Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile/Volume 1/Book 1/Chapter 10
CHAP. X.
Sail from Tor — Pass the Elanitic Gulf — See Raddua — Arrive at Yambo — Incidents there — Arrive at Jidda.
OUR Rais, having dispatched his business, was eager to depart; and, accordingly, on the 11th of April, at daybreak, we stood out of the harbour of Tor. At first, we were becalmed in, at the point of the Bay south of Tor town, but the wind freshening about eight o'clock, we stood through the channels of the first four shoals, and then between a smaller one. We made the mouth of a small Bay, formed by Cape Mahomet, and a low sandy point to the eastward of it. Our vessel seemed to be a capital one for sailing, and I did every thing in my power to keep our Rais in good humour.
About half a mile from the sandy point, we struck upon a coral bank, which, though it was not of any great consistence or solidity, did not fail to make our mast nod. As I was looking out forward when the vessel touched, and the Rais by me, I cried out in Arabic, "Get out of the way you dog!" the Rais, thinking my discourse directed to him, seemed very much surprised, and asked, "what I meant?" "Why did you not tell me, said I, when I hired you, that all the rocks in the sea would get out of the way of your vessel? This ill-mannered fellow here did not know his duty; he was sleeping I suppose, and has given us a hearty jolt, and I was abusing him for it, till you should chastise him some other way." He shook his head, and said, "Well! you do not believe, but God knows the truth; well now where is the rock? Why he is gone." However, very prudently, he anchored soon afterwards, though we had received no damage.
At night, by an observation of two stars in the meridian, I concluded the latitude of Cape Mahomet to be 27° 54', N. It must be understood of the mountain, or high land, which forms the Cape, not the low point. The ridge of rocks that run along behind Tor, bound that low sandy country, called the Desert of Sin, to the eastward, and end in this Cape, which is the high land observed at sea; but the lower part, or southermost extreme of the Cape, runs about three leagues off from the high land, and is so low, that it cannot be seen from deck above three leagues. It was called, by the ancients, Pharan Promontorium; not because there was a light-house *[1] upon the end of it, (though this may have perhaps been the case, and a very necessary and proper situation it is) but from the Egyptian and Arabic word Farek †[2], which signifies to divide, as being the point, or high land that divides the Gulf of Suez from the Elanitic Gulf. I went ashore here to gather shells, and shot a small animal among the rocks, called Daman Israel, or Israel's Lamb; I do not know why, for it has no resemblance to the sheep kind. I take it to be the saphan of the Hebrew Scripture, which we translate by the coney. I have given a drawing, and description of it, in its proper place *[3]. I shot, likewise, several dozens of gooto, the least beautiful of the kind I had seen, being very small, and coloured like the back of a partridge, but very indifferent food.
The 12th, we sailed from Cape Mahomet, just as the sun appeared. We passed the island of Tyrone, in the mouth of the Elanitic Gulf, which divides it near equally into two; or, rather the north-west side is narrowest. The direction of the Gulf is nearly north and south. I judge it to be about six leagues over. Many of the Cairo ships are lost in mistaking the entry of the Elanitic for that of the Heroopolitic Gulf, or Gulf of Suez; for, from the island of Tyrone, which is not above two leagues from the Main, there runs a string of islands, which seem to make a semicircular bar across the entry from the point, where a ship, going with a south wind, would take its departure; and this range of islands ends in a shoal with sunken rocks, which reaches near five leagues from the Main. It is probable, that, upon these islands, the fleet of Rehoboam perished, when sailing for the expedition of Ophir †[4]. I take Tyrone to be the island of Saspirene of Ptolemy, though this geographer has erred a little, both in its latitude and longitude.
We passed the second of these islands, called Senaffer, about three leagues to the northward, steering with a fresh gale at south-east, upon a triangular island that has three pointed eminences upon its south-side. We passed another small island which has no name, about the same distance as the former; and ranged along three black rocks, the south-west of the island, called Susange el Bahar, or the Sea-Spunge. As our vessel made some water, and the wind had been very strong all the afternoon, the Rais wanted to bring up to the leeward of this island, or between this, and a cape of land called Ras Selah; but, not being able to find soundings here, he set sail again, doubled the point, and came to anchor under the south cape of a fine bay, which is a station of the Emir Hadje, called Kalaat el Moilah, the Castle, or Station of Water.
