The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1890-03-19
CURIOUS
strange Thiag. seen In nahrein -NoSeitie.
Of the GrDap-

CURIOUS ISLANDS.
strange rhSus. seen In mahrein -NoSeltie.
of the Grvsp-
Now and then q traveller shows TINT IL Ia
highways OF trade TO discover novel and
interesting facts. IL In seldom. Tor In
stance, says q writer i'm the New York sun,
that an explorer picks up In a very limited
field 50 much entertaining and unusual
information as J. T. Bent gathered durfn.
his recent visit to the little Bahrein Island
group that hugs the coast Of Arabia i'm the
Persian gulf. These sandy little islands
would seem IN he very monotonous and
u~npromisinG, hut In the paper Mr.. bent
has read before the Royal Biographical
society of ondon he shows them To he
brimful of novelty and interest.
Bahrein. the largest island, Is "a miles
long and 10 wide, and is mostly n dead
level of sandy de. ert, relieved by patches
of cultivation. Moharck, the seat of gov
ment. contains only about two square
miles and a half and the other Stands
experience before he lands. for no boats
can reach the shore. A herd of white
water to the boat, and great is the trcpi-
dalton of some passengers as they are
transferred To these animals, there being
no stirrups nor even reins.- As the ami
mails always make a straight line for the
beach their Arab masters regard brides
The chief industry of the group is the
pearl fishery; II employs about 2,OOO men
Tor six months i'm the year. The divers,
live i'm bamboo huts along the coast. They
stoutly resist all innovations i'm the way
Of diving apparatus and other improve
ments, and by long practice they have ac-
Iuired the ability to remain under water
for a length OF time that To the unacctis-
tome snec,at"r seems ,nerssl'o.e. ROPE
attached to drag them tn the bottom, the
~urifices of their ears are oiled, a horn is
fastened over their noses tn keep out the
winter. and they arts rPQNy.
All around the islands are the fishing
grounds for seed pearls, and the Bahrein
chants, as they are regarded as more last
ing and harder even than those OF Ceylon.
Each Of the 400 boats engaged in the bust;
Sheik Esau. the ruler Of this little do
main; for the Bahrcin islands form one
WI WORLD II and though 10Th the Turks and
they have been prevented by the interfer-
off, with an eye single, not to the rights
of Shcik Esau, hut to the pearls which
her merchants con buy at reasonable
rates.
A strange spectacle may he .witnes sed
any day mt Moharek, one of the two big
towns Of the islands. Divers with water
skins under their arms plunge into the
skins full Of fresh water. Thc sole source
springs sp sns Which Which emerge ma.se 81 asf sRs bo IT. o ss.s sss.
cral feet below the surface. The force OF
the streams IL 80 considerable that, Mr..
Bent says, ''tsey push back the water and
do not get imprcRnatcd."
These islands are among the few places
% %as's still ip be- aSserSsd. 1 K small ii gazette nsi1n &
ON the desert of Bahrein,
and often the sportsmen OF the
horses, each having ON his arm
a hooded falcon and by his side a Per.
ssiie Is srs .;aS:.S the As falcon sSs" !. as Is. the loose ga.
There il mo escaping him. Swimming
swiftly over the sand the bird attacks the
head Of the animal and SO confuscs il that
il falls an easy prey to the hounds. II is n
peculiarity of the Bahrcini that the gun
has not yet supplanted among them the
lance. the shield OF camci's skin and the
cont of mail are still in use.
The most remarkable feature OF the
uli that cover the desert. OF their origin
VIC have had no knowledge until within the
Of the world have these artificial mounds
been found IN such enormous numbers.
Only five of them have yet been opened.
entertained that these mounds were
reared by the PhTnicians before they em-
igrated to the shores OF the Mcditcr.
ranean and began the commercial and
adventurous career that made them Ia
NOUS. Until the present time we have
had no evidence tn support the PhGrnician
traditions and the assertions of Heroslotus,
Pliny and Straby that this great people
came originally from the Persian gulf.
But the Bahrein mounds, though they
contain. as far as examined, no vestiges
of Inscriptions. having probably been
reared before the PhUnicians invented
the art of writing. include many such oh
jects as statues, ivory utensils and orna'
ments, fragments of carved wooden boxes
and ostrich shells scratched with rough
patterns. These have u very close re-
scmblancc to objects found in Phrniciar
toinbs Oh the shores OF the Mediterranean
Similar relics have not been found i'm an!
other excavations except in those anon
remains of recognized Phu,nician origin
The Bahrien islands, therefore,. furnish
evidence to sustain the historians abou
whose accuracy the world has long beer
skeptical.