tending from Makran up to Bahrayn. They then intersect the celebrated
localities of the Red Sea to the coastal regions of Shihr. like Sarjanihet
(Arabic, ra's al-Jamjamah) and Majirah. This region is collecitvely
spoken of Masirah and Mashkat which is Masqat. This chain continues
up to Aden and Dihlak, provided there are no obstructions we have already described in connexion with the Red Sea. Diving is performed up
to the extreme depth of the sea. There is a mughas in Lujjah' Barbar
along the straits of Aden on the Ethiopian side.
Al-Kindi, besides having described these islands, has also mentioned
the island of Socotra and has spoken rather highly of the Barbar pearls.
He says they are white, thick and of good-quality and if they are round
and spheroidal, exceed all other sites for diving. He further writes:
They are brought to Ethiopia from Aden. They have mahars instead
of bulbuls, and rarely does a pearl occur in them. If any comes out,
it is like the 'Ummani pearl.
Nasr writes:
The animal in the shell does not part from the depth of the sea as
long as it lives. When it, however, dies, the waves throw it away on
the coast, although the grains get spilt because of its death, with the
heat of the sun and the air adding to the process of decomposition
till the pearls become wrinkled and shrivelled.
Once the diving season is up, the divers prospect for these spoilt shells
round the shore, and take out the grains that have undergone change.
Sometimes the peel lifts on its own, and the grain inside remains intact
after the peel has come off.
In his work, Aslikal al-Aqalim, Abu Ishaq Al-Farisi (Al-Istakhari) has
said:
Adjacent to the upper coast line (of Iran) there is the Island of
Kharak. There is a maglias here as well, but it yeilds very little. But,
if any rare object is procured here, it exceeds all others. It is said
that durr-i-yatimall was taken out here.
About the maghas of Serandib, Al-Kindi has this to aver:
It is not used for diving for fourteen years, so that the animals may
get the time to grow. Then the divers use it for fourteen years. If
they get hold of a fresh bulbul, they throw it down into the sea so
that it may attain maturity.
The pearls obtained here are small and slender, and are often like the
teeth and clear. Sometimes the divers plunge during the interregnum
accidentally. The immature bulbuls are thrown into the sea again.
Depths of the Diving Sites
The first thing which we have to bear in mind is that boats and ships
are plied in the direction of the deep waters of the sea in order to steer
