30 
GREAT AND LITTLE TOMB. 
and build their houses of the rudest materials, frequently of the 
bones of the large fish that are thrown on the shore. 
We carried on our time-pieces from Ashtola as a meridian ascer¬ 
tained from our own observations ; but as we passed between the Great 
Quoin and Cape Mobarek, the weather was so thick, that we could 
make no observations of their latitude and longitude. On the 19th, a 
delightful breeze springing up from the southward, we sailed by Cape 
Musseldom and the Quoins, and in the evening saw the long island of 
Kishmis, with Larack and Ormus backed by the very high mountains 
of Lar; the whole of which combined, formed a splendid scene as it 
was illumined by the setting sun. 
On the 20th February we were close to the two islands called the 
Great and Little Tomb, which bear Persian names of the same significa¬ 
tion, i. e. Gumbuz. We also saw Cape Certes, on the Persian side, an arid 
piece of land, projecting from a still more arid coast. Nothing can 
be more repelling than the appearance of all the mountains that bound 
the eastern shore of the Persian Gulf. We had not seen a speck of 
verdure on the coast; and the only spots on which we could discover 
any signs of vegetation, were the Great and Little Tomb, where we 
saw some grass.-f- 
* See Appendix B. 
f On the 20th of February, by our bearings and meridional observations we made the 
latitude of the Little Tom.b 26° la' N. and by the longitude observed, corrected by our 
cross-bearings, we found tliat island to be situated in the meridian of 55° 7 ' East. The 
