When Qasr Al Hosn was surrounded by desert rather than a modern city, a visitor to Abu Dhabi would be able to inspect a number of cannons both inside and outside the historic fortified palace. The pedigree of these ancient weapons was varied, as was their condition. Some would have been left over from various colonial adventures from the Portuguese in the 16th century through to the time of the British. Some of the cannons still sat on their original gun carriages and others rested on the sand. Despite their advanced years and decay, several of the cannons were in active use, performing ceremonial salutes to greet the return of the Ruler from his travels or the arrival of important guests. There are records of the cannons of Abu Dhabi being used in this way until the 1950s. By then, their extreme decrepitude made the saluting ceremony almost as hazardous as if real cannonballs were being used. * James Langton Explore our pictorial history of old Abu Dhabi with the interactive map below, and see all of our Time Frames <a href="http://bit.ly/Ri4Hx9" title="Time Frame Channel">here</a>. <small>View <a href="https://maps.google.ae/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=211451332559731188580.0004cdcda588357c8130a&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=24.466108,54.402591&spn=0.091055,0.166276&t=m&source=embed" style="color: #0000ff; text-align: left;">Time Frame</a> in a larger map</small>
