Scarba

   SCARBA, an island, in the parish of Jura and Colonsay, district of Islay, county of Argyll. This island, which is separated from the northern extremity of the isle of Jura by the gulph of Coryvreckan, is about three miles in length and nearly of equal breadth, comprising an area of eight square miles. The surface is mountainous and rocky, and, towards the west, rises from the Atlantic in abrupt and rugged precipices many hundred feet in height; the east side is indented by a beautiful semicircular bay, from which the shore ascends in rapid acclivities, interspersed with rocks, and crowned with considerable tracts of birch and alder, presenting a strikingly romantic appearance. The gulph of Coryvreckan, which is about a mile and three-quarters in breadth, has in stormy weather a terrific aspect; exposed to all the fury of the Atlantic on the west, it forms a dangerous whirlpool fatal to small vessels at all times, and frequently to vessels of large burthen.