Читать книгу The Book of the Pearl. The history, art, science, and industry of the queen of gems онлайн

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The headquarters for the pearling fleet are at Bahrein Island, the largest of the insular group bearing the same name, the islets of Moharrek, Sitrah, and Nissan completing the group. This is the early home of Chaldean civilization, and one of the traditional sources of the Phenicians, and whence came that fish-god who—according to the Babylonian myth—bore the ark over the deluge. This island, the center of the greatest pearl fishery in the world, is half way down on the southern side of the Persian Gulf, and twenty miles from the mainland of “Araby the blest.” It is about twenty-eight miles in length, and ten in width at the widest part. The population approximates 60,000, all Moslems, except about 100 Banyan traders from Sindh, India. The northern half of the island is described as of great beauty, being a garden of pomegranate, lemon, citron, and quince-trees, and especially the magnificent date-palms, with numerous springs furnishing an abundance of excellent fresh water. The principal settlement, Manama, with about 10,000 inhabitants, is poorly built, the houses consisting mostly of huts of mats and palm leaves; yet it presents a better appearance than any other settlement along this coast.