PERIM IN 1906

PERIM IN1906

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 Aden Boundary Commission 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’ !]