We had sailed this day about twenty-one leagues; and, as we had very fair and fine weather, and were under no sort of concern whatever, I could not neglect attending to the disposition of these islands, in a very splendid map lately published. They are carried too far into the Gulf.
The 13th, the Rais having, in the night, remedied what was faulty in his vessel, set sail about seven o'clock in the morning. We passed a conical hill on the land, called Abou Jubbé, where is the sepulchre of a saint of that name. The mountains here are at a considerable distance; and nothing can be more desolate and bare than the coast. In the afternoon, we came to an anchor at a place called Kella Clarega, after having passed an island called Jibbel Numan, about a league from the shore. By the side of this shoal we caught a quantity of good fish, and a great number also very beautiful, and perfectly unknown, but which, when roasted, shrank away to nothing except skin, and when boiled, dissolved into a kind of blueish glue.
On the 14th, the wind was variable till near ten o'clock, after which it became a little fair. At twelve it was as favourable as we could wish; it blew however but faintly. We passed first by one island surrounded by breakers, and then by three more, and anchored close to the shore, at a place called Jibbel Shekh, or the Mountain of the Saint. Here I resolved to take a walk on shore to stretch my limbs, and see if I could procure any game, to afford us some variety of food. I had my gun loaded with ball, when a vast flock of gooto got up before me, not five hundred yards from the shore. As they lighted very near me, I lay down among the bent grass, to draw the charge, and load with small shot. While I was doing this, I saw two antelopes, which, by their manner of walking and feeding, did not seem to be frightened. I returned mv balls into the gun, and resolved to be close among the bent, till they should appear before me.
I had been quiet for some minutes, when I heard behind me something like a person breathing, on which I turned about, and, not without great surprise, and some little fear, saw a man, standing just over me. I started up, while the man, who had a little stick only in his hand, ran two or three steps backwards, and then stood. He was almost per fectly naked: he had half a yard of coarse rag only wrapt round his middle, and a crooked knife stuck in it. I asked him who he was? He said he was an Arab, belonging to Shekh Abd el Macaber. I then desired to know where his master was? He replied, he was at the hill a little above, with camels that were going to Yambo. He then, in his turn, asked who I was? I told him I was an Abyssinian slave of the Sherriffe of Mecca, was going to Cairo bysea, but wished much to speak to his master, if he would go and bring him. The savage went away with great willingness, and he no sooner disappeared, than I set out as quickly as possible to the boat, and we got her hauled out beyond the shoals, where we passed the night. We saw afterwards distinctly about fifty men, and three or four camels; the men made several signs to us, but we were perfectly content with the distance that was between us, and sought no more to kill antelopes in the neighbourhood of Sidi Abd el Macaber.
I would not have it imagined, that my case was absolutely desperate, even if I had been known as a Christian, and fallen into the hands of these Arabs, of Arabia Deserta, or Arabia Petrea, supposed to be the most barbarous people in the world, as indeed they probably are. Hospitality, and attention to one's word, seem in these countries to be in proportion to the degree in which the people are savage. A very easy method is known, and followed with constant success, by all the Christians trading to the Red Sea from Suez to Jidda, to save themselves if thrown on the coast of Arabia. Any man of consideration from any tribe among the Arabs, comes to Cairo, gives his name and designation to the Christian sailor, and receives a very small present, which is re peated annually if he performs so often the voyage. And for this the Arab promises the Christian his protection, should he ever be so unfortunate as to be shipwrecked on their coast.
