Page 84 - Records of Bahrain (3) (ii)_Neat

500 Records of Bahrain

2237

regard to the size of tlioir perforations ; but the standard set, used in
ordinary transactions, is composed as follows ; —

Diametor of tlio
Ntuno of bowl. perforations in
• decimals of an inch.

Ras
u~b } •18
or “ Head/’

Batn
•15
or " Holly.''
Ras-adh-Dlmil )
•13
or •* Upper Tail/'-

Iladrljat-adh-Dhail
JjoJI
or “ Lower Tail
also called R&bi'ah •11

or “ Fourtb.”

The largest pearls which pass through the perforations in the last of
these 4 bowls are called IChamisah lA. or. “ Fifth but of
these the minimum diameter has not been ascertained. The smallest
pearls retained in the Ras bowl weigh on the average, it is said, about
G20 grains Troy each. The finest Ras pearls are called Naqwah »y»i j
but this is a class, not a size.
Wholesale purchases of pearls from Nakhudas by Taw washes and
others are, as a rule, made chiefly by size. In this case, after the
Nakhuda lias removed any specially fine pearls which he wishes to
dispose of by the Chau, as hereinafter explained, the rest are assorted into
Ras, Batn and Dhail, and change hands in the lump at a rate previously
arranged of so many Tumans per Mashhad Mithqal. The Tuman, it
should be explained, is a fluctuating unit of pecuniary value, sub-divided
into 100 Muhammadis and depending, in its relation to. actual currency,
upon the variations of the pearl market; it is a peculiarity of its use that
the rate for Batn and Dhail pearls is always $ and £ respectively, weight
for weighty of whatever may be fixed for those of Ra6 size. The
Mashhad Mithqal of the pearl trade appears to be the same tl ing as the
ordinary Bahrain Mithqal (see next footnote) and weighs therefore about
444 grains Troy: it is sub-divided into 20 Daniqs , (plural,
Dawaniq ) or into 06 Kabbah 3 , (plural, ITabbat*
•>
olw. ).
The ordinary pearl, after being purchased from an operative by size,
usually passes from one dealer to another on a more precise kind of
estimate based upon weight,