in quality. The fishery at the latter place has in a great measure
become a monopoly in the hands of a few merchants, who
manage to secure almost the whole of the profit, whilst the
hard-working divers are in general miserably paid. The owner
receives one-eleventh of all that is fished up, and one 'hundred
per cent, on his advances for the support of the crew.
The latter consists of five divers and five pullers to each boat,
of which there are at Bahrein alone about 1500; and there are
about as many more elsewhere. There are two seasons for collecting
the oysters: the first, which is short and cold, is in June,
when diving is practised only in the shallow water along the
coast; but it is not before the intense heat prevailing from July
to the middle of September, when the water is as warm as the
air, that this trying occupation can be pursued without causing
intense suffering from the cold. The diver is provided with
a net tied round his waist to contain the oysters, then his ears
being stuffed with bees’ wax, and his nostrils compressed with
a piece of horn, he is lowered into the water, the descent being
facilitated by means of a cord with a heavy stone at the extremity;
on this he stands, holding the rope, and after working
hard for a period which probably averages less than two minutes,
he shakes a cord attached to the boat as a signal to be drawn
up; but his stay under water frequently does not exceed 35 or
40 seconds. The operation takes place on an empty stomach,
and under favourable circumstances as to temperature; the
task is repeated 12 or 15 times in a day, without being considered
injurious to the constitution.? Some precaution is, however,
necessary, and when the diver is overcome by fatigue he
must abstain from food, till he has been refreshed by sleep;
but notwithstanding all his bodily exertion, a favourable season
seldom gives him more than a clear profit of from 30 to 50
Spanish dollars. The pearl-fishery has rather declined of late
years, hut the produce is still considerable f two-.thirds of it,
when taken out of the shells and dried, belong to the merchants
at Bahrein ; the pearls are sized by sifting them.
1 Colonel Wilson, in the Royal Geographical Journal, vol. III., p. 284.
2 Colonel Wilson makes the average about 300,0001..; see the Royal Geographical
Journal, vol. III., p. 284.
The divers are exceedingly expert, and it may not be out of
place to mention that the Honourable Company’s sloops of
war, Elphinstone and Coote, had their copper cleaned by these
individuals in 1835; the task was speedily accomplished by
means of 50 divers employed for this purpose on each side of
the ship.
The north-western extremity of Bahrein is barely 10 miles
from the Arabian coast, and there intervenes, but nearer to
Bahrein than to the coast, an uninhabited island, called Jeb-
el-Hussein. An extensive flat, called Teignmouth Shoal,
extends at least 10 miles northward of Bahrein; and some
miles farther towards the north-west is the Island of Tirhoot,
or Taroot, which is 10 miles long from N.W. to S .E .; it is
well watered and thickly covered with date groves f and on
the mainland, just opposite, is El Khatif. This is the principal
town of the district of the same name; it is situated on
low ground amidst gardens, and contains some good houses,
which are surrounded by walls and defended by a citadel. rl he
population is about 6000 souls; to which Yebrin and the 15
other surrounding villages give an addition of 19,000 souls.2
There is some trade with India, particularly with Surat, but
the principal commerce is with Bahrein. The district produces
an abundance of rice, also wheat, barley, dates and other
fruits, among which are musk and water melons, the latter
weighing from 35 to 40 lbs. ;3 and the revenue of the district of
Khatif, independent of the pearls, is 86,000 German crowns.4
A little way westward of the town are some remains which
are supposed to mark the site of ancient Gerrha, the Regio
Macina of the Greeks.5
The desert district of Debenah succeeds, and stretches northwestward
of El Ah’sa, along the Gulf, near the upper extremity
of which is Grane, or Quade, a considerable town situated on
a kind of peninsula .at the southern side of a fine bay, forming
an extensive harbour. The entrance, which is on the eastern
side, is in a great-degree sheltered by the islands of Pheliche;
‘ Captain Sadleir’s Journey, vol. III., p. 456, of the Bombay Lit. Trans.
2 Ibid., p. 458. 3 Ibid- * Ibld>
s . Strabo, lib. XVI., p. 165