The Turks are very bad seamen, and lose many ships, the greatest part of the crew are therefore Christians; when a vessel strikes, or is ashore, the Turks are all massacred if they cannot make their way good by force; but the Christians present themselves to the Arab, crying Fiarduc, which means, 'we are under immediate protection.' If they are asked, who is their Gaffeer, or Arab, with whom they are in friendship? They answer, Mahomet Abdelcader is our Gaffeer, or any other. If he is not there, you are told he is absent so many days journey off, or any distance. This acquaintance or neighbour, then helps you, to save what you have from the wreck, and one of them with his lance draws a circle, large enough to hold you and yours. He then sticks his lance in the sand, bids you abide within that circle, and goes and brings your Gaffeer, with what camels you want, and this Gaffeer is obliged, by rules known only to themselves, to carry you for nothing, or very little, where-ever you go, and to furnish you with provisions all the way. Within that circle you are as safe on the desert coast of Arabia, as in a citadel; there is no example or exception to the contrary that has ever yet been known. There are many Arabs, who, from situation, near dangerous shoals or places, where ships often perish (as between Ras Mahomet and Ras Selah, *[5] Dar el Hamra, and some others) have perhaps fifty or a hundred Christians, who have been so protected: So that when this Arab marries a daughter, he gives perhaps his revenue from four or five protected Christians, as part of his daughter's portion. I had, at that very time, a Gafeer, called Ibn Talil, an Arab of Harb tribe, and I should have been detained perhaps three days till he came from near Medina, and carried me (had I been shipwrecked) to Yambo, where I was going.
On the 15th we came to an anchor at El Har*[6], where we saw high, craggy, and broken mountains, called the Mountains of Ruddua. These abound with springs of water; all sort of Arabian and African fruits grow here in perfection, and every kind of vegetable that they will take the pains to cultivate. It is the paradise of the people of Yambo; those of any substance have country houses there; but, strange to tell, they stay there but for a short time, and prefer the bare, dry, and burning sands about Yambo, to one of the finest climates, and most verdant pleasant countries, that exists in the world. The people of the place have told me, that water freezes there in winter, and that there are some of the inhabitants who have red hair, and blue eyes, a thing scarcely ever seen but in the coldest mountains in the East.
The 16th, about ten o'clock, we passed a mosque, or Shekh's tomb on the main land, on our left hand, called Kubbet Yambo, and before eleven we anchored in the mouth
of the port in deep water. Yambo, corruptly called Imbo, is an ancient city, now dwindled to a paultry village. Ptolemy calls it Iambia Vicus, or the village Yambia; a proof it was of no great importance in his time. But after the conquest of Egypt under Sultan Selim, it became a valuable station, for supplying their conquests in Arabia, with warlike stores, from Suez, and for the importation of wheat from Egypt to their garrisons, and the holy places of Mecca and Medina. On this account, a large castle was built there by Sinan Basha; for the ancient Yambo of Ptolemy is not that which is called so at this day. It is six miles farther south; and is called Yambo el Nachel, or, Yambo among the palm-trees, a great quantity of ground being there covered with this sort of plantation.
Yambo, in the language of the country, signifies a fountain or spring, a very copious one of excellent water being found there among the date trees, and it is one of the stations of the Emir Hadje in going to, and coming from Mecca. The advantage of the port, however, which the other has not, and the protection of the castle, have carried trading vessels to the modern Yambo, where there is no water, but what is brought from pools dug on purpose to receive the rain when it falls.
There are two hundred janissaries in the castle, the descendents of those brought thither by Sinan Basha; who have succeeded their fathers, in the way I have observed they did at Syené, and, indeed, in all the conquests in Arabia, and Egypt. The inhabitants of Yambo are deservedly reck oned *[7] the most barbarous of any upon the Red Sea, and the janissaries keep pace with them, in every kind of malice and violence. We did not go ashore all that day, because we had heard a number of shots, and had received intelligence from shore, that the janissaries and town's people, for a week, had been fighting together; I was very unwilling to interfere, wishing that they might have all leisure to extirpate one another, if possible; and my Rais seemed most heartily to join .me in my wishes.
