ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION

There was not much to relieve off-duty boredom on Perim and it is not surprising to find that at all levels of society there, from the Europeans on reasonable salaries to sepoys and coolies earning a pittance, the majority found some solace in the consumption of alcohol.

Soon after the arrival of the first coolies in 1883 three of them got drunk and caused a disturbance. At this stage the only liquor licence was held by the contractor’s agent on Government Side. Contrary to the regulations then in force the men had been sold two bottles of rum to take away. The regulations stated that unless a purchaser had a permit from the Outpost Commander (soon to become the ‘Assistant Resident’), spirits could only be sold by the dram – and these one at a time, to be drunk on the premises. In spite of the agent being reminded that he was not to sell spirits by the bottle to any Arab or to anyone not in government employ, only a week later he sold one bottle to two of the men involved in the previous incident. His remaining stock was then confiscated by the OC.

In 1886 Cowasjee Dinshaw’s agent on Perim, a Parsee, informed Captain Lyde, the Assistant Resident, that in the eight months he had been selling liquor on Perim he had sold 240 gallons of spirits, of which 75 gallons had been bought by sepoys and followers, 85 gallons for ‘transfer’ to Sheikh Syed and the remaining 80 gallons sold to residents of Perim and visitors from steamers. Religion appears to have been no bar to the soldiers of the detachment drinking, nor the Turkish garrison at Sheikh Syed. The sale of spirits to the Turks was very unofficial and within a few years would have broken the conditions under which the liquor licence was then issued, which prohibited the export of spirits from Perim. Even though in 1886 the strength of the detachment had not yet been reduced from 50 to 30, the quantity of spirits drunk in just eight months would suggest that much of the sepoys’ pay was being spent on drink, although most spirits were very cheap.

Listed next is the first of two years worth of alcohol sales for Perim. It is for the financial year 1891-92 and from it and the second one, for 1894-95, one gets an interesting insight into drinking habits in the tropics in the late Victorian period. All quantities are in gallons!

Whisky 236.5
Gin 50
Sherry 25
Bitters 4

Brandy 160
Claret 246
Vermouth 56
Absinthe 2

Rum 8
Beer 765
Champagne 20
Other wine 10

During 1894 it was proposed to raise the annual Government Liquor Tax to be paid by Perim from 100 to 450 Rupees. This brought strong protests from Perim and as a result the tax remained at 100 Rupees. Matters to do with the liquor tax, licences and opening hours of bars and premises selling alcohol were dealt with by the Commissioner of Abkari, who was one of the other Assistant Residents and nearly always one more senior to the Perim Assistant - and very probably one who had done his stint at Perim. The liquor ration was spelt out in a letter to the Commissioner in 1894 from the Assistant Resident (Lieutenant Sangster), who wrote:

The maximum allowed from the contractor by each adult is three pegs or glasses in 24 hours and one bottle every 10 days for home consumption. This maximum is rarely reached as their pay will not allow the men to so indulge, and it is understood that the [Coal] Company looks with disfavour on anyone who drinks regularly up to it.

He went on to say that of the 35 European consumers at least a half didn’t drink spirits. By 1894 no export trade was allowed under the licence – this explains the major reduction in the consumption of whisky compared to earlier years. The value of spirits and beer sold to steamers in the financial year was only 400 Rupees and sales in the hotel to passengers and other visitors came to only 250 Rupees.

Since liquor was being sold in the shop in the hotel it seems highly likely that the manager of the Club drew drink in bulk from the contractor, perhaps monthly, for sale to the 32 or 33 Europeans on Company Side – thus more or less doubling the size of the ‘ration’ of spirits for the drinkers. (Later there would be a second contractor with a liquor licence; he would be based in the hotel.)
The sales figures for 1894-95, all quantities again being in gallons, were:

Brandy 134.5
Champagne 18
Gin 115
Sherry 18.5

Other spirits 3.5
Beer 765
Liqueurs 5

Whisky 369.5
Claret 65.5
Rum 4
Other wines 12

That drink was cheap can be gauged by what ships had got for their 400 Rupees (about a fortnight’s pay for the Assistant Resident): it included 17 gallons of whisky, 20 gallons of brandy and several hundred gallons of beer. They may have also taken some gin as sales of this had more than doubled since 1891-92! On the other hand sales of claret were less than 27% of what they had been four years previously.