'The Transactions of the Bombay Geographical Society. From January 1863 to December 1864. (Edited by the Secretary.) Volume XVII.' [‎243] (418/524)

the ISLAND OF KISHM5 kc.
243
asonr y I suppose Is
■ Luft is fand
heikh for akt l|
inhabitants, wiio n
ch they collect on I
ts round the Gullit:
'larence Straits foil:
jig-water is principil
se tanks all along I
mg or circular lal
slopes' At Luft f®
through the saute
of 9 lbs. when delivered on the sea-shore. The sheikh told me that he
re-lets the diggings in numerous sections, and that his own profit
amounts to about one bran on the Delhi mun of 28 lbs. of sulphur.
Khumeer itself consists of a township and fort, very similar in dimen
sions to that of Luft; indeed, all the townships along this coast line may
be described as a cluster of flat, oblong stone boxes round a tumble-
down stone fort, and with an outskirting of temporary date-leaf huts.
Several craft w r ere lying on the beach of various sizes. Along this shore,
as indeed, along all the shores of the Straits, are a series of slight fishino-
stakes, fixed at low-water mark, and formed of strips of the date leaves
neatly tied together. Fish, with dates, and a little coarse barley bread,
constitute the main food of the people. The fish most common and most
relished is a large sort of mullet; soles and phamplet are caught, but do
not seem to be much appreciated.
11 . Leaving Khumeer the Straits widened to a breadth of about
four miles, and on the Persian shore line a salt formation, apparently
a continuation of that on the Island of Kishm, crops out immediately
on the water line to a height of about 600 feet, and turns eastward,
following the line of the Straits for about six or seven miles in a series of
low hillocks of from 1 to 200 feet.
12 . From the Straits I passed to the Island of Hormuz, visiting
the ruins of the old Portuguese settlement. The fort, of solid masonry
construction, is still standing, but is quite unrepaired. A few useless
guns, bearing date the early part of the eighteenth century, lie about
the bastions. Three sides of the fort are washed by the sea and the
side facing inward is strengthened by a wet ditch cut entirely through
the narrow neck of land on which the place is built. It seems that
during the occupation of the Portuguese a small inlet of the sea on the
eastern side of the fort had sufficient depth of water for vessels of con
siderable tonnage to lay immediately under the wharves. Ihis inlet is,
however, now filled up.*
* I find that along the Bunder Abbass shore line numerous creeks are silted
up. To the northward on the contrary, for instance on the Bushire peninsula, and
I believe also on the opposite Arabian coast, there are signs of the land being con
stantly caved away by the sea. Near the fort of Reshire the section of soil laid bar©
along the beach cliffs shows the debris of pottery for a considerable distance, and to
a depth of 5, 6, or 7 feet. Some wells caved in still hang their sandstone apertures
over the cliffs, and absolutely overhang the sea at high water.
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