Page 198 - Records of Bahrain (1) (i)_Neat

100 Records of Bahrain

122 ARABIAN COAST ; RAS REKKEN TO JEZIBET BTJBfyAN. [ch. vm.

nnd Reyah date trees bear E. by S. The pilots always get a shoal cast
on the south end of the Jaduin, so as to be sure which side they are on,
and then bear up to south-westward into the Khor. The direction of the
Khor is N.W. by N., and the average breadth a mile, with soundings of
to 5 fathoms.
Three miles within the entrance is a branch of the Khor to westward,
on the reef, on the south side of which, is a small sand-bank, hardly
covered at high water, which always has flocks of birds on it, called
Marwadi. On the north side of this branch channel is a reef called Khor-
fusht, which has several sand-banks on it, and a remarkable spring of
fresh water on its southern edge, which has always 2 or 3 feet on it at
low water. It is difficult to find, except at low water, when the sea is
smooth. A transit mark for it is the Portuguese fort in one with the
highest part of Marwadi sand.#
The Khor-fusht reef, on its east side, towards the Khor al Bab is very
steep-to, but shows plainly, while you shoal more gradually on the Yarem
side. On the Yarem reef, about 2 miles from its western edge, is a rock
or islet, dry at high water, 11J miles N. J W. from the Portuguese fort.
It is called J’ilahat, and tradition says there was once a fort on it, of
which, however, there are now no traces. When this bears N.E. by E.
you are clear to northward of the Khor-fusht. This rock and the Mar­
wadi sand are useful marks in beating through the Khor.
The best channel then lies between the shore reef, extending off the
point south of Katif, called Ras Chawachab (page 112), the Cbaschfis
sand, near the outer edge of which is some guide to its position, and a
detached shoal, called Najweb, with a dry sand-bank on it, about 7 miles
S.E. of Ras Tanfireh. There is a channel also to the northward of this
last shoal, between it and the Yarem, but the other is generally preferred
by the Arabs, being more sheltered, as well as more direct.
A projecting point of the shore reef, about 7 miles south of Ras Tn-
nfireh, is called Ras al Khali, and has a fresh water spring on it, under
the sea. The passage between it and Najweh is between 2 and 3 miles
wide, with 3J- to 6 fathoms. The Chaschds sand is nearly 8 miles from f
the shore, so that little is seen of the coast in working up.
From Ras Chawtichab the coast runs to N.W. towards Katif, 10 miles
below which place are a number of small rocky hills^ visible about 9
miles, which are called Mardchibat Sadun, from their resembling a num­
ber of baghalahs hauled up.

* H. M. Schooner Main, I. N., lay here sheltered from all winds, and filled up with
water by means of a pipe and hose which conveyed the water through the 6ea into the
boat, the vessel lying within a quarter of a mile of the spring.