Page 308 - A Hand book of Arabia Vol 1 (iii) Ch 6 -10

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rOWNS AND VILLAGES 331

Khaloifat (850), fluivulah (1,000), and negroes (3,000), of whom
two-thirds are slaves. Wakrah has about 75 shops, and is a market
for Bedouins ; the tradesmen belong to the Huwalah and Baha-
rinah classes. Pearl-boats number about 150 ; there are 20 sea­
going boats and 30 fishing-boats. Live stock includes about 40
horses and 150 camels. Water is fetched from 'Ain Wakrah, about
1 mile W. of the town, where are about 15 shallow stone-lined wells
round a walled date-grove, with some lucerne, belonging to the
Sheikh.
Two deserted towns may be mentioned : Huweilah, on the E.
coast, was originally the chief town, and was once known to the
English as ‘ Owhale ’ ; there are numerous wells about 2 miles
inland, yielding water of indifferent quality. Zubdrah lies almost
in the same latitude on the W. coast ; it was formerly a stronghold
of the ruling family of Bahrein, and its site is still visited by Na'im
of Bahrein and El-Qatar. It was a walled town, surrounded by
• 10 or 12 forts within a radius of 7 miles, only one of which, Thaghab,
is not ruinous and abandoned.
I The following are the principal villages :—
1. Dha'd’in, some 20 miles N. of Dohah ; about 150 houses,
occupied mostly by Al Bu Kuwarah, who own about 70 pearl-boats,
10 trading vessels, and 10 fishing-boats, with 60 camels and 10 horses.
Drinking water is brought from 'Aweinat Bin Husein, 6 miles inland.
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2. Dhakhirah, on an inlet about 10 miles N. of the above, and
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consisting of about 100 houses of the Mahandah tribe, all pearl
divers and fishermen, owning 15 pearl-boats, 2 sea-going boats, and
5 fishing-boats, with 10 camels. Drinking-water is from Lubiceirdah,
2 miles to the NW., a masonry well with fairly good water at 6 ft.
3. Abu Dhaliif, on the NW. coast near the top of the peninsula,
with about 70 families of the Manana‘ah tribe, owning 20 pearl-boats,
5 other sea-going boats, and 10 fishing-boats, with 30 camels. Drink­
ing-water is from the well of Umm Dhd'an, about II miles inland.
A broad reef fronts the village, nearly dry at low water, and making
approach from the sea difficult.
4. F-uweirat, on the E. coast about 10 miles from the N. extremity,
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immediately to S. of a hill or cliff called Jebel el-Fuweirat. The
village consists of about 100 houses of the A1 Bu Kuwarah. and
•50 of the Kibisah tribe, each occupying separate quarters ; it is not
continuously walled, but is surrounded by towers ; all tire houses
are well built of stone and mud. The people are chiefly pearl-divers,
owning 44 sea-going and 12 fishing-boats, but they possess some
100 camels, 60 donkeys, 20 horses, and 80 head of cattle. Water is
nought from the Zarqu well, l mile to W., but a better supply is