Mss Eur F126/45, ff 81-84

Letter regarding the news of Pelly's health and steady recovering and sending him the detailed information he had requested on the state of agriculture, famine and trade in and around Bushire.

The information, compiled from local enquiries, reports that the agricultural prospects of the area do not look promising as the local farmers are already impoverished and facing heavy government taxation and that these combined with the lack of rain may result in no cultivation being undertaken at all. There are also reports from some of the surrounding corn growing districts of famine and disease being rife and that even with some good fortune and rain production is anticipated to be seventy-five percent less than in previous years.

Malcolm also reports that the famine is likely to impact the area most during the forthcoming winter and that the local government is making the collection of relief funds difficult and that the only aid available in Bushire is the funds distributed by the Residency.

Trade in Bushire is reported as being stagnant and its recovery reliant on the country's agriculture reviving.

The letter also relates news of the governance of Bushire; an outbreak of Cholera in Bunder Abbas [Bandar-e-Abbas]; and regarding the care of Pelly's garden during his absence.