adorned the scabbard
were reduced to Goals"
Muscat Once Held by Portugal.
Muscat was one Of the first towns
Of this region to fall to the western
conqueror. In 1906, Alphonse d'Albu-
querque began here the peculiar sys-
tenn of domination, religious persecu-
ton and colonization undertaken by
the Portuguese in the time of their
naval supremacy. They held Muscat
against all attempts at capture by
Arabs and Turks until the middle Of
the sixteenth century. The forts
above the town, line of Notifications,
and a cathedral remain as evidences
Of their occupation.
AS the capital of Oman, Muscat is
supposed to belong to the Ottoman en-
pire; but, like other gulf provinces,
1t Is necessary for the Turk to come
and get 1t If he is to hold 1t. As he
has failed to do this, Muscat is in
reality ruled by its own sultan. While
Muscat Is not political dependency
Of the British empire as is Alden, it Is
practically under the suzerainty Of the
indian government. This was brought
about early In the last century, when
it was believed that Napoleon was
about to seize Muscat as a base for
attack upon India, through treaty
Of which one of the stipulations was
"that the friendship Of the two states
may remain unshook to the end of
time, and until the sun and moon have
finished their revolving careers"
Muscat has, however, proved for
years a constant source of trouble to
the British, by being the headquarters
Of supplies for the persistent and
cunning gun-runner. Through the pro-
visions of an old treaty certain Euro
pean nations have the right to ship
arms and munitions to Muscat. There
they are purchased by unscrupulous
dealers, loaded upon dhows and land
ed upon the coasts Of Persia or Balu-
chistan to be transported by caravan
into the interior Of Asia. Through
this source arms and ammunition
reached the Africans Of the Red sea
coast, the Afghan army and every
Afghan with money enough to buy q
| rife, the Hill tribes Of India and Per-
sian and Arabian revolutionists.
Along the Arabian Coast.
From our steamship we catch q
glimpse now and then on the Arabian
coast of low White-walled, tile-roofed
houses clustered around m,naret.
On the opposite coast Is to be dis
cerned a forlorn little town built upon
the ruins Of the great trading city OF
Task. Here was the site Of the first