The Tomahawk., 1918-12-19

s..s On the Shores Of
w-lHERE is a bit of seashore OF
such vital Importance to our
world today that thitherward
is directed the anxious gaze
Of all the leaders of the nations. 1t
figures prominently as one Of the ques-
tions involved in the great war, is the
territory Of an important campaign
and was, in fact, one Of the prime fac
tors in the causation of the war. 1t
has been a region Of high importance
since the first morning of our civili-
zation, rich alike in history and fable
probably the cradle Of western culture,
the playground Of many empires gone
(and perhaps Of others yet to Gomez,
whose undulating sands and hills hold
the ruins of sixty centuries. 1t Is
haunt of tranceful dreams and Infinite
fascination, a latitude which can lay
most plausible claim to the considera-
ton of all Of us.
And yet, in our time of knowledge
these coast lands, famous for ages
are scarcely known-no more probaDiy
than they were to the curious Greeks
of Herodotus' time or to the Chaldeans
who studied the stars and the sea q
dozen centuries enthusiastically no
more than they were to the geogra-
pliers of Bagdad or the merchants OF
Ispahan in the days of the good Ha-
roun al Raschid, writes Proyer Bura-
nelli in the New York World. The Per-
sian gulf lies brooding with the ages.
Around its ancient waters are set the
luster-shorn crown jewels of Islam. 1t
is q solitude of obscure wonders await
ing exploration.
The Persian gulf is a landlocked
body Of water Of oblong shape lying
between Arabia and Persia. 1t is about
five hundred miles long by an average
of two hundred miles wide, extending
from northwest to southeast. Its out
let to the Indian ocean, the Straits OF
Ormuz, is less than three hundred
miles from the outpost frontier OF In
dia, so that a power controlling the
gulf, say by holding fortress at the
tin of the Pirate coast, the Arabian
side of the narrow strait, would have
an immediate sally port for excursions
against the empire of the east. Indeed,
with proper railroad facilities In Asi-
attic Turkey, the Persian gulf becomes
the logical route to India.
So it is not astonishing that when
the heavy spectacles Of German schol-
arship formed an alliance with kaiser
lich mustachios the idea of the North
sea-to-Persian-gulf railroad cropped up
Immediately and showed extreme per-
tinacity. The center Of equilibrium
In the Orient lies in the control of the
Persian gulf.
AZ In the Days Of the Prophet.
To one side is Persia, to the other
Arabia, with crumbled Babylon look
ing down from the north. Where a
fairer setting for the romancer? Along
the low. sandy and forbidding west
shore lie the provinces of Ell Hasa and
Oman, the latter with that precious
territory known as the Pirate coast.
Here the various touches of modern
culture are perfectly unknown. The
Arab holds forth much as he did when
the prophet was raising the first rue
tions of the Islamitic storm. And the
Arab is q person of wide and deserved
reputation. On this coast he Is seen
In his most characteristic guises-and
also In roles comparatively unknown
to the outside world. Camels, sand
storms and the desert are the usual
settings for the burnoused follower of
the prophet. But on the Persian gulf
coast the Arab has become an expert
sailor-and pirate. He follows both
Of these worthy avocations with all the
guile traditional Of his breed-and
often It is guile quite fantastic to the
occidental mind. ,aE
The coast has long been q refuge
for outlawed characters from western
Europe. They partake readily in the
robberies and piracies Of the natives,
which in spite Of English gunboats
flourish exceedingly. Slave trading
and gun running are lucrative profes.
sions, and the warriors Of central Asia
are enabled to make large amounts OF
trouble, thanks to the rifles placed In
their hands BY these hardy rascals OF
the gulf littoral.
: An olong the sandy waste lie treas.
ure stores Of ruins. Travellers have
described half-buried Stone formations,
the relics of man long before the early
civilization Of the region. There II .
resemblance to tho fAmous stone age
Wlrk ut Stonehenee and other remains