In the evening, the captain of the port came on board, and brought two janissaries with him, whom, with some difficulty, I suffered to enter the vessel. Their first demand was gun-powder, which I positively refused. I then asked them how many were killed in the eight days they had been engaged? They answered, with some indifference, not many, about a hundred every day, or a few less or more, chiefly Arabs. We heard afterwards, when we came on shore, one only had been wounded, and that a soldier, by a fall from his horse. They insisted upon bringing the vessel into the port; but I told them, on the contrary, that having no business at Yambo, and being by no means under the guns of their castle, I was at liberty to put to sea without coming ashore at all; therefore, if they did not leave us, as the wind was favourable, I would sail, and, by force, carry them to Jidda. The janissaries began to talk, as their custom is, in a very blustering and warlike tone; but I, who knew my interest at Jidda, and the force in my own hand; that my
vessel was afloat, and could be under weigh in an instant, never was less disposed to be bullied, than at that moment. They asked me a thousand questions, whether I was a Mamaluke, whether I was a Turk, or whether I was an Arab, and why I did not give them spirits and tobacco? To all which I answered, only, that they should know to-morrow who I was; then I ordered the Emir Bahar, the captain of the port, to carry them ashore at his peril, or I would take their arms from them, and confine them on board all night.
The Rais gave the captain of the port a private hint, to take care what they did, for they might lose their lives; and that private caution, understood in a different way perhaps than was meant, had effect upon the soldiers, to make them withdraw immediately. When they went away, I begged the Emir Bahar to make my compliments to his masters, Hassan and Hussein, Agas, to know what time I should wait upon them to-morrow; and desired him, in the mean time, to keep his soldiers ashore, as I was not disposed to be troubled with their insolence.
Soon after they went, we heard a great firing, and saw lights all over the town; and the Rais proposed to me to slip immediately, and set sail, from which measure I was not at all averse. But, as he said, we had a better anchoring place under the mosque of the Shekh, and, besides, that there we would be in a place of safety, by reason of the holiness of the saint, and that at our own choice might even put to sea in a moment, or stay till to-morrow, as we were in no sort of doubt of being able to repel, force by force, if attacked, we got under weigh for a few hundred yards, and dropt our anchor under the shrine of one of the greatest saints in the world.
At night the firing had abated, the lights diminished, and the captain of the port again came on board. He was surprised at missing us at our former anchoring place, and still more so, when, on our hearing the noise of his oars, we hailed, and forbade him to advance any nearer, till he should tell us how many he had on board, or whether he had soldiers or not, otherwise we should fire upon them: to this he answered, that there were only himself, his boy, and three officers, servants to the Aga. I replied, that three strangers were too many at that time of the night, but, since they were come from the Aga, they might advance.
All our people were sitting together armed on the fore-part of the vessel; I soon divined they intended us no harm, for they gave us the salute Salam Alicum! before they were within ten yards of us. I answered with great complacency; we handed them on board, and set them down upon deck. The three officers were genteel young men, of a sickly appearance, dressed in the fashion of the country, in long burnooses loosely hanging about them, striped with red and white; they wore a turban of red, green, and white, with ten thousand tassels and fringes hanging down to the small of their backs. They had in their hand, each, a short javelin, the shaft not above four feet and a half long, with an iron head about nine inches, and two or three iron hooks below the shaft, which was bound round with brass-wire, in several places, and shod with iron at the farther end. They asked me where I came from? I said, from Constantinople, last from Cairo; but begged they would put no more questions to me, as I was not at liberty to answer them. They said they had orders from their masters to bid me welcome, if I was the person that had been recommended to them by the Sherriffe, and was Ali Bey's physician at Cairo. I said, if Metical Aga had advised them of that, then I was the man. They replied he had, and were come to bid me welcome, and attend me on shore to their masters, whenever I pleased. I begged them to carry my humble respects to their masters; and told them, though I did not doubt of their protection in any shape, yet I could not think it consistent with ordinary prudence, to risk myself at ten o'clock at night, in a town so full of disorder as Yambo appeared to have been for some time, and where so little regard was paid to discipline or command, as to fight with one another. They said that was true, and I might do as I pleased; but the firing that I had heard did not proceed from fighting, but from their rejoicing upon making peace.
