Publisher's Synopsis
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1900 edition. Excerpt: ... ascent of the gulf by a sailing vessel. Captain Moresby, who surveyed the gulf of Akaba in 1833, remarks: --"In this part of the Red sea the winds are drawn to the southward by very high ranges of mountains, bounding closely both sides of the gulf, and opening like a funnel to the northward in Syria; from which cause the cooler atmosphere of the northern regions is drawn into this part with such violence that the wind raises the sea into a deep and turbulent swell; the place is almost void of soundings and anchorages, except in a few spots hereafter mentioned. "Native vessels do not navigate the gulf of Akaba, and they dread crossing the Red sea near its entrance. Many vessels have been lost in See chart, No. 8a. the gulf, and very heavy weather was experienced by the Palinunts during the survey." H.M.S. Gannet, visiting the gulf for a week at the end of August 1894, found northerly winds of light to moderate force, and late Egyptianreports tend to show that better weather than that experienced in 1833 not unfrequently prevails. Soundings.--The depths in the gulf of Akaba are greater than those in the gulf of Suez, no bottom being found at 130 fathoms in the former; the shores are steep-to. The bottom of the gulf of Akaba is a continuation of the valley in which lie the Dead sea and river Jordan, both of which are much below the level of the Mediterranean. Strait of Tiran.--The entrance of the gulf of Akaba is nearly closed by the island of Tiran with its extensive reefs. The strait of Tiran is the passage on the western side of that island; it is 4 miles wide, and there are 70 fathoms within a mile of Ras Nuzerani on the western side. Reefs project to the westward from Tiran island towards the coast reef, extending half a...
