D H A 



by the people to acknowledge him as Stadtholder. 

 The pensionary himself was attacked by four assas- 

 sins, and left "for dead in the streets. At the same 

 time, his brother, Cornelius, was falsely accused of an 

 attempt on the life of the Prince of Orange, and con- 

 demned to suffer the question. He endured the most 

 excruciating tortures with an heroic fortitude ; and, in 

 the midst of his agonies, repeated, as applicable to his 

 own situation, the well-known ode of Horace, begin- 

 ning, 



Justum et tenacem propositi virum, &c. - 



The judges were confounded by the unshaken cou- 

 rage he displayed : his life was spared, but he was Sen- 

 tenced to banishment. The pensionary resigned his 

 office, and followed his brother to prison. The mob 

 immediately assembled round the spot, obtained ad- 

 mission into the prison, dragged away the two bro- 

 thers, whom they inhumanly murdered, and afterwards 

 exercised upon their dead bodies every species of indig- 

 nity which the fury of the moment could suggest. 



John De Witt was unquestionably one of the ablest 

 men of his age. He excelled in bodily exercises, and 

 possessed an intimate knowledge of the liberal arts and 

 sciences. He was a skilful politician, vigilant in his 

 administration, and indefatigably laborious in business. 

 His deportment was modest and serious ; and although 

 far from courting popularity by illiberal condescensions, 

 he was, at all times, affable and easy of access. He 

 possessed a firmness and magnanimity of character, 

 which rose superior to difficulties and dangers ; an ir- 

 l'eproachable integrity, and a disinterested attachment 

 to what he conceived to be the true interests of his 

 country. See Histoire de la Vie et de la Mort des deux 

 Illustres Freres, Corneille ct Jean de Witt, Utrecht, 

 1709: and Sir W. Temple's Remarques snr I'etat des 

 Provinces Unies des Pays-bas, Utrecht, 1697- (s) 



DEZIMA. See Dissima. 



DHALAC, Dahalac, or Dahlak, the largest island 

 in the Arabian Gulf, is situated about seven miles from 

 the eastern coast of Abyssinia, between the parallels of 

 latitude 15° 32' and 15° 5' north, and the parallels of 

 longitude 40° 3' and 40° 17" east. Its greatest 

 length from north-west to south-east is about 37 miles, 

 and its greatest breadth 18 miles. 



The surface of the island is low and .flat, without 

 any hills or mountains ; and the soil is fixed gravel and 

 white sand, containing shells and marine exuvia?. A- 

 bout three miles to the south-east of Dhalac-el-Kibeer, 

 the rocks rise into a remarkable cliff, not less than 30 

 feet high. The strata lie horizontally, and are so regu- 

 lar, that they appeared to Mr Salt, even when he was 

 near them, to resemble the walls of an ancient castle. 

 Excepting one or two valleys, where there is some ver- 

 dure, the island is destitute of all sorts of herbage, but 

 a little bent grass, which affords a meagre sustenance 

 to the goats and antelopes. Large plantations of acacia 

 trees occur in different parts of the island. 



The climate of Dhalac differs materially from that of 

 Abyssinia. No rains fall from the end of March to the 

 beginning of October ; but in the other months, parti- 

 cularly December, January, and February, thei-e are 

 violent showers, that continue for twelve hours, and fill 

 the cisterns, which supply the inhabitants with water. 

 The following heights of the thermometer were taken 

 by Mr Salt : 



January 1807 80° morning. 



— — 87 noon. 



690 D H A 



January 1808 80° noon. 



1808 87 



1809 80 at daylight. 



90 at night. 



1811 82 noon, cloudy. 



1812 „ 82^ 



1813 84 



Dhalac. 



Mr Bruce informs us, that there are 370 tanks or cis- 

 terns in the island, hewn out of the solid rock, and ca- 

 pable of supplying with water any British fleet which 

 could be sent into the Red Sea. He supposes that they 

 were erected by the munificence of the Ptolemies, al- 

 though they are ascribed, by tradition, to the Persians. 

 Lord Valentia has contradicted this statement in the 

 most unqualified terms : " The three hundred and se- 

 venty cisterns," says he, " all hewn out of the solid 

 rock, have, after the most minute investigation, been 

 reduced to less than twenty ; and of these not one is to 

 be found at Dobelew, where Mr Bruce asserts as an 

 eye-witness, that they are neglected, and open to every 

 sort of animal, and half full of the filth that they leave 

 there, after drinking and washing in them. 



This island contains about twelve villages or towns, 

 the principal of which are, Dhalac-el-Kibeer, Dobelew, 

 Gerbeschid, Saied-el-Ait, &c. Dhalac-el-Kibeer was 

 once the principal port in the island, and it still ex- 

 hibits many marks of its former importance. The town 

 is about half a mile from the sea, and is separated from 

 it by a sloping beach of sand. The harbour is almost 

 surrounded by a chain of nine islands, at the distance 

 of about two miles. On the northern side of it are the 

 ruins of two small stone mosques, with round cupolas 

 at top. A great number of monumental stones are pla- 

 ced erect on the ground around the mosque, and at the 

 head of the tombs to which they belong. Some of them 

 are well carved, and beautifully decorated with flowers, 

 &c. The characters being sometimes in the Cufic, and 

 sometimes in the Arabic, Mr Salt copied several of 

 the inscriptions, which are given in the second volume 

 of Lord Valentia's Travels. One of those stones, which 

 was held in the highest veneration, belonged to the 

 shiek who built the tanks. It is opposite to the princi- 

 pal mosque, and is kept by the natives constantly moist 

 with oil. 



About twelve of the tanks at Dhalac-el-Kibeer were 

 nearly of the same construction. One of them was 

 square and uncovered, and the largest would hold about 

 150 tons. They were excavated from the solid rock, 

 and were chunamed, but not lined with stone. In an- 

 other tank the roof was supported by five pillars. Its 

 longest diameter was 24 feet, its shortest 22, and the 

 pillars were six feet in circuit, and the interval between 

 each was six feet ; but some of the pillars were two 

 feet, and others four feet distant from the wall. They 

 had no distinct capital, but were thickest at the top. 

 This tank was thirteen feet deep, and the whole was co- 

 vered with chunam. 



The village of Dobelew is fully as large as Dhalac- 

 el-Kibeer. It has a white tower at the east and west 

 ends, and two of a smaller size on the north. Bruce 

 says, that it consists of 80 houses, covered with bent 

 grass, built of calcinable stone, brought from the sea. 

 The harbour, which is three miles north-east of the 

 town, is represented by Bruce as having a circular 

 form and a narrow entrance, but full of rocks, consist- 

 ing of ramifications of white coral, intermixed with 

 large black stones. Lord Valentia, on the contraiy, 



