"دليل بلاد فارس، المجلد I ويشمل محافظات أستراباد، شاهرود-بوستان، خراسان، وسيستان" [و‎‎٣‎٠] (٧٢٢/٦٤)

file Asliur or Aslnr islands, being formed of alluvial sand, are covered
with this sand and with shells. The two eastern islands of Middling and
Little Ashur are much lower, almost entirely covered with reeds, quite un
inhabited, and, when the north wind blows, are submerged by the water.
The Great Ashur has an elevation of from 3 to 4 feet above the ordinary
sea level, except the western side, which is in places from 6 to 7 feet high ;
whilst its eastern end is quite low and almost covered with reeds. When
the west wind raises the level of the water in Astarabad Bay, the island is
more or less submerged, according to the strength of the wind. The entire
length of the island, together with the sandspit, is about 1 mile, and the
width ^ mile.
The Russian naval station, which was formerly on the island of Sari, was
transferred to Ashurada about 1827. A number of sailing and steam
ships-of-war are always stationed here detached from the Baku squadron.
The place of anchorage is on the south-east side of the island, at 450 yards
from the shore, having a depth of about 17 feet of water; the bottom being
a grey mud. On the island a wooden church has been built, and some houses
in which the officials of the station reside; also a post office, magazine,
club, library; as well as houses for the families of the officers and men serv
ing on the station.
On account of the deficiency of timber, most of the buildings on the
island of Ashurada are constructed of reeds and of plastered mud. Gardens
have been laid out in the western end of the island near the church ; and
trees have been planted around almost every house, affording a pleasant
shade ; and these means have so much enlivened this desert spot, that the
whole of the western inhabited part, to the extent of about f of a mile,
presents a thick mass of green ; making a striking contrast with the neigh
bouring locality, which is devoid of all vegetation.
The island of Ashurada is conspicuous from every direction on account
of its buildings and the shipping in its roadstead. The most striking of
its buildings are the church, the house of the commandant of the station,
a two-storied building, and the wooden store-house of the Trans-Caspian
Company. In many parts of the inhabited portion of the island wells
have been sunk, which give good sweet water. The latitute of the island,
at the sun dial near the commandants house, is 36° 54' 3'5" and the longi
tude 53° 26' 15'b its distance from Baku is 280 miles.
Although the climate of the island of Ashurada and of the bay of Astara
bad is considered feverish, yet sickness is less prevalent here than in many
other places on the southern and western shores of the Caspian ; e.g., at
Anzeli, the island of Sari, and the mouth of the Kiori, where fever is of a fatal
kind. The sailors living on boardship are in more favourable conditions of
health than the residents on the island, and therefore suffer less from
fevers.
The bay of Astarabad, which extends on a parallel from the Eastern Turk
man shore, has a length of about 42 miles, and its greatest width in the east
ern portion is about 8 miles; it gradually narrows to the west, and near the
end becomes quite narrow and shallow.
The eastern bank of the bay is low, marshy, and almost entirely covered
with reeds. The southern shore is also low, but in many places is clothed
by a thick growth of forest or underwood. This vegetation decreases near
the Kara-Su, and from this point the eastern portion of the bay commences,
on which hardly any forest is met with, but in its place a scanty under-