Chapter LII: Section X

_Return of the Expedition from Massua to India_.

Having remained 48 days at Massua, we set sail from thence on our return to India on the 9th of July 1541, one hour before sunrise, and by day-break we were two or three leagues short of the north point of _Dallak_, and among some flat islands that have some woods, which islands are scattered in the sea to the north of Dallak. We sailed through a channel between two of these islands, having a fair wind almost N.W. our course being N.E. by N. After doubling a shoal we came to anchor, and at two in the afternoon we sailed again with a fair wind at N.N.E. coasting the island of Dallak. An hour before sunset we came to a very flat sandy island, called _Dorat Melkuna_, from which on all sides extended great shoals. When the sun set we were a league short of the island of _Shamoa_, between which and the west side of Dallak, opposite the Abyssinian coast, is the most frequented channel for such as sail to Massua. All the coast of Dallak which we sailed along this day trends N.N.W. and S.S.E. and is very low. The 18th of July by day break we saw the mouth of the straits[332], about three leagues distant, "and we saw all the fleet _lye at hull_, and presently we set sail altogether[333]."

[Footnote 332: A large portion of the Journal is again omitted at this place, either by Don Juan or his abbreviator, Purchas.--E.]

[Footnote 333: Perhaps in coming in sight of the Strait, the ship of Don Juan was so much in advance as barely to see the hulls of the rest; and lay to till the rest came up.--E.]

Before leaving the Gulf of Arabia or of Mecca, it may be proper to consider the reason why the ancients called this Gulf the _Red Sea_, and to give my own opinion founded on what I actually saw, whether it differ in colour from the great ocean. In the _sixth_ book of his Natural History, Pliny quotes several opinions as the origin of the name _Erythros_ given to this sea by the ancients[334]. The first is, that it took its name from _Erythra_, a king who once reigned on its borders, whence came _Erythros_ which signifies _red_ in the Greek. Another opinion was that the reflexion of the sun-beams gave a red colour to this sea. Some hold that the red colour proceeds from the sand and ground along the sea coast, and others that the water was red itself. Of these opinions every writer chose that he liked best. The Portuguese who formerly navigated this sea affirmed that it was spotted or streaked with red, arising as they alleged from the following circumstances. They say that the coast of Arabia is naturally very red, and as there are many great storms in this country, which raise great clouds of dust towards the skies, which are driven by the wind into the sea, and the dust being _red_ tinges the water of that colour, whence it got the name of the Red Sea.

[Footnote 334: By Dr. Hyde, in his notes on _Peritsol_, and Dr. Cumberland, in his remarks on Sanchoniatho, and by other writers, _Erythros_ or _Red_ is supposed to be a translation of _Edom_, the name of _Esau_; whence it is conjectured that this sea, as well as the country of _Idumea_, took their denominations from _Edom_. But this does not seem probable for two reasons: _First_, because the Jews do not call it the _Red Sea_ but _Tam Suf_, or the _Sea of Weeds_; and, _second_, the ancients included all the ocean between the coasts of Arabia and India under the name of the _Erythrean_ or _Red Sea_, of which the _Persian_ and the _Arabian Gulfs_ were reckoned branches.--Ast. I. 129. c.]

From leaving _Socotora_, till I had coasted the whole of this sea all the way to _Suez_, I continually and carefully observed this sea; and the colour and appearance of its shores, the result of which I shall now state. First then, it is altogether false that the colour of this sea is red, as it does not differ in any respect from the colour of other seas. As to the dust driven by the winds from the land to the sea staining the water; we saw many storms raise great clouds of dust and drive them to the sea, but the colour of its water was never changed by these. Those who have said that the land on the coast is red, have not well observed the coats and strands: for generally on both, sides the land by the sea is brown and very dark, as if scorched. In some places it appears black and in others white, and the sands are of these colours. In three places only there are certain parts of the mountains having veins or streaks of a red colour; and at these places the Portuguese had never been before the present voyage. These three places are all far beyond _Swakem_ towards Suez, and the three hills having these red streaks or veins are all of very hard rock, and all the land round about that we could see are of the ordinary colour and appearance. Now, although substantially the water of this sea has no difference in colour from that of other seas, yet in many places its waves by accident seem very red, from the following cause. From _Swakem_ to _Kossir_, which is 136 leagues, the sea is thickly beset with shoals and shelves or reefs, composed of _coral stone_, which grows like clustered trees spreading its branches on all sides as is done by real _coral_, to which this stone bears so strong resemblance that it deceives many who are not very skilful respecting the growth and nature of coral.

