454 
A third mode of crossing the de- 
sert is with four or five Arab guides. 
This, I must confess, appears to me 
preferable to the others, on account 
of the cheapness and quickness of 
the journey, which may be perform- 
ed in this manner in twenty-two or 
twenty-three days; but it is incom- 
patiole with the carrying any large 
quantity of baggage. 
The passage up the Red Sea, and 
over the little desert to Cairo, and 
from thence down the Mediterra- 
nean, bas been lately recommended 
as more expeditious than the for- 
mer. This, I believe, would be 
really the case, if the winds were 
favourable; but the fact is, that 
northerly winds prevail in those seas, 
at Jeast ten months of the year, ex- 
cept in that part of the Red Sea 
which is within the Tropic; besides, 
the navigation of the Red Sea* is 
replete with danger and difficulty, 
which may eventually occasion a 
greater loss of time than the more 
slow, but more certain passage over 
the great desert. However, packets 
might be forwarded to India by this 
route with as much celerity, perhaps, 
as by any other; but if sent from 
India this way, must be liable to 
great and unavoidable delay. 
The route [ should recommend, 
in preference to the two already 
mentioned, would be up the Persian 
Gulph to Bussora, and from thence, 
by the Euphrates, in a boat as far 
as Hilla; then to Bagdad, and from 
this last p!ace, with a Tatar or Cou- 
rier, by Diarbekir to Constantinople. 
Instead of embarking here, | would 
proceed by land through Vienna to 
Ostend, so as to be independent of 
all the contingencies to which the 
ANNUAL REGISTER, 1702. 
navigation of the Mediterranean is 
liable. The whole. of the passage 
from India might thus be performed 
in a much shorter time than usual ; 
and packets dispatched this route 
to India might reach Bombay in 
sixty: two days, provided the traveller 
can bear fatigue, will content him- 
self with such baggage only as is 
essentially requisite, and submit, for 
a short time, to the Turkish customs 
and manner of living. This, I must 
confess, would not be agreeable to 
an unpractised person, and, I should 
imagine, would net be attempted 
‘without very powerful inducements. 
The advantages of this route are 
numerous; the traveller, at a small 
expence, is provided with provisions, 
and suffers no delay in waiting till 
a caravan can be found, or escorts 
collected. If he travels unincum- 
bered with any other baggage beside 
his mere necessaries, he avoids being 
detained on the road by custom- 
house officers ; and offers no tempt- 
ation to robbers, who in this coun- 
try are seldom guilty of violence for 
a small booty. The face of the 
country from Bussora to Constan- 
tinople is greaily diversified, and 
presents the curious traveller with 
a variety of productions, customs, 
climates, and romantic prospects, 
which, by engaging the mind, be- 
guile the length of the journey; 
it also abounds in the necessaries of 
life, and in that essential article, 
water, the want of which has been 
sometimes so painfully experienced 
by the caravans of the desert. 
From Constantinople it is prefer- 
able to continue the route by land 
through Vienna to Ostend, which is 
practicable in a short time, without 
* Tam assured by persons of great nayal experience, that vessels are sometimes 
fous or five months working up to Buez. 
7 
any 
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