'GAZETTEER OF PERSIA. VOLUME IV.' [‎74v] (153/652)

CLA—CLA
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CLARENCE STRAIT—
This is the English and only general name of the passage between Qishm
island and the coast of the mainland ; it is navigable for vessels, but a pilot
is indispensable as it is very intricate besides being incompletely surveyed.
The strait may be divided into three reaches. The first is from the east
ern entrance between Qishm town and Bandar Abbas to Laft point which
is exactly midway between Qishm town and Basidu ; it is 36 miles in length
and it contracts from a width of 15 miles at the entrance to only
1 mile in the neighbourhood of Laft. The navigable channel, at its western
end, called apparently Khur Masakeh, hugs the Qishm coast, and is for the
greater part of the way very much narrower than the strait.
The second reach begins at Laft point and continues to a little beyond
the village of Guran, a distance, in a direct line, of 17 miles ; its direction is
more southerly than that of the other two reaches. In this part the strait
consists of two branches which separate at Laft point and reunite slightly
below Guran; the western is Khur Masakeh, the eastern Khur Guran
or Saiyid Ahmad. Khur Masakeh has a minimum depth in the fairway
of 5 fathoms and does not narrow much below | mile, but the banks, which
are steep, are submerged and have nothing to mark their position, and
this branch is consequently seldom used by pilots. Khur Guran is in
places only b mile wide, and its course is winding, but the banks are well-
defined for most of the way by mangroves, and the minimum depth, like that
. (f Khur Masakeh, is not less than 5 fathoms. The two Khurs are separated
by a mangrove swamp intersected by creeks. Khur Masakeh gives access
to the town of Khamir near its right bank and Khur Guran to Laft village
on Qishm island. The length of both Khurs is over 20 miles, that of Khur
Guran being the greater by a few mile:.
The third and last reach of the strait, called Khur Ja’afari, reaches from
the junction of Khur Masakeh and Guran to Basidu and is 19 miles in length.
As Basidu is approached there is a mud flat extending along the shore of
Qishm island, and also a shoal in mid-channel by the northern side of which
ships pass. There is an anchorage off Laft point which is thoroughly well
protected from all winds and would form a good harbour for the largest
shij s the bottom is fine sand and shell, and appears to be good holding
ground. The tidal stream here runs about 2 knots an hour at the springs.
The land at Laft point slopes upwards to a height of 60 feet; on the main
land opposite, the ground is low and quite flat for a distance inland of about
3 miles.