MEYUN

The black and white photo is from a postcard taken around 1910 and titled ‘Meyun, Fishing Village, Perim’. This is an apt description as fishing of one kind and another was the sole occupation of the inhabitants who, prior to 1857, only lived on Perim for half the year during the fishing season. Once there was a regular supply of water available from the condenser on what was to become ‘Government Side’, Meyun was occupied all year with many of its inhabitants obtaining full or part time jobs with government.

From the 1881 census one can see that the (adult) population of Meyun was not more than 80, the ratio of Somalis to Arabs being about 60:40.

A return of 1887 allows for a more accurate estimation: about 65 adults and about 24 children. The population of Meyun probably never exceeded around 200-250.

During WW1 some stone buildings, including storerooms, were built for use by the Royal Navy. The end of one of these can be seen in the photograph which was taken by the author in 1964. There are quite a few boats up on the beach – in stark contrast to the total lack of boats as seen from Google Earth in 2007, which might suggest that Meyun is now more or less deserted. Note the mosque just outside the village; it also can be seen with a couple of buggalows in the other photograph.

[Note. On Google Earth the marker for ‘Meyun’ is not to show the location of the village, but is to identify Perim Island itself, which has reverted to it's former name of Meyun.]