| 20th 3 pounders carried out then prize firing. We left on the 21st for Koweit. 22nd Arrived at Koweit at 9am & we exercised small arm companies. Marathon arrived. Things now got worse at Koweit. The Perseus & the Marathon received the loan of 10 dhows and we armed them with 3 pounder ships guns. We got them in readiness in case of an attack on Koweit. 27th We weighed anchor & went outside harbour & carried out torpedo practice & cannon tube. We then proceeded into harbour again. The Captain of Marathon came on board and we took him to Jeharah where he and captain of the Perseus went ashore & examined a fort, which we intended arming if trouble arose. We arrived back in Koweit at 8 pm. 29th We left Koweit at 1.30 pm for Bushire to send telegrams. 30th Arrived at Bushire at 12.30 pm 1st Coaled ship 350 tons. On 3rd we weighed anchor and anchored again opposite the telegraph station. Left Bushire 12.30 pm. 4th Arrived & anchored off Koweit. 7th HMS Pomone arrived from Bombay. 8th HMS Assaye arrived here from Bombay, thus increasing strength of fleet here considerably. It was found necessary to thoroughly survey the route from Koweit to Jehara as no charts had even been made. So all ships in harbour sent a navigating party under navigating officer & the place was thoroughly surveyed. 9th We exercised small arm companies. Things were now pretty quiet at Koweit so the Perseus was ordered to proceed to Muscat and we left Koweit at 5pm. As we passed HMS Marathon both ships manned the rigging and cheers were heartily exchanged for the Marathon was ordered home as soon as her relieve was sent out & we did not expect to see her again. 10th During the middle watch HMS Sphinx was met & she signalled to say that she had our mail so we sent a boat for it. 11th During forenoon we were exercised at General Quarters and we afterwards carried out cannon tube practice. And during the dogwatches we went to man & arm ship 13th After smooth passage we arrived at Muscat at 9 am. We saluted the Sultan with 21 guns which was returned. 14th We coaled ship 200 tons. Time had been rather dull during our time up the Gulf as we had had no leave since we left Karachi so we arranged a seigning party, which came off very well. 18th We received the Sultan & the British Consul on board. A salute of 21 guns for the Sultan 11 for the Consul was fired. 20th We had Divine Service which was conducted by the American Minister from ashore 21st We got the starboard bower anchor out, and then we started painting ship. 23rd We had another seigning party, which was attended by the British & American & French Consul & Mrs Cox. There being no communication from Muscat by telegraph we left Muscat on the 25th for Jask & arrived there the 26th. We left again on the 27th for Muscat. 28th We carried out our firing and arrived at Muscat. We moored ship placing spare bower on the billboard. 29th We unmoored ship and replaced spare bower anchor. 30th We left Muscat at 7.30 am with British Consul & Sultan of Muscat & 150 soldiers onboard, bound for Sur & Khora Jehoram. We arrived off Khora Jehoram at 4 pm & at once lowered all cutters & commenced to disembark 100 of the troops. The sea was very choppy which made the task very dangerous. The steam cutter was lowered the three other cutters & the tow ropes parted several times & the cutters eventually found a creek was very narrow with high cliffs each side. There were several nasty bends. After proceeding for about three miles up the creek it opened out into a large lake & there lying peacefully at anchor was HMS Assaye. Only superior seamanship could she have been got there as the passage up the creek was very dangerous. We now had to find a place to land the troops. We had several attempts, the boats continually grounding, as water was so shallow. We eventually landed them having to use a little force in making them leave the boats, & to make things worse none of them could speak a word of English. The cutters then returned to HMS Assaye & as a furious gale was blowing it was thought advisable to remain on board the Assaye for the night & attempt to make the Perseus in the morning. |
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