Tarawa (CV 40) - Naval Cruise Book

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U-I0 ,lanuary 19492 The T.-XR.-XXV.-Ys visit to Bahrein was high-lighted by Mail Call. Shortly after the TARAVVA anchored off the island, boats were dispatched to the island, and upon their return, brought with them over 4,000 pounds of mail and packages-the hrst to be received on board for thirty consecutive days. The island of Bahrein is one of a group of eight islands lying on the south side of the Persian Gulf, and which are known as the Aval Islands. Bahrein, the principal island of the group, is 27 miles long and I0 miles wide. It is generally very flat and low, a mere shoal hardly 20 feet above sea level. The soil is not fertile, except in places which have been irrigated. This is accomplished with water from the island's numerous springs. These springs are also used for bathing, and the most well-known of these bathing places is the Pool of the Virgin. Small in width and length, the pool is very deep. and standing on the high diving platforms one can see the turbulence set up in the water by the bubbling force of the springs. A concrete-lined ditch leads from the pool. and runs along the side of the road for miles. .Xt intervals of perhaps 75 yards are situated houses of palm fronds which have been built over the ditch to accommodate the women bathers. who bathe fully clothed. In most places visited thus lar, we have found that most of the people have suttumbed to the ways of fhe Westerner. This is only mildly so of the liahrein- Ians. Most of them live in stritt tonlormanee to their Mohammedan religion, their only concessions being their fondness for long, shiny llritisli and .Xmerican 3Ul0mobileSQ and the fact that a great many of them have learned to speak linglish with some fluency. lhis C311 be attributed to the influence exercisetl by the lhflusands of American and British oil workers, who have come to this island to drill for, refine, and market the oil for which the area is so famous. The day after our arrival at Bahrein, an invitation was extended to the Shaikh of Bahrein to visit the TARAWA. The invitation was accepted and late in the afternoon, the Shaikh and his attendants came aboard to visit, staying until late in the evening. His Highness, the Shaikh, returned the honor by inviting officers of the TARAWA to a banquet at his winter palace. The capital and commercial center of the island is Manama, a city of about 25,000 population. Here, in the city's bazaars, one could purchase most any article desired, including fine, hand-woven Persian rugs. On the island can be seen remnants of long-decayed civilizations. There are old temples and forts-now nothing but crumbling ruins-which date back cen- turies to the time when the Portuguese controlled the island. The world's largest graveyard is reported to be situated on the island, and in some areas, large burial mounds stretch across the horizon as far as the eye can see. It was believed that the island was holy ground and the people brought their dead from the mainland, Persia, and other places, to rest in peace. Next to oil, the island's most important industry is pearl fishing. There are over 1,000 boats, each manned by from eight to sixty men, engaged in the operations off-shore. Bahrein is known far and wide for the ex- cellence of its pearls, but just how ancient is the ex- ploitation of the pearl oyster cannot be said. However, it dates hack at least to the time of Alexander the Great M23 to 356 B.C.j. Over three hundred years later Pliny declared that in this day Bahrein was famous for the vast number of pearls.