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The zaruk (or zarouq) is found in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Persian Gulf and a typical example is shown on the 85 f. Somali Coast stamp. This was the craft favoured by smugglers and slave-traders. It is sharp at each end, light of draught and swift of speed. There are many variations of the type and they are locally called by many different names which can be quite confusing. Except for the lateen sail they are quite different from the other dhows, the main differences being the design of the stern and the steering gear. In most cases the stem and stern run to a sharp point, with a gentle sheer on the gunwale line and a very pronounced long slope upwards from the keel centre to both ends of the hull.
The keel is in two sections, the forward one horizontal, the after one raked upwards. The stamp design does not show the extension of the false sternpost used in some of these craft, and is more like the pattern seen on this coast, as regards the stern, with a tiller for steering, an adaptation now common, a fin-like rudder being attached by gudgeons and pintles. A triangular hatch abaft the mast and a square hatch forward of it are general in the craft, which is the usual vessel used by the pearl-fishing community. It is valued by the Arabs for its fine turn of speed and for its handiness in slipping through narrow channels among sandbanks and coral reefs. For coastal work within the Arab trading sphere, the zarouk is the craft in most general use.
SG479 Sea Breezes 1/65