In short, we found, that, upon some discussion, the garrison and townsmen had been fighting for several days, in which disorders the greatest part of the ammunition in the town had been expended, but it had since been agreed on by the old men of both parties, that no body had been to blame on either side, but the whole wrong was the work of a Camel. A camel, therefore, was seized, and brought without the town, and there a number on both sides having met, they upbraided the camel with every thing that had been either said or done. The camel had killed men, he had threatened to set the town on fire; the camel had threatened to burn the Aga's house, and the castle; he had cursed the
Grand Signior, and the Sherriffe of Mecca, the sovereigns of the two parties; and, the only thing the poor animal was interested in, he had threatened to destroy the wheat that was going to Mecca. After having spent great part of the afternoon in upbraiding the camel, whose measure of iniquity, it seems, was near full, each man thrust him through with a lance, devoting him Diis manibus & Diris, by a kind of prayer, and with a thousand curses upon his head. After which, every man retired, fully satisfied as to the wrongs he had received from the camel.
The reader will easily observe in this, some traces of the *[8], or scape-goat of the Jews, which was turned out into the wilderness, loaded with the sins of the people.
Next morning I went to the palace, as we call it, in which were some very handsome apartments. There was a guard of janissaries at the door, who, being warriors, lately come from the bloody battle with the camel, did not fail to shew marks of insolence, which they wished to be mistaken for courage.
The two Agas were sitting on a high bench upon Persian carpets; and about forty well-dressed and well-looking men, (many of them old) sitting on carpets upon the floor, in a semi-circle round them. They behaved with great politeness and attention, and asked no questions but general ones; as, How the sea agreed with me? If there was plenty at Cairo? till I was going away, when the youngest of the Agas inquired, with a seeming degree of diffidence, Whether Mahomet Bey Abou Dahab, was ready to march? As I knew well what this question meant, I answered, I know not if he is ready, he has made great preparations. The other Aga said, I hope you will be a messenger of peace? I answered, I intreat you to ask me no questions; I hope, by the grace of God, all will go well. Every person present applauded the speech; agreed to respect my secret, as they suppofed I had one, and they all were inclined to believe, that I was a man in the confidence of Ali Bey, and that his hostile designs against Mecca were laid aside: this was just what I wished them to suppose; for it secured me against ill-usage all the time I chose to stay there; and of this I had a proof in the instant, for a very good house was provided for me by the Aga, and a man of his sent to shew me to it.
I wondered the Rais had not come home with me; who, in about half an hour after I had got into my house, came and told me, that, when the captain of the boat came on board the first time with the two soldiers, he had put a note, which they call tiskera, into his hand, pressing him into the Sherriffe's service, to carry wheat to Jidda, and, with the wheat, a number of poor pilgrims that were going to Mecca at the Sherriffe's expence. Finding us, however, out of the harbour, and, suspecting from our manners and carriage towards the janissaries, that we were people who knew what we had to trust to, he had taken the two soldiers a-shore with him, who were by no means fond of their reception, or inclined to stay in such company; and, indeed, our dresses and appearances in the boat were fully as likely to make strangers believe we should rob them, as theirs were to im press us with an apprehension that they would rob us. The Rais said also, that, after my audience, the Aga had called upon him, and taken away the tiskera, telling him he was free, and to obey nobody but me; and sent me one of his servants to sit at the door, with orders to admit nobody but whom I pleased, and that I might not be troubled with the people of Yambo.
Hitherto all was well; but it had been with me an observation, which had constantly held good, that too prosperous beginnings in these countries always ended in ill at the last. I was therefore resolved to use my prosperity with great temperance and caution, make myself as strong, and use my strength as little, as it was possible for me to do.
