SYLT (probably from the Old Frisian Silendi, i.e., “sea-land ”) is the largest German island in the North Sea, being 40 square miles in area and nearly 23 miles long. It is, however, very narrow, generally about half a mile in width, except in the middle, where it sends out a peninsula 7 miles across. It belongs to the province of Schleswig-Holstein, and lies from 7 to 12 miles from the Schleswig coast. Its long and slender outline is highly suggestive of its former position as part of a continuous line of coast, now in great part swept away. The invasion of the sea has made considerable progress even within a comparatively recent period, and several hamlets were swallowed up in the 13th and 14th centuries. The process of gradual waste is still going on, though it is now obviated to some extent by the exertions of the Prussian Government, and counterbalanced by deposits of mud on the landward side. The central peninsula contains some “marshland” and moorland pasture, on which a few thousand sheep are grazed, but the rest of the island consists merely of dunes or sand-hills, which at places attain a height of from 100 to 150 feet. The inhabitants, about 3000 in number, are of Frisian origin, though a few in the extreme north of the island speak Danish. Their occupations are fishing, oyster-dredging, seamanship, and wild-duck catching; the women make large quantities of woollen jackets. The chief places are Keitum (850 inhabitants), Westerland, which is annually visited by about 1500 sea-bathers, and Morsum. Some very interesting pagan tombs have been found on the island.