The Kamaran Islands are a discontinuous archipelago more than 161 kilometers long that consists of many rocky islets and a few equally rocky large islands located inside the southern entrance to the Red Sea (Figure 1). The rocks are of sedimentary origin distorted by later metamorphic processes and overlain by much volcanic material. Temperatures of more than 38?C prevail year-round, and rainfall is limited to a few showers during the summer monsoon that also brings moisture to the nearby highlands of Yemen. Water and vegetation are scarce on the islands. The few visitors, mainly from the Arabian peninsula, tend to bring their own supplies. These visitors are fisherfolk who work the adjacent waters, which are rich in fish attracted by the food that drifts in from the Indian Ocean, as well as nomadic graziers from Saudi Arabia. The absence of a permanent population is attested by the paucity of stone houses, most of which are in ruins. Agricultural development is unlikely, although on the opposite side of the Red Sea, in Eritrea, which has similar geographical characteristics, the high heat is the basis of solar power to obtain sweet water by an electric-distilling process and to grow cotton. However, to be economical the distillation process requires brackish water that is not available on the Kamarans. Although the archipelago is located on a major trade route from Egypt to India with many good anchorages, few ships stop. In the past, pirates operating in the Indian Ocean used the anchorages. In the sixteenth century, Portuguese in pursuit of the pirates occupied Socrota Island, outside the entrance to the Red Sea. The Dutch, French, and British followed later in those pursuits from more distant bases: For example, the French used Mauritius. In the same century the Ottoman Turks conquered nearby Yemen, where they learned the art of coffee making, which they diffused to Europe during their later conquests. There is no evidence that the Turks administered the Kamaran Islands, although they planned at various times to trade in the Indian Ocean region. For that reason the islands, like Yemen, which the Turks abandoned in the eighteenth century, remained under local control. Nevertheless, they were shown on maps as being part of the Ottoman Empire into the twentieth century. That political situation began to change when Great Britain acquired what is now the city of Aden by purchasing two villages and adjacent peninsulas from the sultan of Lajeh in 1839. He was one of the local rulers who assumed power when the Turks withdrew from southern Arabia. To counteract that acquisition the French government induced Egypt to occupy the port of Mecca in 1840, although it was still claimed as part of Ottoman territory. Yemen and the Kamarans were not affected
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Apr 1, 1998
David Membery 