There was a man of considerable weight in Aleppo, named *[9]Sidi Ali Taraboloussi, who was a great friend of Dr Russel, our physician, through whom I became acquainted with him. He was an intimate friend and acquaintance of the cadi of Medina, and had given me a letter to him, recommending me, in a very particular manner, to his protection and services. I inquired about this person, and was told he was in town, directing the distribution of the corn to be sent to his capital. Upon my inquiry, the news were carried to him as soon almost as his name was uttered; on which, being desirous of knowing what sort of man I was, about eight o'clock in the evening he sent me a message, and, immediately after, I received a visit from him. I was putting my telescopes and time-keeper in order, and had forbid admittance to any one; but this was so holy and so dignified a person, that all doors were open to him. He observed me working about the great telescope and quadrant in my shirt, for it was hot beyond conception upon the smallest exertion. Without making any apology for the intrusion at all, he broke out into exclamation, how lucky he was! and, without regarding me, he went from telescope to clock, from clock to quadrant, and from that to the thermometer, crying, Ah tibe, ah tibe! This is fine, this is fine! He scarcely looked upon me, or seemed to think I was worth his attention, but touched every thing so carefully, and handled so properly the brass cover of the alidade, which inclosed the horse-hair with the plummet, that he seemed to be a man more than ordinarily versed in the use of astronomical instruments. In short, not to repeat useless matter to the reader, I found he had studied at Constantinople, understood the principles of geometry very tolerably, was master of Euclid so far as it regarded plain trigonometry; the demonstrations of which he rattled off so rapidly, that it was impossible to follow, or to understand him. He knew nothing of spherics, and all his astronomy resolved itself at last into maxims of judicial astrology, first and second houses of the planets and ascendancies, very much in the style of common almanacks.
He desired that my door might be open to him at all times, especially when I made observations; he also knew perfectly the division of our clocks, and begged he might count time for me. All this was easily granted, and I had from him, what was most useful, a history of the situation ©£ the government of the place, by which I learned,
that the two young men (the governors) were slaves of the SherrifFe of Mecca; that it was impossible for any one, the most intimate with them, to tell which of the two was most base or profligate; that they would have robbed us all of the last farthing, if they had not been restrained by fear; and that there was a foreigner, or a frank, very lately going to India, who had disappeared, but, as he believed, had been privately put to death in prison, for he had never after been heard of.
Though I cannot say I relished this account, yet I put on the very best face possible, "Here, in a garrison town, said I, with very worthless soldiers, they might do what they pleased with six or seven strangers, but I do not fear them; I now tell them, and the people of Yambo, all and each of them, they had better be in their bed sick of the plague, than touch a hair of my dog, if I had one." "And so, says he they know, therefore rest and rejoice, and stay as long with us as you can." "As short time as possible, said I, Sidi Mahomet; although I do not fear wicked people, I don't love them so much as to stay long with them."
He then asked me a favour, that I would allow my Rais to carry a quantity of wheat for him to Jidda; which I willingly permitted, upon condition, that he would order but one man to go along with it; on which he declared solemnly, that none but one should go, and that I might throw him even into the sea, if he behaved improperly. However, afterwards he sent three; and one who deserved often to be thrown into the sea, as he had permitted. "Now friend, said I, I have done every thing that you have desired, though favours should have begun with you upon your own principle, as I am the stranger. Now, what I have to ask you is this,— Do you know the Shekh of Beder Hunein? Know him! says he, I am married to his sister, a daughter of Harb; he is of the tribe of Harb." "Harb be it then (said I) your trouble will be the less; then you are to send a camel to your brother-in-law, who will procure me the largest, and most perfect plant possible of the Balsam of Mecca. He is not to break the stem, nor even the branches, but to pack it entire, with fruit and flower, if possible, and wrap it in a mat." He looked cunning, shrugged up his shoulders, drew up his mouth, and putting his finger to his nose, said, "Enough, I know all about this, you shall find what sort of a man I am, I am no fool, as you shall see."
I received this the third day at dinner, but the flower (if there had been any) was rubbed off. The fruit was in several stages, and in great perfection. The drawing, and description from this *[10],plant will, I hope, for ever obviate all difficulty about its history. He sent me, likewise, a quart bottle of the pure balsam, as it had flowed that year from the tree, with which I have verified what the old botanists in their writings have said of it, in its several stages. He told me also the circumstances I have related in my description of the balsam, as to the gathering and preparing of the several kinds of it, and a curious anecdote as to its origin. He said the plant was no part of the creation of God in the six days, but that, in the last of three very bloody battles, which Mahomet fought with the noble Arabs of Harb, and his kins
men the Beni Koreish, then Pagans at Beder Hunein, that Mahomet prayed to God, and a grove of balsam-trees grew up from the blood of the slain upon the field of battle; and, that with the balsam that flowed from them he touched the wounds even of those that were dead, and all those pre- destined to be good Mussulmen afterwards, immediately came to life. "I hope, said I, friend, that the other things you told me of it, are fully as true as this, for they will otherwise laugh at me in England." " No, no, says he, not half so true, nor a quarter so true, there is nothing in the world so certain as this." But his looks, and his laughing very heartily, shewed me plainly he knew better, as indeed most of them do.
