'GAZETTEER OF PERSIA. VOL. III. PART I: A to K' [‎250v] (505/1278)

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DAL—DAL
The sheet of oil is probably at a very great depth, and Mr. Winklehmer
was of opinion that mining operations here would not be a success.—
(Winklehmer, 1891.)
In the plain south of Dalaki is a bitumen pit, the substance of which is
collected by the natives chiefly as an ingredient for a prescription which
they apply to the sore backs of their camels, but also for the smearing of
boat and roof timers. The bitumen at Daliki, being more protected
by the covering strata and less exposed to atmospheric influences, is softer
and purer than that at Narasgmn.—(JTwAMwer, 1891.) Some mills are
erected near the banks of one of the streams. The marsh is covered by a
dense jungle of reeds, which swurms with wild boar. The village is a
wretched one, consisting only of a few mud huts, surrounded by the
extensive date- plantations for which it is famous, and which, contrasting
with the hills of various and strange hues in the background, give it quite
a picturesque appearance. It stands at the foot of a range of salthills,
which, rugged and sterile, rise to a considerable height behind it. These
salthills are remarkable in shape and colour, as is always thk case with salt-
hills in Persia. They are angular and abrupt, curiously stratified, and
coloured red or brown, green, light blue, grey, and white. They are said
to abound with wild goat and ibex. A small fort that once existed here
is now in ruins, having been destroyed some time ago by the people of
Borazjun. There is a clean mosque of white stucco, and a small bath
at the extremity of the village. The Budhilleh river is 1 mile distant.
Dalaki is considered one of the hottest places in the country, and a
missionary, the Revd. H. Martyn, wdio visited it in^ 1810, when the
thermometer stood at 126°, described the place as “ one of Nature’s
ulcers. ”
Mr. T. F. Odling, M.R.C.S., in a medical report on the part of Persia
adjacent to the telegraph line, writes thus of the country between Dalaki
and Bushire as regards its sanitary conditions :—
“ The district is now'here many feet above the sea, and for 4 farsakh
reaching to Chaghadak high spring-tides sometimes overflow the plain.
Dates, cereals, melons, etc., are extensively cultivated ; the country around
Borazjun is very fertile. From Bushire to Chaghadak no w-ater is pro
curable ; beyond this it can be found every 1 or 2 farsakhs, though general!}
slightly brackish ; 1 farsakh before reaching Dalaki are numerous naphtha
springs which impregnate the water. The drinking supply at Borazjun
is from wmlls and is fairly good to the taste, but here, as w^ell as along the
road, it is apt to cause diarrhoea or colic to travellers. Excellent water
can be procured from the hills a few miles to the east of Borazjun, and also
from a spring 1 mile east of Dalaki. The climate is very hot, damp, an
sultry during the greater part of the year ; at times hot winds are prevalen •
From April to September, inclusive, no travelling can be done during t e
heat of the day, and during June, July, and August only at nl gjjjh Jvf*
Bushire and, to a less extent, as far as Borazjun, from about 20 th l ]
to the end of June, during the shimdl, sea breezes are felt towards evening,
and these make the climate somewhat more endurable.
“ Dalaki is,one of the hottest places in Persia, and when the wind is rom
the direction of the naphtha and sulphur wells the air is most obnoxious.