ABBE (Serbo-Croatian Rai))  , an island in the Adriatic Sea, forming the northernmost point of Dalmatia, Austria . Pop . (1900) 4441 . Arbe is 13 M. long; its greatest breadth is 5 M . The capital, which bears the same name, is a walled town, remarkable, even among the Dalmatian cities, for its beauty . It occupies a steep ridge jutting out from the west coast . At the seaward end of this promontory is the 13th-century cathedral; behind which the belfries of four churches, at least as ancient, rise in a row along the crest of the ridge; while behind these, again, are the castle and a background of desolate hills . Many of the houses are roofless and untenanted; for, after five centuries of prosperity under Venetian or Hungarian rule, an outbreak of plague in 1456 swept away the majority of the townsfolk, and ruined the survivors . Some of the old palaces are, nevertheless, of considerable interest; one especially as the birthplace of the celebrated philosopher, Marc Antonio de Dominis . Fishing and agriculture constitute the chief re-sources of the islanders, whose ancient silk industry is still maintained . In ro18 the yearly tribute due to Venice was fixed at ten pounds of silk or five pounds of gold .