The daily journal. (Salem, Or.) 1899-1903, 1902-01-14

The Origln OF the Underground Riv-
ers That Have an outlet Under the
Persian Gulf Has Never Been salts
| factorIly Explained.
Along the shallow bottom Of the
ocean, not very far from the land, a
number Of openings have been dlscoy-
cred I'm various parts Of the world
through which water as pure and fresh
as that Of any bubbllng spring mngles
with the salt water Of the sea. Anoth-
or remarkable class of fresh water
springs is those that sink out of sight
or perhaps never come to the surface,
but follow hidden channels under the
land and under the sea until they final
| ly come TO the open mir on an island.
Both of these types of underground
rivers are perhaps most remarkably IL
lustrated near and on Bahrein island,
| In the Persian gulf, place that is also
noted as oac OF the chief sources Of
pearls.
Bahreln Island, the largest Of the
group Of islands bearing that name. is
! about twenty miles Off the coast of
Arabia In the Persian gulf As the is
land has almost no rainfall it is a
| dead level of sandy desert relieved only
by palm groves and patches of vegeta-
tlon where water springs 10 the sur
face from the mysterious underground
channels. In many places the water
does not reach the surface but Is found
by sinking wells, the water being rails
ed to the surface by donkeys and bul-
locks and poured into the channels
from which the date palms ana other
crops are irrigated. These springs can
not possibly be derived from the island,
and II is no more likely that they come
from the sandy wastes OF ncighboring
Arabia. The Arabian shore as far as
can be seen Is low aud devoid Of water
except at El-Katif whore similar
springs are found.
Arabs say that these streams come
straight from the Euphrates river
through an underground channel by
which the great river, In part, flows be
meath the Persian gulf Biologists,
however, have dismissed this theory.
Though the origin Of the springs has
not yet been satisfactorily explained
the ,most favored theory Is that thoy
come from the well wateTCd slopes of
the Persian mountains far 20 the north.
II this theory is correct IL means that
the rainfall sinks into the earth's crust
until 1t reaches lmpcrmeable rock
strata along which 1t Is carried for a
great distance 10 the south out under
the sea until the rock. slOping upward
again brings the water near the sur
face on Bahrein Island. Some of tie
We Is that are thus supplied are enor-
nous. and one Of them, the Adari,
'eryes for the Irrigation Of many miles
4 date palms through a canal OF an
,ient construction. The Adarl well IS
ne Of the great sights Of Bahrein be
ng a deep basin OF water % by 40
Yards IN size. The fact that It comes
from a far higher source is shown by
lie force with which Il enters the we'll
Divers, driven back by the strong cur
rent, are unable 20 reach the bottom.
There belnS no wells within miles Of
some OF the coast towns of Bahreln,
hey obtain water from springs that
asue from the bottom Of the gulf not
Tar from the shore. These springs OF
course have the same origin as the
wells. Divers with goatsk.ns under
their arms, dive through the salt water
and M the skins with the cold, fresh
liquid at the bottom. The wafer Ob.
talned In this way usually contains
slight admixture OF salt water, so
that the mixture Is Just a little brack-
lsh. At some OF these openings az the
sea bottom the head OF water entering
the sea Is SO strong that when hollow
bambOOs are pushed down into II the
water rises through the tubes, deliver
ing the fresh water directly into yes
sells that are held by men and women
who are sitting In the boats that
brought them from the land. The
force OF some Of the streams as they
come from the earth Is so considerable
that Il pushes back the salt water, aud
the spring is not mixed with the sea
water for quite a space around the
place Of entrance.
II has been practically determined
within the past few years that the wa
tiers OF a small river In West Africa
which disappeared In a fresh water
swamp that has no visible outlet hnd
their way by an underground channel
into the Atlantic and mingle with the
J sea through an opening In the bottom
that has been discovered a few milea