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The Old
Fort
Following his arrival on Perim (see
Reoccupation of Perim
1857) Lieutenant Greig RE set about building
the infrastructure of the Outpost. He was soon joined
temporarily by Lieutenant Playfair (of
Tawela Tanks fame), the
1st Assistant to Brigadier General Coghlan, the Resident
in Aden. The island was much more extensive than Greig
had imagined, perhaps having as much as 30 miles of
coastline. He had camped initially on the site of what
was to become Meyun
village. After he had unloaded his stores he had
selected a site for a permanent position on the
promontory immediately South of William Bay, on the 1958
map shown as Lang Point. Playfair reckoned this was a
judicious decision as the position was easily accessible
from the harbour, which it commanded. (The narrowest
point of the spit on the other side of the harbour was
about a mile away, and thus just within cannon range –
see the photograph of the harbour taken from the air in
1964. ) It was also within easy reach of any of the
likely sites for a lighthouse. Moreover it was fully
exposed to the breeze from all quarters, being about 80
feet above sea level. Looking at Lang Point on Google
Earth one would like to think that the outline of the
‘Old Fort’, as it was soon referred to, is still
visible, looking a bit like a map of Africa. Certainly
that is where it was.
Water tanks being his specialty, within 24 hours of his
arrival Playfair had visited the large reservoir at the
head of Murray Bay. He disagreed with Lieutenant Lamb RN
(the officer sent by Coghlan to reconnoitre Perim prior
to its occupation) over its condition; it was so badly
damaged and so badly located that he did not think it
worth repairing. He reported back to Coghlan that Greig
was currently sinking a well above his encampment but he
was not sanguine as to the probability of the experiment
being successful. Some of the crew of the buggalow that
had brought Playfair to Perim had mentioned that it
always rained at that time of year and at the end of the
hot weather season in August. These two statements on
rainfall painted a far too rosy a picture of the
probability of it raining in March and August. From a 20
year study of rainfall statistics in the period either
side of 1900 it was true that March is the wettest
month, and that August is the most likely month for a
storm. But in some years no rain would fall and the
long-term annual average is not much over two inches.
Greig’s first priority was to build a track up to his
chosen site, where he also set about digging a tank that
would hold 15,000 gallons of water. Coghlan was very
pleased with Greig’s efforts, but not so the Chief
Engineer in Bombay, Major General Waddington. (Greig was
reporting to, and had been given orders by, two
masters.) Waddington felt Greig had neglected the
primary aim which he (as opposed to Coghlan) he had
given him – the security of the garrison.
It was soon realised that wells on Perim would only
supply usable water for a few weeks at the most after
appreciable rainfall – and then invariably became
brackish or dried up completely. Arrangements were made
to purchase water from wells near Sheikh Syed on the
Arabian shore opposite Perim, but these too would be
found to have a limited life.
On 1 August Greig sent a long progress report to the
senior Engineer officer in Aden, which in effect was his
response to and defence against the fairly severe
criticisms made by Waddington in May. Regarding the
accusation that he had not properly secured his lines
against attack, he pointed out that instead of building
a number of bungalows for himself and the other
Europeans, the buildings had all been inter-connected
and ‘so designed that a good flanking defence might be
obtained’. Waddington had also been unhappy about
progress towards there being a satisfactory supply and
reserve of water. Greig pointed out that he had
completed a 50,000 gallon reservoir near the pier and
was currently constructing another of the same size
alongside. There was also a 15,000 gallon reservoir in
the lines. His daily use was 600 gallons for a current
force of 178 men, which meant that the main reservoir
could hold nearly three months supply. He envisaged the
work force being increased to perhaps 300 whilst the
lighthouse was being built and even allowing for some
wastage and for providing water to a ship or two in
harbour, there would still be a three month supply.
When he had submitted his previous report regarding
water, the delivery and reserve situations had been
fairly critical as the supply from Sheikh Syed had
become brackish and the contractor had had to look
elsewhere, including on the African shore, initially
with little success. But the contractor had now located
a good and plentiful source and reserves had been built
up to a good level. He also mentioned that he had also
begun the masonry of a reservoir to catch rain water.
Regarding the lighthouse nothing much could be done
until the site had been selected and decisions made as
to how it should be defended. In the meantime,
therefore, Greig was using his labour force to improve
the lines and to dig reservoirs. These explanations more
or less appeased Waddington who admitted he perhaps had
been too critical in his original comments. It was not
only about the lighthouse that decisions were needed;
how should the island itself, and more particularly the
harbour, be defended? Should Perim become a
Cronstadt? |
