Bushire

Bushire, or ABUSHEHR ('father of cities,' also variously written Bushahr; in Persian, Bender-shahr), a principal port of Persia, on a sandy peninsula on the east shore of the Persian Gulf, in the province of Fars. The climate is most unwholesome, and the streets are narrow, ill paved, and dirty. The district is liable to be devastated by earthquakes and the simoom, and is deficient in water; but the situation is highly favourable for commerce. The exports vary in annual value from about £400,000 to £600,000; the imports from about £500,000 to over £800,000. About a third of the exports go to Britain and her colonies, nearly half to China (almost entirely opium, of course). Bushire is the land terminus of the Indo-European telegraph line, and a chief station of the British Indian Steam-navigation Company. The chief exports are opium, tobacco, raw cotton, woollen goods, fruits, perfume, silk, and horses; the imports, cotton and woollen goods, sugar, metals, indigo, tea, spices, chinaware, and glass. Bricks stamped with cuneiform characters have been found in the vicinity, at Rishire, which is believed to have been an Elamite settlement. Pop. 27,000, chiefly Persians, Arabs, and Armenians.