In the evening, before we departed, about nine o'clock, I had an unexpected visit from the youngest of the two Agas; who, after many pretended complaints of sickness, and injunctions of secrecy, at last modestly requested me to give him some slow poison, that might kill his brother, without suspicion, and after some time should elapse. I told him, such proposals were not to be made to a man like me; that all the gold, and all the silver in the world, would not engage me to poison the poorest vagrant in the street, supposing it never was to be suspected, or known but to my own heart. All he said, was, "Then your manners are not the same as ours."— I answered, dryly, "Mine, I thank God, are not," and so we parted.
Yambo, or at least the present town of that name, I found, by many observations of the sun and stars, to be in latitude 24° 3' 35" north, and in long. 38° 16' 30" east from the meridian of Greenwich. The barometer, at its highest, on the 23d of April, was 27° 8', and, the lowest on the 27th, was 26° 11'. The thermometer, on the 24th of April, at two o'clock in the afternoon, stood at 91°, and the lowest was 66° in the morning of the 26th of same month. Yambo is reputed very unwholesome, but there were no epidemical diseases when I was there.
The many delays of loading the wheat, the desire of doubling the quantity I had permitted, in which both the Rais and my friend the cadi conspired for their mutual interest, detained me at Yambo all the 27th of April, very much against my inclination. For I was not a little uneasy at thinking among what banditti I lived, whose daily wish was to rob and murder me, from which they were restrained by fear only; and this, a fit of drunkenness, or a piece of bad news, such as a report of Ali Bey's death, might remove in a moment. Indeed we were allowed to want nothing. A sheep, some bad beer, and some very good wheat-bread were delivered to us every day from the Aga, which, with dates and honey, and a variety of presents from those that I attended as a physician, made us pass our time comfortably enough; we went frequently in the boats to fish at sea, and, as I had brought with me three fizgigs of different sizes, with the proper lines, I seldom returned without killing four or five dolphins. The sport with the line was likewise excellent. We caught a number of beautiful fish from the very house where we lodged, and some few good ones. We had vinegar in plenty at Yambo; onions, and several other greens, from Raddua; and, being all cooks, we lived well. On the 28th of April, in the morning, I sailed with a cargo of wheat that did not belong to me, and three passengers, instead of one, for whom only I had undertaken. The wind was fair, and I saw one advantage of allowing the Rais to load, was, that he was determined to carry sail to make amends for the delay. There was a tumbling, disagreeable swell, and the wind seemed dying away. One of our passengers was very sick. At his request we anchored at Djar, a round small port, whose entrance is at the north-east. It is about three fathoms deep throughout, unless just upon the south side, and perfectly sheltered from every wind. We saw here, for the first time, several plants of rack tree, growing considerably within the sea-mark, in some places with two feet of water upon the trunk. I found the latitude of Djar to be 23° 36' 9" north. The mountains of Beder Hunein were S. S. W. of us.
The 29th, at five o'clock in the morning, we sailed from Djar. At eight, we passed a small cape called *[11] Ras el Himma; and the wind turning still more fresh, we passed a kind of harbour called Maibeed, where there is an anchoring place named El Horma. The sun was in the meridian when we passed this; and I found, by observation, El Horma was in lat. 23° 0' 30" north. At ten we passed a mountain on land called Soub; at two, the small port of Muftura, under a mountain whose name is Hajoub; at half past four we came to an anchor at a place called Harar. The wind had been contrary all the night, being south-east, and rather fresh; we thought, too, we perceived a current setting strongly to the westward.
