'The Expedition for the survey of the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, carried on by order of the British government, in the years 1835, 1836, and 1837; preceded by geographical and historical notices of the regions situated between the rivers Nile and Indus. In four volumes. With fourteen maps and charts, and embellished with ninety-seven plates, besides numerous wood-cuts. Volume the first.' [‎639] (738/905)

CHAP. XXIV.] THE KURIA MURIA ISLES. 639
of the island rising to 1510 feet. 1 The vegetation chiefly Heiianiyah.
consists of a few tamarisks and some salt-water shrubs, and
the inhabitants, who do not exceed 23 souls, obtain a scanty
subsistence by fishing with the hook and basket, from ledges
of rock on the lee-side of the island ; 2 a few loose stones in the
form of a circular wall, with a roof of sea-weed resting on fish
bones, form their ordinary dwellings.
Of the four other islands which are uninhabited. Soda, the Soda,
most considerable in size and elevation, is a shapeless mass of
bare rock, chiefly granite, rising abruptly from the sea, about
six miles to the westward. On it are the remains of a village
and a few tamarisk bushes, but no inhabitants.
Jebeliyah, the third, is the easternmost; it consists of two JebeUyah.
or three bare rocks, rising to the height of 560 feet, and many
small patches of ground, scarcely emerging from the sea ; this
is the favourite resort of the gannet, 3 and other sea-birds, but
no fresh water is to be found. 4
Karzawet, the fourth, the Redondo of Europeans, is of red- Karzawet.
dish-coloured granite, which rises in two cones; the greater
being 210 feet high. 5
Hasiki, the last and most western of the group, is about Hasiki.
13 miles from Soda and 20 from the Arabian coast It con
sists of a long ridge of hills running north, with two peaks,
rising to the height of 400 feet. It is chiefly of reddish granite,
without fresh water, and, like Jebeliyah, covered with gannets
and divers. 6
The Arabs call these islands Jezair Ben Khalfan, from a
family of the great Mahri tribe who seized them. 7 According
to local tradition the descendants of the rebellious tribe of
A'd here maintained their ancient faith long after the rest of
the peninsula had embraced the doctrines of Muhammed; but
at length a pestilence swept all away except a young woman,
who, being rescued by a passing Arab, became the mother of
the present race. 8
1 Dr. Hulton's account of the Kuria Muria Islands, vol. IX., p. 157, of the
Royal Geographical Journal. 2 Ibid., pp. 157,160.
3 Pelicanus bassaims, or Solan goose.
4 Royal Geographical Journal, vol. XL, p. 159. 5 Ibid., p. 158.
6 Ibid., p. 160. 7 Ibid., pp. 163, 164. 8 Ibid., p. 164.