Page 182 - Records of Bahrain (1) (i)_Neat

172 Records of Bahrain

MEMOIR- ON DAHUEYN. 43

country could be expected to proceed.' The road continues in a gradual
ascent till you arrive at the fort of Buffar. Here, descending again
into a vast crater surrounded on all sides by cliffs, the road leads
for five miles over uneven ground of rocky formation to Jibbul Dookhau
qr Dukhan, a mass of rock standing almost alone in the. centre of the
crater. The surface of the soil between lluffar and Jibbul Dukhan is
strewed in some places with round stones, very much like what I have
heard called " potato-stone'1 from its similarity to that vegetable. On
breaking these, I found them hollow, haying their concave side" covered
with beautiful crystallized spar. The outside being coated with a kind
of lichen, gave the ground at .a distance quite a green appearance. . I
am extremely sorry that I did not bring away some specimens, as I
think they would have proved of geological interest. From the summit
of Jibbul Dukhan I could discern nothing in the direction of Bas-cl-Bhur
(or the Land’s End) but a barren sandy plain, with a frontage of cliffy
land between it and the sea; but I was told that the island of Zuknoniyych:
(Zuenone of the chart) to the S.Wd* is visible on a clear day. I
was enabled from this station and lluffar to fix the villages of Zellag and
Mahamir, and thus determine the breadth pf the island between those
places. There arc some inferior elevations between Jibbul Dukhan and
lluffar, but I was unable, from want of means, to ascertain any heights
above the sea level. Jibbul Dukhan is visible some distance off the port,,
and is a good mark for entering the harbour.
, Buffar is the sanitarium of Bahreyn, and is reported to be extremely
healthy. In the village of Hcncniyych, in the plaiu beneath the fort, is
a. very deep well, the water of which is considered to be the best on
the island. It differs from that of Manama; the latter, the natives
say, is light, whilst the former is heavy—terms either synonymous,
with hard and soft, or serving to express the different specific gravity.:
The younger portion of the Sheykh’s families live at Buffar where they
arc put to school, and learn military exercises, and, as wo were informed,
arc kept out of mischief.
•V The fresh water springs in the vicinity of the island, from which it
would appear to have been called (“ Bahreyn,” sea-springs), arc worthy
of notice; they arc for the most part below the level of the sen, and
arc situated on the reefs fronting the shore, whilst some are always,
submerged.
-i.At Saiyhcc, tffimall rocky islet to the westward of Psetcen village,
there is a spring of fresh water which bubbles up into a basin in its