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clear of the storms and the rocks, but diving is not performed in the
middle of the sea at great depths. The depth of the sea is fathomed by means of ba' and abrad. Abrad
is a ball of lead which is lowered into the sea by means of a slender rope, so that an estimate of the depth may be had. The clay, sand or mud which clings to the rope provides an idea of the topography of the area and of the depth it has plumbed. Ba' is also spoken of as qiinan and dim' as banjak. Experts say that the qiman extends from the middle finger of the left hand to the left nipple. It is more than two dam's in length. Others, however, say that it extends to the right nipple. Anchors are cast according to the wind, waves and depth, so that the
ships may remain stationary. Anchors comprise an ablong piece of iron, having arms, the like of which we see in the feet. They, therefore, get fixed to the bottom of the sea. There is a ring at the upper end to which a rope is tied. These anchors are in keeping with the size of the ship, and the weight of an anchor varies between one hundred fifty to three hundred mannas. The ship stands still when the anchor catches the bottom. This then becomes like a port for the ship. People call the port bandar. There are different statements concerning the depths of maghasat,
and different estimates have been presented. Some have shown their depth to be fourteen qiman, some eighteen qimans, and still others forty dira'. If one qiman is assumed to extend from the middle finger up to the right nipple, these dira's will not amount to more than eighteen qimans, which is the quantity of the maghas at Barbarah. Nasr says that the depth at which diving takes place is sixteen qimans
and a qiman is equivalent to one ba'. If so, the depth comes to more than sixty dira's, but the case is otherwise, and not as has been written by Nasr. Seasons for Diving
Al-Kindi writes in this context:
The season for diving is from the first week of April to the end of
October, as the sun cricumscribes a distance from half Aries to half
Libra.
Nasr writes: Diving is spread over six months from the Nawroz 87 to Mihrijan (the
autumnal equinox).
The period given by Nasr corresponds to that given by Al-Kindi except that the former has computed the period in Persian months which do not correspond to the solar year, and are moved backward and forward. Probably both these authors have taken two forths the spring and the
summer. We have already stated that the Persian Gulf is tranquil in these days and, when there is a storm, diving becomes impossible. For the |
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