On the 30th we sailed at eight in the morning, but the wind was unfavourable, and we made little way. We were surrounded with a great many sharks, some of which seemed to be large. Though I had no line but upon the small fizgigs for dolphins, I could not refrain from attempting one of the largest, for they were so bold, that some of them, we thought, intended to leap on board. I struck one of the most forward of them, just at the joining of the neck; but as we were not practised enough in laying our line, so as to run out without hitching, he leaped above two feet out of the water, then plunged down with prodigious violence, and our line taking hold of some thing standing in the way, the cord snapped asunder, and away went the shark. All the others disappeared in an instant; but the Rais said, as soon as they smelled the blood, they would not leave the wounded one, till they had torn him to pieces. I was truly sorry for the loss of my tackle, as the two others were really liker harpoons, and not so manageable. But the Rais, whom I had studied to keep in very good humour, and had befriended in every thing, was an old harpooner in the Indian Ocean, and he pulled out from his hold a compleat apparatus. He not only had a small harpoon like my first, but better constructed. He had, likewise, several hooks with long chains and lines, and a wheel with a long hair line to it, like a small windlass, to which he equally fixed the line of the harpoon, and those of the hooks. This was a compliment he saw I took very kindly, and did not doubt it would be rewarded in the proper time. The wind freshening and turning fairer, at noon we brought to, within sight of Rabac, and at one o'clock anchored there. Rabac is a small port in lat. 22° 35' 30" north. The entry is E. N. E. and is about a quarter of a mile broad. The port extends itself to the east, and is about two miles long. The mountains are about three leagues to the north, and the town of Rabac about four miles north by east from the entrance to the harbour. We remained all day, the first of May, in the port, making a drawing of the harbour. The night of our anchoring there, the Emir Hadje of the pilgrims from Mecca encamped about three miles off. We heard his evening gun.
The passengers that had been sick, now insisted upon going to see the Hadje; but as I knew the consequence would be, that a number of fanatic wild people would be down upon us, I told him plainly, if he went from the boat, he should not again be received; and that we would haul out of the port, and anchor in the offing; this kept him with us. But all next day he was in very bad humour, repeating frequently, to himself, that he deserved all this for embarking with infidels.
The people came down to us from Rabac with water melons, and skins full of water. All ships may be supplied here plentifully from wells near the town; the water is not bad.
The country is level, and seemingly uncultivated, but has not so desert a look as about Yambo. I should suspect by its appearance, and the freshness of its water, that it rained at times in the mountains here, for we were now considerably within the tropic, which passes very near Ras el Himma, whereas Rabac is half a degree to the southward.
On the 2d, at five o'clock in the morning, we sailed from Rabac, with a very little wind, scarcely making two knots an hour.
At half past nine, Deneb bore east and by south from us. This place is known by a few palm-trees. The port is small, and very indifferent, at least for six months of the year, because it lies open to the south, and there is a prodigious swell here.
At one o'clock we passed an island called Hammel, about a mile off; at the same time, another island, El Memisk, bore east of us, about three miles, where there is good anchorage.
At three and three quarters, we passed an island called Gawad, a mile and a quarter south-east of us. The main bore likewise south-east, distant something more than a league. We here changed our course from south to W. S. W. and at four o'clock came to an anchor at the small island of Lajack.
The 3d, we sailed at half past four in the morning, our course W. S. W. but it fell calm; after having made about a league, we found ourfelves off Ras Hateba, or the Woody Cape, which bore due east of us. After doubling the cape,
the wind freshening, at four o'clock in the afternoon we anchored in the port of Jidda, close upon the key, where the officers of the custom-house immediately took possession of our baggage. 
(Upload an image to replace this placeholder.)
- ↑ * Anciently called Pharos.
- ↑ † The Koran is, therefore, called El Farkan, or the Divider, or Distinguisher between true faith and heresy.
- ↑ * See the article Ashkoko in the Appendix.
- ↑ † 2 Chron. chap. xx. ver. 37th.
- ↑ * See the Map.
- ↑ * El Har signifies extreme heat.
- ↑ * Vide Irvine's letters.
- ↑ * Levit. chap. xvi, ver. 5.
- ↑ * Native of Tripoli ; it is Turkish.
- ↑ * See the article Balessan in the Appendix.
- ↑ * Cape Fever*.