KISIIM ISLAND, called Jazirah-ut-Tul by the Arabs, and Jazirah-i-Daraz by the Persians, both meaning Long Island, is the Oaracta. or Verokhtha of the ancients, where Arrian states that Nearchus saw the tomb of king Erythras, after whom the Persian Gulf was named the Erythrfean Sea. In the 13th century it was called Jazirah-i-Laset, and one of its towns is still called Laset. The whole island and a large portion of the opposite coast, in both of which are mines of sulphur, was farmed by the Imam of Muscat. Kishm town is in lat. 26° 57' 30" N., and long. 56° 19' E., at the N.H. end of the island. Kishm Island is the largest by far in the Persian Gulf, being about 54 miles long, but narrow, averaging 8 miles, and greatest breadth 20 miles. Its eastern extremity is within 10 miles of Hormuz, nearly opposite Gam broon ; it runs parallel with the Persian shore, and is in no place more than 12 miles in breadth, and is surrounded with coral reefs. Nearchus says its length is upwards of 800 stadia, which, at 11114 to a degree, would give 43 geographical miles.
MacGregor says, on the authority of Colonel Pelly, that salt is quarried in the island, and that there are caves from which it has been It produces dates, wheat, vegetables, mangoes, and other fruits, including grapes without stones; and the usual abundance of water-melons. Bas
sadore is on a barren spot at the western extremity. The people are chiefly Arabs, subject to the Imam of Muscat, and their number may amount to 16,000.
At one time it had 100 villages, only a few of which remain,—Kishm, Luft, Basidu, and Brukh or Urukth, the Oaracta of Neaichus and Arrian.
At the N.E. point there was at one time a flourishing Portuguese settlement ; the ruins of the town still exist. In 1821 a British force was stationed at this place. On its withdrawal in 1823, the headquarters of the—Indian Naval Squadron were established here, the place being the healthiest in the island. Its silk weavers supply the Gulf with loongees and striped cloths of silks and cotton.—Ouseley's Tr. i. p. 162 ; Ches ney's Ex.; Kinneir's Memoir; Lieut. Kempthorna in Royal Geo. Soc. Tourn. v.; MacGregor.