DEPARTURE OF ABYSSINIAN YOUTHS.

25

them, praying that to their benighted countrymen they might be the instruments of great spiritual good, even as Frumentius and Edesius, the tender Tyrian youths through whom the Gospel was first introduced into their native land. Captain Haines had kindly agreed to forward them to the coasts of Abyssinia. I afterwards learned from themselves, that on leaving Aden, they sailed to Hodeidah, north of Mokhá, from which place they crossed the Red Sea to Maṣawwȧ, on their way to Adawá and Gondar. Their return to Bombay for the completion of their studies, after a perilous journey and voyage, and the judgment which they formed of the corrupted Christianity of Ethiopia, when they had an opportunity of contemplating it after their own conversion, I notice in the second volume of this work.

OUR steamer began to shoot through the calm surface of the waters about four o'clock in the afternoon of the 11th January. For a short time the peninsula of Jebel Hasan, the counterpart of that of Aden, on the western side of the Bandar Tuwayyí, and rising to the height of 1237 feet, and other contiguous peaks, including those elegantly denominated the Asses' Ears, were the most prominent objects in view. Jebel Kharaz, was next the Kibláh of our observation. According to Captain Haines, its altitude is 2085 feet. When it was getting dark, we saw the coast of Africa in the distance, and the six volcanic islets called the Brothers, in the entrance of the larger strait of Báb el-Mandeb, the "Gate of Tears."1 The most prominent part of the

1 These in Arabic are denominated the "Seven Islands," but they are only six in number. Captain Haines

says, that the most western is certainly volcanic.

STRAITS OF BAB EL-MANDEB.

27

coast of Africa here is Jebel Seján, a volcanic peak, somewhat resembling a haycock, and, with the headland with which it is connected, bounding the southern entrance into the Red Sea. Jebel Hadhálí is a remarkable eminence on the range of hills, about fifteen miles to the westward of Jebel Seján; but this we were not able to observe.

Next morning we entered the smaller strait of the Báb elMandeb about three o'clock. I was called on deck at this hour by one of the sailors; and with Dhanjibháí I took my seat on the forecastle, to make the best of the scene. The moon was about its setting, and it added to its interest. We had but a very faint view of Perim Island, and the heights on the adjoining cape, though they were near to our vessel. The strait, at its narrowest part, is only a mile and a half wide, on a line running across from the Fisherman's, or Oyster, rock, and the depth of the water varies from six to seventeen fathoms. Perim is about four and a half miles long by two broad, and is a bare, uninhabited rocky island, rising 230 feet above the sea.1 The larger strait, which lies to the west of it, is about eleven miles wide. The cape of Báb el-Mandeb on the Arabian side to the west, has two principal elevations, Jebel Manhalí, and Jebel Heikah. We had land in sight on both sides of the Red Sea when daylight appeared, Jebel Abúlú, lying opposite to the Rás, or headland, of Dumeirah to the south-west, and Jebel Zí, close to the shore on the north-west. As we advanced northward, we did not see Darmabah, or any of the other islands of Asab Bay. They lie very low.

We had a good view of the town of Mokhá in the forenoon, both with the naked eye and the telescope; and we received descriptions of it from some of our fellow-voyagers, who had paid it a visit. It lies close to the shore, running

1 Haines on the South Coast of Arabia, in Royal Geog. Jour. for 1839, p. 126.

from south to north. Its towers and minarets, particularly that of its great mosque,1 built in honour of Shádí, who is supposed to have founded the town, and brought the coffee plant into the neighbourhood, about the fifteenth century, and lofty whitewashed houses, with their flat roofs, give it an interesting appearance from the sea. The houses which are standing are very substantial; but many of the buildings are in ruins. The town is surrounded by a strong wall, built of stone, with several round towers at equal distances. Its suburbs lie principally towards the south. It is situated between two low points of land, which project from the shore and form a kind of bay. At each of these points there is a circular battery, or castle; but that at the south is now in ruins. There is another battery in the middle of that part of the town which touches upon the sea, called the central battery, at which are the landingplace and custom-house. There are not many gardens in the vicinity of the place; but a considerable number of date trees are visible around it. The fruits for which it is noted by sailors, such as grapes, peaches, apricots, mangoes, plantains, pine-apples, and melons, are brought from the interior. Its bázár is extensive, and the provisions in it are abundant. The sheep with which it is supplied are imported from the coast of Abyssinia, and its rice principally from India. It is deficient in the indispensable element of water, that of a pure quality being brought to it from a considerable distance. It is a place of great importance in a commercial point of view, though its harbour, from the shoals opposite the town, is not of very easy access, and large ships are obliged to anchor in the open sea beyond them.2 Its foreign trade is now prin

1 Some years ago, it had four large and six small mosques.

2" One of these (shoals) lies one mile due west from the south port; it is about half a cable length over, has

two fathoms on its shallowest part, and from three to six fathoms close to it the other is nearly two miles to the S.W., is about the same size, has two and a-half fathoms on it, and

MOKHA AND CONTIGUOUS ISLANDS.

29

cipally in the hands of Hindú Baniás; but it had formerly English, French, and Dutch factories. The restoration of Aden, which has many advantages, from its lying to the exterior of the mouth of the Red Sea, and being well regulated as a place of trade, is telling upon it to its great injury. There can be little doubt that in the course of a few years, the greater quantity of the coffee and drugs of Arabia Felix and of the African coast, will be exported from the English settlement. At the same time, Mokhá, from the facilities which it has of communication with the interior, will not lose all its importance. Should a Christian mission be founded at Aden, Mokhá will form one of its most accessible and important outposts. I was not able to learn, on board our ship, the extent of its present population, which consists principally of Arabs and Africans. According to information which I received from the Jews of Aden, it contains about 125 Israelites. Mokhá is a dependency of Șanaá, the capital of Arabia Felix, but the government at the time we passed it, had been usurped by an Arab, whom the Imám of Sanȧá had not been able to displace.

On the morning of the 13th January, we passed the group composing the Harnísh1 and Sukkar Islands, and so close to some of their detached islets, that we fired several shots into them from the guns of the steamer, which raised great quantities of dust. Commander Grieve, an intelligent officer of the Indian Navy, who had joined us as a passenger at 'Aden, and who is well acquainted with this part of the Red Sea,

four fathoms close to it; between it and the shore are seven and six fathoms. The third lies about threefourths of a mile W. by S. from the north fort, is a cable length over, with two and three-quarters fathoms as the least water, and three and a half fathoms between it and the fort."Sailing Directions for the Red Sea,

by R. Moresby and T. Elwon, Esqrs., footnote p. 3. This work contains several valuable geographical gleanings, the result of the survey of the Red Sea, so creditable to the East India Company, and the intelligent and enterprising officers of its Navy, by whom it was executed.

1 Sometimes given as Hanish.