BAI.E. 



BAIKAL. 



830 



India trade gives employment to about 25 large vessels. The Sheikh 

 who assumes authority over part of the Arabian coast also maintains a 

 fleet of five or six ships, carrying from 10 to 25 guna each, and it is 

 said that he can equip from 15 to 20 ships of war. The imports 

 are rice, sugar, spices, white and coloured cloths, dye-stuffs, iron, 

 timber, &c. from India; coffee, grain, fruits, &c. from Muscat and 

 Persia. The exports are pearls, tortoise-shell, shark-fins, dates, 

 mate, Ac. 



The chief town, called Manama, is at the north-east extremity, 

 and is large and populous, being supposed to contain upwards of j 

 40,000 inhabitants. It stands in 26 14' N. lat., 50 36J' E. long. It ] 

 is high water at 5h. 20m. p.m., and the tide rises 7 feet. The | 

 buildings are comparatively well constructed, and the place 

 altogether more respectable than any town in the Persian Gulf. 

 The bazaar is well supplied with fine cattle, sheep, poultry, fish, 

 and vegetables; and a very considerable trade is carried oil with 

 the town, particularly by those tribes who inhabit the Arabian 

 coast between Bas-el-Khyma and Grain. The prices of cattle and 

 sheep are however higher than at any other port in the Gulf, and 

 rice being an article of importation is scarce and dear. Upwards 

 of 140 vessels of various sizes are employed in trading, and 

 many are so constructed as to answer for war or traffic ; 

 but the pearl-fishery is of the greatest importance to the island, 

 which in the season employs 2400 boats, each containing from 

 eight to twenty men. The oyster banks which form the scene of the 

 famous pearl-fishery, extend between 25 and 26 40' N. lat, and 

 have a depth of 15 to 30 feet on them. The fishery commences hi 

 June and is carried on about two months, chiefly by Persian divers. 

 A duty of one-third is paid to the sovereign of the islands. The 

 annual produce of these fisheries amounts to about 250,000/. 



There is a very good harbour to the north of Manama, but it is 

 open to the north-west winds, which blow strong during the winter 

 months ; and another to the south-east of the town, which though 

 smaller and not so easy of access should be preferred, as it is 

 sheltered from all winds. 



The town of Ruffin situated on a hill seven miles south of Manama, 

 and three miles from the eastern shore, ia next in importance ; but 

 like most Arab towns it consists only of a fort surrounded by incon- 

 siderable houses built on the ruins of a former town ; and still farther 

 to the south on the eastern shore are very extensive ruins. Besides 

 these there are about fifteen villages in the island. 



The island of Arad or Arak lying close to the northward of 

 Bahrein is very low, and nearly divided into two by the sea at high 

 water. It forms the eastern side of Bahrein harbour, and the northern 

 side of the smaller port to the south-east. At its south-west extremity 

 is the town of Maharag, about a mile to the eastward of Manama, but 

 not nearly so populous although it is the residence of the Sheikh 

 who claims sovereignty over the islands. It is environed by a wall 

 for defence by muskets, and a communication is constantly kept up 

 between the two places by means of ferry-boats, the distance across 

 being only 900 yards. The distance from the west coast of Bahrein 

 to the Arabian shore is only 10 miles, and between the two lies a j 

 small low island called Jebel Huaein, which is not inhabited. Bahrein 

 is surrounded by flats, one of which called Teignmouth Shoal, 

 extends from the island 15 miles to the northward, with a breadth 

 of 14 miles : many parts of thie shoal are dry at low water. 



These islands have undergone numerous political changes. About 

 the time of the first arrival of the Portuguese they were tributary to the 

 king of Ormuz, who applied to the strangers for assistance to enforce the 

 payment of arrears, and a detachment under Correa succeeded in taking | 

 the town of Manama. The Portuguese thus gained a footing on the ; 

 island, which they maintained with more or less security for nearly a 

 century. After the Portuguese were driven from these seas the islands 

 fell under the dominion of Persia. Since this time they have been in 

 the possession of various Arab chiefs. In the expedition from Bengal 

 against the neighbouring pirate coast of Arabia in 1809, the islands 

 were occupied for a short period by British troops. The Wahabees 

 extended their conquests to the Bahrein Islands. They now pay 

 tribute to the powerful Imaum or Sultan of Muscat. 



The Bahrein Islands were known to the ancient geographers under 

 the names of Tyrus and Aradus; and according to an old tradition 

 the Phoenicians on the coast of the Mediterranean emigrated from 

 these islands, and gave the names of Tyrus and Aradus to the two 

 small islands on the coast of Phoenicia, the sites of the cities of 

 Tyrus and Aradus. Pliny speaks of the pearl-fisheries, and mentions 

 the springs of fresh-water under the sea. 



(M'Gregor's Commercial Statittia ; Frazer'a Travdt.) 



