Re?mbarking at Suez, we pass down the gulf of the samename, which is the western of the two arms at the head of the Red Sea. The Gulf of Suez is 190 miles in length; and near the head of it is believed by many to be the place at which the Israelites crossed the Red Sea in their exodus from Egypt. As, however, the gulf is known to have receded many miles from its ancient head, even since the Christian era, it is more probable that the scene of the passage is now in the sandy waste of the isthmus.
The eastern arm of the Red Sea is the Gulf of Akaba, which is 100 miles in length. On the triangular tongue of land between the two gulfs are the mountains of Horeb-Sinai, in whose midst there appeared to Moses "an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush;" and on whose "secret top" he received from God the "lively oracles" to give to the people.
Half way down the Red Sea, the navigation of which is rendered difficult by sudden changes of wind and heavy gales, we reach Jedda, one of the most active sea-ports in Arabia.
Here thousands of pilgrims
land every year on their way to Mecca, the birth-place of Mohammed and the cradle of the Mussulman faith. Near the southern extremity of the sea, on the margin of a sandy plain on the Arabian coast, is Mocha, a fortified sea-port, from which thousands of tons of the finest coffee are annually expor ted. Pa ssing through the Straits of Bab-elmandeb, we reach Aden, where the sign-board of "The Prince of Wales Hotel" reminds us thatBIRD"S EYE VIEW OF THE SUEZ CANALwe are once more in a Britishpossession. Like Gibraltar and Valetta, Aden is considered an impregnable fortress. Like Gibraltar, too, it stands on a rocky peninsula, connected with the mainland by a narrow isthmus. Its harbour is the best in Arabia; and the town abounds in mosques and Mohammedan remains, which testify to its former magnificence. From Aden we steam through the Gulf of Aden and across the Arabian Sea; and before many days pass we are at anchor in the spacious harbour of Bombay.
NOTES
① The Overland Route.-The Overland Route (which crosses the land from Alexandria to Suez) was established so lately as 1845. Previously all vessels for India sailed round by the Cape of Good Hope. The voyage from Southampton to Bombay by the Cape occupies eighty-four days; the same distance by the Overland Route occupies only twenty-five. The establishment of the Overland Route was due chiefly to the perseverance and enterprise of Lieut. Thomas Waghorn, who wore out his life in the work, and died in 1849 still a youngman. The Overland Route may be still further abridged by crossing the continent of Europe by rail, and sailing from Marseilles, Trieste, or Brindisi to Alexandria.
② The Vandals, a tribe of northern barbarians, who are found occupying the north ofCentral Europe in the middle of the fourth century.
③ Tarif.-Not to be confounded with Tarik, after whom Gibraltar is named.