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Perim
in 1906
The 2nd Battalion the Suffolk Regiment’s
gazette for July and August 1907 contains two short
articles by Major Schneider who was Assistant Resident
on Perim for two years from April 1905. His stay on
Perim was unusual for two reasons. The first was that as
a regimental officer as opposed to a professional
administrator one would have expected him to be there
for only about two months at a time. Secondly it is
surprising that his regiment, the 116th
Mahrattas, could spare a Field officer for this task. In
1906 the 118th had only eight British
officers and it must be assumed that either he and his
commanding officer did not get on, or that there were
two Majors in the battalion – at that time Captains were
commanding companies. It is likely that he was the son
of Brigadier General Schneider who had been the Resident
in Aden in the early 1870s and who had made an official
visit to Perim in 1872. Although some of Schneider’s
descriptions duplicate material in other articles it is
of sufficient interest to reproduce in its entirety.
“Perim is now one of the busiest little places in the
world, with a population of some 1,200 souls of which
some 35 are Europeans. The shrill whistle and the
shrieking siren of steamers are heard day and night; the
harbour is alive with sailing craft, buggalows, dhows,
etc; the Eastern Telegraph Company have got a station
there; Lloyds signal staff keeps those concerned
acquainted with all the shipping that passes Perim,
(some 2,500 ships yearly); the Perim Coal and Salvage
Company carry mails, condense water, make ice, blacken
you with coal dust and give the place a most
businesslike air; then there is a club, a cricket
ground, tennis courts, golf links and a ‘Universal
Provider’ in the shape of Messrs Phillimore & Co. There
is a Fort, guns, and ‘Jack’ Sepoy to give the place a
military aspect, and a very fine Residency to mark the
diplomatic and political part of the administration. Who
can say that Perim can be dull without all these
advantages?"
Schneider's quarters were on
the first floor at the extreme left end of the Perim
lighthouse complex.
From time to time there have been funny stories told of
individuals connected with Perim. The lonely Resident on
one occasion imbued with the spirit of sarcasm, which
grows on one with solitude, on seeing the P&O Mail pass
Perim very late signalled ‘Well done’ and was surprised
that he did not get an answer.
On another occasion a
distinguished Viceroy passed on the P&O Mail on a day
when the temperature was similar to that which is said
to prevail in the lowest of low regions, and so the same
individual put up the signal ‘Welcome’, which was not
even acknowledged. [Prior to 1884 the OC Troops’ signal
mast beside the fort was his only means of communicating
with the outside world.] It is said that once many years
ago that the Resident of this Island distracted with
loneliness, and depressed with the feeling that he could
not celebrate Christmas as laid down by Regulations, had
the temerity to stop the P&O Mail and say he had no
roast beef, plum pudding, or even a single bottle of
champagne, and the skipper being a kindly man gave him
all these things, and no doubt the entry made in the
log, which affects us hereafter, made up for the delay.
[See OC Outpost]
"The native inhabitants of Perim are very innocent and
not a bit like the up-to-date frequenter of the Aden
streets and bazaars, as shown when an individual having
put on a tail coat [Likely to have been Captain Hancock,
Schneider’s predecessor but one as Assistant Resident
Perim. Hancock was obsessed with protocol and
ceremonial. See
Captain Hancock] in order to look smart at
some function, was followed down the road by several
Somali boys who informed him that his coat was tom
behind. Needless to say coats of this description are
rare in Perim but the innocence of the native population
is established. The inhabitants are a contented and
peaceful community and any European going there can make
it what he wishes. The usual thought of the passer by on
ships is ‘Heavens! What a place’, and referring to those
who have to live there as ‘poor devils’. But there is
one thing that they quite forget or do not know, that is
the possibilities of the Island as opened up by progress
and civilization. On the other hand should you want
peace, you can get it, and make it absolutely that that
passes understanding. You certainly cannot get this in
Aden.”
[Schneider’s reference to the Residency is of interest.
It was acquired by Government during his time on Perim;
it was built in 1891-92 by the Perim Coal Company as the
Managing Agent’s house and was known as Murray House
before becoming the Residency. It was situated on the
headland above Murray Point and had a commanding view of
the harbour. But as will be appreciated from these two
articles Schneider spent most of his tour living at the
fort]
“The Straits of Bab-el Mandeb which separate the Island
of Perim from the mainlands of Africa and Arabia have
been rightly named. They consist of a broad and a narrow
strait, and are 11 miles and one and a quarter miles
wide respectively at their narrowest points. In Arabic
‘bab’ means door and ‘mandeb’ sorrow, and veritable
doors of sorrow they have been. They are usually called
the ‘Gates of Tears’ but the literal translation ‘doors
of sorrow’ is correct. The safeguard of the broad strait
is Balfe Point light, and Obstruction Point light
protects the mariner in the narrow strait, but in
addition to these minor lights there is the principal or
high light in the centre of Perim Island which warns the
navigator at about 21 miles of his approach to the
Island and the two lesser lights guide him through these
‘doors of sorrow’. However the door of sorrow par
excellence is the narrow strait on account of its
narrowness and strong currents.