This _coral stone_ is of two sorts, one of which is a very pure white, and the other very _red_. In some places this _coral stone_ is covered by great quantities of green ouze or sleech, and in other places it is free from this growth. In some places this ouze or sleech is very bright green, and in others of an orange-tawny colour. From _Swakem_ upwards, the water of this sea is so exceedingly clear, that in many places the bottom may be distinctly seen at the depth of 20 fathoms. Hence, where-ever these shoals and shelves are, the water over them is of three several colours, according to the colour of these rocks or shelves, red, green, or white, proceeding from the colour of the ground below, as I have many times experienced. Thus when the ground of the shoals is sand, the sea over it appears _white_; where the coral-stone is covered with _green_ ouze or sleech, the water above is greener even than the weeds; but where the shoals are of _red_ coral, or coral-stone covered by _red_ weeds, all the sea over them appears very _red_. And, as this _red_ colour comprehends larger spaces of the sea than either the _green_ or the _white_, because the stone of the shoals is mostly of _red coral_, I am convinced that on this account it has got the name of the _Red Sea_, and not the green sea or the white sea, though these latter colours are likewise to be seen in perfection.

The means I used for ascertaining this secret of nature were these. I oftentimes fastened my bark upon shoals where the sea appeared red, and commanded divers to bring me up stones from the bottom. Mostly it was so shallow over these shoals, that the bark touched; and in other places the mariners could wade for half a league with the water only breast high. On these occasions most of the stones brought up were of red coral, and others were covered by orange-tawny weeds. Whether the sea appeared _green_, I found the stones at the bottom were white coral covered with green weeds; and where the sea was white I found a very white sand. I have conversed often with the Moorish pilots, and with persons curious in antiquities, who dwelt on this sea, who assured me that it was never stained red by the dust brought from the land by the winds: I do not, however reprove the opinion of former Portuguese navigators; but I affirm, that having gone through this sea oftener than they, and having seen its whole extent, while they only saw small portions, I never saw any such thing. Every person with whom I conversed wondered much at our calling it the Red Sea, as they knew no other name for it than the sea of Mecca[335]. On the 9th of August 1541, we entered the port of _Anchediva_, where we remained till the 21st of that month, when we went in foists or barks and entered the port of Goa, whence we set out on this expedition on the 31st of December 1540, almost eight months before.

[Footnote 335: This might have been the case among the pilots at this time; but among Arabic geographers it is likewise called the Sea of Hejaz, the Sea of Yaman, and the Sea of Kolzum.--Astl.]

_Table of Latitudes observed in the Journal of Don Juan[336]._

Deg. Min.
Socotora, 12 40
Bab-al-Mondub[A] 12 15
Sarbo port,[B] 15 76[337]
Shaback, scarcely 19 0
_A nameless island _, 19 0
Tradate, harbour 19 50
Fushaa, bay 20 15
Farate, river 21 40
Ras-al-Jidid, port[B] 22 0
Comol, port 22 30
Ras-al-Nef, Cape 24 0
Swairt island 24 10
Gaudenauchi, port 24 40
Tuna, haven 25 30
Kossir[A] 26 15
Safanj-al-bahr, island 27 0
Island, 2 leagues N.W. from Sheduan 27 40
Toro, town 28 10
Anchorage, 20 leagues farther 29 17
Suez 29 45

[Footnote 336: In this Table [A] denotes _two_ observations having been made at the place; [B] indicates more observations than two; and all the rest only one. All of course north.--E.]

[Footnote 337: In the enumeration of latitudes in Astleys Collection this is set down as 15 deg. 17 min. but in the text of Purchas it is stated as here.--E.]