Note 2594 — Chapter XIII · EXPORTS FROM AFRICA AND THE EAST.

Theoph. Hist. Plant. iv. 7. 7, seq. At the present day, the water actually found on the island is brackish, while the sea is thought by some to have gained so far upon the land as to cover certain springs which supplied the ancient inhabitants with excellent water. Even now, however, the produce of these fountains is not wholly lost though doubtless deteriorated by the admixture of sea-water. “There are certain springs,” observes Nieuhoff, “arising in the bottom of the sea, at three fathoms and a half deep. Near the city of Manama, certain divers go early in the morning in boats, about three musket shots from the land, and dive to the bottom of the sea, fill their earthen or leathern vessels with the water that issues from the springs, and so come up again and return to the shore.” Churchill’s Collection, Vol. ii. p. 196.