Many Steamship Companies absolutely forbid their
steamers passing through this strait, but the fact
remains that the number of passing ships using the broad
and narrow straits is about equal. The saving in
distance is something over a mile, and although skippers
on land say the saving of distance is not worth the
trouble, yet as I have already said about half of them
do so. The current runs anything up to five knots per
hour, and averages on occasions 40 miles per day.
I have been here nearly two years living in a house
overlooking this ‘door of sorrow’ and it has been a fund
of continual interest and thought to me. From my
verandah I can see Azalea Point where the P&O SS China
went ashore in 1898. I can also see the cylinders of the
engines of the P&O SS Hong Kong which ran aground there
in 1890. Azalea point is named after the SS Azalea which
went ashore off this point in 1873; she was laden with a
cargo of hides, which made trying the life of the
officer Commanding the Perim detachment at that time
when the wind blew from there in his direction. Just
below my windows are the cylinders of the engines of the
SS Hutton which went ashore close to Obstruction Point
some 20 years ago. They are always above water and make
a capital mark for rifle shooting from my verandah which
is 200 feet above sea level and it is surprising what
bad shooting people make, judging the distance badly
although the mark is not quite 900 yards distant These
are only a few of the mishaps that have occurred in the
vicinity of this door of sorrow. " [See also
Shipwrecks and
Salvage]
[A May 1886 edition of Hoskyn’s chart published in 1885
has a wreck marked off each of Obstruction and Azalea
Points; the latter is presumably the SS Azalea as the SS
Hong Kong was not shipwrecked until 1890. The
Obstruction Point wreck is definitely that of the Hutton
as it measures four and a half chains (900 yards) from
the corner of the barracks where Major Schneider had his
quarters.
His comments about the standards of judging distance and
shooting of his guests are interesting and also
indicative of military tactics of that era. Whilst in
his day it was standard practice for infantry to open
fire with rifles at ranges in excess of 1,000 yards the
modern infantryman is not trained to engage targets over
300 metres away! He was being rather harshly critical of
his guest’s ability to judge distance or rather their
inability to allow for plunging fire. Also it is very
difficult to judge distance over water.
“Then again what troubles and accidents have overtaken
sailing craft such as buggalows, etc, when trying to
make the passage of the ‘Narrow Strait’, which being the
direct route from the Turkish Arabian ports to Aden is
always attempted. I have often seen a buggalow have to
anchor when only half way through on account of the
current taking her in a direction she does not want to
go. This must be most annoying, as these craft never
carry a large supply of provisions or water, and a delay
of hours often occurs before she can get to the sea
beyond. But this door of sorrow has another aspect to
those who can go through it or across it at their
convenience, when wind and tide suit, and one’s time is
one's own, when fish are plentiful, when the boats sail
well, and many a jolly morning and evening have I spent
there. Again from my window as I sit writing I can see
several miles into the interior of Arabia through the
hills, a magnificent view morning, noon or evening, I
can see the Turkish fort at Turba, the Turkish Telegraph
Office with its guard of Turkish troops, I can see the
little fishing village of Shaikh Syed looking like a
heap of black rocks in the middle of the sandy plain,
and I can see the white boundary pillar which marks the
commencement of the line of demarcation between British
and Turkish territory.”
[See ABC Part 3.
This pillar was one of those put up by the joint Anglo
Turkish Boundary Commission in 1904.]
“All these land
marks are interesting and are visible from all ships
passing through the Narrow Straits during the day, yet
how few people know anything about them. I have been
here a long time now, and yet as I sit in the evening
and look at the Arabian hills, with the setting sun’s
reflections on them, covered with that exquisite purple
glow, the glory of the Eastern sunset, with the narrow
strip of water termed the Door of Sorrow or the Gate of
tears whichever you like to call it, white with crested
waves as a foreground, the effect is magnificent, one
forgets all, even the loneliness of the place, in the
glorious content of looking and enjoying such a splendid
effect of nature.” [It is perhaps not surprising that he
signed the two articles ‘Crusoe’ !] |