BAI^i, the name of a seaport town and a celebrated watering- 

 place of the ancient Romans, which was situated on the western 

 shore of the Bay of Naples, between the Lucrine Lake and Cape 

 Minenum, and opposite to the town of Putcoli, now Pozzuoli, from 

 which it was distant about three miles across the water. The ground 

 on which Baia! stood is supposed to be that crescent-like sweep of 

 coast between the base of Mount Grillo, which divides it from the 

 Avemo and Lucrine lakes, and the promontory on which the 

 present Castle of Baja stands. It is a narrow semicircular slip of 

 ground about one mile in length and confined between the hills and 

 the sea. Here the wealthy Romans built their villas and baths ; and 



for want of space often encroached on the sea. Horace (' Carm.' 2, 18) 

 alludes to this practice. Remains of submarine foundations and of 

 jetties and buttresses projecting into the water are still seen. The 

 only remains above ground are three or four circular buildings 

 commonly called temples, but two of which at least were to all 

 appearance thermse, or warm baths. There is one building however 

 rising behind a small projection of the shore near the centre of the 

 crescent, which is generally believed to have been what it is called, 

 namely, a Temple of Venus, for that goddess is known to have had 

 a temple at Baia;. It is an elegant structure, octagonal outside, but 

 circular in its internal area, the diameter of which is about 90 feet. 

 Adjoining the temple are several small rooms, having on the walls 

 stucco reliefs representing erotic subjects. The pretended Temple of 

 Mercury, also called Truglio, consists of two quadrangular rooms and 

 a circular one : this last ia vaulted over like a rotunda, receiving 

 the light from a round opening at the top, and is about 70 feet 

 internal diameter ; it has niches and several lateral recesses. The 

 pavement is swamped with water, which issues out of the ground. 



The whole of this country ia full of mineral springs. The baths 

 sometimes called Tritoli, and sometimes the baths of Nero, although 

 there is no reason for believing that they were constructed by that 

 emperor, are two separate buildings near one another. They stand 

 on the slope of Mount Grillo, farther from Baia;, looking towards the 

 Lucrine Lake. Nero and Julius Caesar had villas somewhere in this 

 neighbourhood ; but the sites of both are unknown. Augustus 

 frequented the coast of Baia: ; and his nephew the young Mar- 

 cellus, the presumptive heir of the empire, died here at the age 

 of twenty, of a disease of the chest for which he had been advised 

 to try the waters and the climate of Baia;. Under the profligate 

 Caesars who succeeded Augustus, Baia; became a scene of vice, of 

 lust, and cruelty : Tiberius, Caligula, Nero, and Caracalla left on 

 these shores memorials of their infamy. Caracalla bridged the bay 

 between Baia; and Puteoli, a distance of about two Roman miles. 

 The bridge was formed of boats covered with earth, and was passable 

 for horsemen and chariots. Seneca ('Epistol.' 51) describes the 

 effeminacy and the unbridled licentiousness that prevailed here. 

 Siliua, Martial, and Statius celebrated the beauties of Baia;. The 

 great attractions of Baia; seem to have been its genial winterless 

 climate ; its situation protected by a crescent of hills from the blasts 

 of the north and of the south-west winds and open to the eastern 

 breeze, which is freshened by blowing acroas the bay ; a sea generally 

 smooth, abundant hot springs, and a delightful view these were the 

 charms which made opulent men, tired of the noisy bustle and the 

 sultry heat of Rome, resort to Baia! for quietness and for health. 

 Hadrian died at Baia;. 



With the fall of the empire Baia; became deserted by its Roman 

 visitors, its villas and palaces fell into decay ; earthqxiakes and the 

 incursions of barbarians completed its desolation. The whole 

 coast of Baia; is now a desert : a few farms and vineyards are 

 scattered on the hills above, but chiefly on the opposite slope towards 

 Lake Fusaro and Cuma;. The numerous springs being neglected, 

 have oozed down the declivity of the hills and formed stagnant 

 pools, the exhalations of which render the air unwholesome iu 

 summer. The ground ia strewed with foundations and remains of 

 walls, bricks, cement, and pieces of marble. Under the water near 

 the shore cameos, carnelians, and other valuable stones have been 

 found. 



BAIGORRT. [PTRfeufeES, BASSES.] 



BAIKAL, the largest and most remarkable of all mountain-lakes, 

 is embosomed in the mountain ranges which skirt on the north the 

 high table-land of Upper Aaia. It lies between 61 and 56 N. lat., 

 and between 104 and 111 E. long. Its length is about 400 miles. 

 Its widest part between the northern extremity of the island of 

 Olkhon and the mouth of the river Bargusin is about 52 miles ; and 

 between the mouth of the Selinga and the rivulet Buguldeikha, the 

 two shores are only twenty miles distant from each other. Its mean 

 breadth varies between 30 and 40 miles, and its circumference is said 

 not to fall ahort of 1200 miles. Its surface covers 14,800 square miles, 

 so that it occupies a space equal to half the area of Scotland. This 

 lake, like other alpine lakes, is very deep, with the exception of a few 

 tracts along the shores, and some bays ; in some places the bottom has 

 not been reached 1>y a line of a hundred fathoms. 



The greateat part of the lake extends in the direction of south-west 

 and north-east, but both extremities are somewhat bent ; so that with 

 some allowance the form of the lake may be compared to the segment 

 of a circle. That portion of the lake which lies to the west of the 

 embouchure of the river Selinga (or Selenga) and of the outlet of the 

 Lower Angara is the narrowest, and is called the Bay of Kultuk. 



On the north-western ahores of the lake the mountains which 

 encircle it so closely as to constitute in many parts the very shores, 

 are interrupted only by one narrow and deep crevice, which 

 occurs towards the western extremity of the lake, and by which the 

 Lower Angara carries off the surplus waters of the lake. Nume- 

 rous streams descend from theae heights into the lake, but all of them 

 have a short course, and are only torrents, which however commonly 

 flow even in the hottest summer. The mountain ranges which inclose 

 the eastern and southern sides of the lake, advance in many parts as 

 close to its shores as those on the other sides of the lake, but they are 



