Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1901-12-04
on1yGS IN THE SEA
,.-eR STREAMS THAT BURST t'' om TIE OCEANS BED.

rs A' '''> ..1e .rn. Tcvcr Been Satig-
 e', ,a-i,y ExI:.sis1e'i'
 ,u fine shallow bottom Of the
 AyD' nof very far from the land, q
 5'p, por of openings have been discov-
 l in various parts of the world
 ' .,ncD which water as pure and fresh
 ivr '%at of any bubbling spring minsles
 U, .,o solt water of the sea. Anoth-
 i'n n.morLable class of fresh water
 .na- is those that sink out of sight
 'ln7 nesbaps never come to the surface.
 sa1low hidden channels under the
 p' ,and under the sea until they final
 .mo to the open air on an island.
 .h @ of these types of underground
 r rsrs are perhaps most remarkably H.
 s.o+od near and on Bahrein island,
 tho Persian gulf, q place that is also
 ,tod as one of the chief sources or
 earls. s4 .,o
 s.n of islands bearing that name. is
 hont twenty miles off the coast or
 s.hia in the Persian gulf. As the is-
 .1 has almost no rainfall it is
 a,a lpyel of sandy desert relieved only
 n.lm groves and patches of vegeta-
 ;on where water springs to the sur
 aoo from the mysterious underground Lhopnpls In many places the water aoos not reach the surface, but is found Ir sinkinc wells, the water being raiS- Id to tbe surface by donkeys and bul- ooks and poured into the channels k-om which the date palms and other [proos are irrigated. These springs can- hot possibly be derived from the island, bnJ if is no more likely that they come From the sandy wastes of neiSllboring kraba. The Arabian shore as far as ban be seen is low and devoid of water eyeppt at El-katif where similar kprngs are found.
 Arabs say that these streams come ktraight from the Euphrates riyer through an underground channel by which the great river, in part, flows be- heath the Persian gulf. Geoiogists, however, have dismissed this theory. Though the origin of the springs has not yet been satisfactorily explained. the most favored theory is that they come from the well watered slopes of 4ho t,i n o n titn mort h If this theory is correct, it means that the rainfall sinks into the earth's crust until it reaches impermeable rock strata along which it is carried for a great distance to the south out under tue sea until the rock. sloping upward, again brings the water near the sur face on Bahrein island Some of the wells that are thus supplied are enor- nous. and one of them, the Adar;, serves for the irrigation of many miles of date palms through a canal of an cient construction. The Adari well is one of the great sights of Bahrein, be- ing deep basin of water % % by 40 IuAho III clLN. l iIC iGNL t1dl IL JULIUS from a far higher source is shown by .he force with which it enters the we'll Divers, driven back by the strong cur ent, are unable to reach the bottom.
 There being no wells within miles of '0me Of the coast towns of Bahrein, aey obtain water from springs that ssue from the bottom of the gulf not ar from the shore. These springs of curse have the same origin as the wells. Divers. with goatskins under helr arms, dive through the salt water ma Ill the skins with the cold, fresh lqud at the bottom. The water ob- alned in this way usually contains
 Sllght admixture of salt water, so nat the mixture is just a little brack- sh. At some of these openings at the ea bottom the head of water entering ne sea is so strong that when hollow aHooos are pushed down into it the '-'.. '-=sG .G:1--1 tIe tuDcS. .'~Ir:'-- ls the fresh water directly into yes els that are held by men and women 'no are sitting ill the boats that 1odsnt them from the land. The 0tee or some of the streams as they one from the earth is so considerable lat II pushes back the salt water, and Ut spring is not mixed with the sea a'er Tor quite a space around the lace of entrance.
 .. has been practically determined ''hlh the past few years that the wa ,ls or a small river in West Africa uiea disappeared in fresh water 'ahp that has no visible outlet find ier Way by an underground channel 'o .he Atlantic and mingle with the :" through an opening in the bottom ut naS been discovered a few miles o'n cape Verde. A channel has been ,unu ,., on the sea floor which, appar- 'ss' was cut by some fresh water se"nl. During some soundings that ,. ,s.. niaue m 1S93 for the purpose of 1uiis and raising a broken cable the -ssel engaged in the work was sur 1Aued by swamp vegetation that was "''hua!ly rising to the surface. It Ne W !uentiN brOr~ht throuoI tho Iln-