_ 43 _ to five at low tide. The water flows with great force both at high and low tides. Item: At this point, at the side of Basra, there is a bastion surrounded by a protective wall which forms a triangle and two big bombards are mounted there. Beside the river, at the shore level, there is a fishery and there is another inside the waterway. The bastion has battlements all round it for the musketeers. On the other side of the waterway there is a tall mosque with some houses. It is in this mosque that the Pashas are buried. Item: There is a small area of bare land around the bastion of Basra, bordering both the waterway and the river, which was made by the cutting down of the many palm trees which surrounded it. The entrance to the waterway does not have an iron chain as has been reported. Item: Opposite the entrance to the waterway, on the Persian side, there is a fortress which is large, stronger and taller than the bastion. It seems to be for the defence of the passage way upstream, but they would not be able to prevent passage to anyone determined to do so. On the day I entered it they fired many shots from three artillery pieces at this fortress. From the bastion at the entrance to the waterway they likewise fired at
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