Jan. 23, I860.] BUIST ON THE CURIA MURIA ISLANDS. 51 



H.M.S. Cyclops^ lias given us a set of deep-sea soundings made for 

 telegraph purposes of the greatest interest ; and what is now re- 

 quired is an examination of the group, not only with the view of 

 describing their physical characteristics, but more especially with 

 the object of setting at rest the question as to their guano-producing 

 capabilities. 



Arrian * is the first author by whom the Curia Murias are men- 

 tioned under the designation of the islands of Leuobins. Idrisi 

 speaks of them under the name of Khartan Martan. A Venetian 

 officer, who accompanied the expedition of Soliman Pasha against 

 the Portuguese of Diu in 1540, visited them, with the ships, in 

 quest of water. He merely speaks of them as barren, and thinly 

 inhabited. From this period to the date of the survey in 1834-35 

 they are scarcely noticed anywhere. 



The group, situated between the 56th and 57th meridians, and 17th 

 and 18th parallels, consists of five islands, stretching over an ellip- 

 tical patch of sea 8 miles by 20, whose larger axis is from east to 

 west, approaching within 20 miles of the Arabian coast — 1. Hela- 

 niyah ; 2. Kodondo ; 3. Sodah ; 4. Jebeliyah ; 5. Hasiki ; the most 

 remote being less than 35 miles. They are situated in a large 

 bay from Eas Nas to Eas Sheshedat, some 70 miles across, and from 

 Helaniyah, which is just on the chord, 35 miles in depth. 



1st. Helaniyah is 7f miles in length, 4-^ in breadth, and nearly 

 20 nautical miles in circumference. On the north-eastern side 

 of the islands is a large bay called Ghulbat or Eohib ; measured 

 from the great bluff where it begins, it is 3| miles in a straight 

 line across, and li mile deep, its area being about 18 square miles. 

 The island is remarkable for its perfect sterility and the rug- 

 gedness and irregularity of its outline. The centre of the island 

 rises into a group of sharp peaks or spires, one of which attains the 

 elevation of 1510 feet; from these spurs and ridges run out in all 

 directions, lesser hills filling up the intervals. The steep precipit- 

 ous points of the island along shore and through the interior are 

 covered with coarse gravel and sand. On the eastern extremity of 

 the island the contour of the hills suddenly alters to a bold and 

 precipitous headland of 1645 feet in altitude, pushing out into 

 the sea; its position, as given by Captain Haines, is 17° 32' 43" n., 

 56° 7' 17" E., and consisting of tertiary limestone, the rest of the 

 island being granite, hornblende, rock, or poi-phyry. 



* See Paper by Dr. Hulton, surgeon in 1835 on board the survey ship, Reports of 

 Geographical Society, Bombay, 1836, p. 183; also Captain Haines' Survey Keport, 

 Transactions of the Royal Geographical Society of London, vol. xv., 1845, p. 131 ; 

 and Bombay Geographical Transactions, 1854, vol. xi. 



