in a Voyage from Bombay to Bushire. 411 



RISHME ISLAND. 



Of this island^ which is from 80 to 90 miles in lengthy I saw only the north- 

 eastern extremity. In this part are cliffs of limestone from 60 to 200 feet high, 

 capped with coralline sandstone, which is sonorous, and yielding with difficulty 

 to the stroke of the hammer. The sand thus agglutinated forms layers, ridges, 

 and blocks. Beneath it are beds of white, gray, and yellow marl, divided into 

 pillars or worn into caverns ; and a few feet beneath, a calcareous bed resem- 

 bling the kunkur or mortar of India, and containing in some parts nume- 

 rous shells of oyster, clam, &c., and a prodigious quantity of coral. 



No part of the island is lofty ; the highest hills, which are in the interior, 

 are said to be composed of the same strata as occur on the coast, and covered 

 with brown sand like that of Muscat. The gravel and sand agglutinate 

 readily on the application of moisture ; a property which the builders turn to 

 advantage. The sand near the shore is whiter, being made up of the detri- 

 tus of shells and corals. 



GOMBEROON. 



This old settlement is situate on a plain. The stones which lay about 

 were of limestone like that of Ormus, whence they had probably been im- 

 ported. In the buildings are great quantities of corals and fossil shells. I 

 did not visit the hills inland. 



ORMUZ ISLAND 



Presents an assemblage of peak sand ridges. This island is nearly 30 miles 

 in circumference ; but the only part which is level or habitable, is a promon- 

 tory at the northern extremity, which is about 2 miles in length, about S 

 miles across at its broadest part, and terminated by a sandy spit, upon which 

 the Portuguese erected a fort. The rock most prevalent is of a dark brown 

 or reddish colour, produced by iron ; specular iron ore and ochre abound. 

 Peaks of gypsum occur in some parts of the island, white as snow ; the heat 

 of the climate is intolerable : not a tree or plant of any description grows 

 here, nor is there any spring or well of fresh water. Several springs and 

 small lakes afford a strong brine, and deposit salt on their margins ; but no 

 rock of salt has been discovered. Below the hills are pieces of conglomerate, 

 probably derived from the higher grounds, in which quartz and felspar are 

 imbedded in a base of light-gray hornstone. There are also found in the 

 state of pebbles greenish chert, plasma, dark-coloured slate clay, brownish or 

 reddish flint, with particles of micaceous iron ore, a dark cellular stone with 

 fragments ofshells, and chert or quartz coated with a saline efflorescence. 



