Page 505 - Travels in Arabia (Vol 2)_Neat

m
466 APPENDIX.
Cape Bab el Mandub* forms the
terminating ex­
tremity of Southern Arabia; it is a lofty ridge of a
triangular form, and at a distance appears like an
island. The isthmus which connects it with the main
is indeed very low, and the Arabs preserve a tradition
that their barks formerly sailed over the space it now
occupies. The port of Ocelis has been looked for on
the western side of this Cape; a small harbour remains,
but we discovered no ruins, or other traces of anti-
quity. The Johasmf pirates f formerly had stations
in its vicinity, the ruins of which still remain. A line
drawn from the Cape to the Abyssinian shores mea­
sures twenty-one miles, which is the least distance
between the two continents; but this space is occupied
with several islands.
The largest, Perim or Mayun, as it is called by the
Arabs, is distant about two miles from the Arabian
shore; the channel between them forming the lesser
strait: it rises gradually from either extremity to the
centre, where its elevation is about one hundred and
fifty feet. The basis of the island is secondary lime­
stone, but the whole surface is covered with masses of
volcanic rock, and is withal so parched as not to afford,
with the exception of Abysynthium and some scat­
tered tufts of Salacorina, even the usual desert shrubs.
* This hill is called Jebel Fermise by the Indians. They have a
tradition, that at one period it sent forth flames, which, judging fr‘)m
conical and volcanic appearance, is extremely probable.
f I here take the opportunity of observing, that an historical accoun^
of this interesting, but ferocious and sanguinary race, is on the eve ^
publication by Captain Brucks, of the Indian Navy. Being
the circumstance, whilst preparing these volumes for the press, ^
to swell them unnecessarily by more than a brief notice, fdrea J
nished to my readers.
appendix. 467
safe and ca-
No water is found, but it possesses a
pacious harbour; and a body of our troops, in 1801,
were unfortunate enough to be stationed on it for
some time.
Nearer the Abyssinian shore, and cropping out of
the bank of soundings which connects the two conti­
nents, there is a group of islets, called by the English
“ Brothers,” and by the Arabs, “ Jezirat Subah,” Seven
Islets, equally sterile with Perim. Their only tenants
are a few sea-fowl, and occasionally a turtle, which the m
Arabs do not eat, but kill for the sake of its shell. In
their conical appearance, the basis of the rocks of
which they are composed, the whole group varies but
little: thin layers of limestone rear themselves,
wrapped in curious folds, and containing fragments
of quartz and felspar, together with larger masses,
having fossil shells, coral, and other marine products
embedded within them. A level circular belt of the
same material, but considerably indurated by the action
of the water, surrounds them; the outer portion is
somewhat more elevated than that within, and is on a
level with the surface of the water; beyond this it sinks
perpendicularly to seven or eight feet. These islands
have, without doubt, at some remote period, been up-
heaved from the bottom of the sea, but the coral and
other marine exuvia are the same at every series of the :
strata. How
were these supplied? By a submarine
volcano ?—if so,
we must suppose the interval of time
between each
successive eruption was sufficient to
have
enabled those insects to recommence their
labours in the vicinity of its crater. The interference
of volcanic
agency with the uprearing of coral banks
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