332 



a rocky and uneven bottom, owing, probably, to 

 the proximity of the mountains. 



On the eastern side it is bounded nearly throughout 

 its whole extent, by the Arabian deserts, which are as 

 barren, and unfit for the habitation of man, as those of 

 any other in the known world. 



The shore on this side is in many places rocky, and 

 the navigation generally difficult and dangerous, on 

 account of the shallowness of the water and the innu- 

 merable san ! banks, which prevail more or less, from 

 Mocha to the northern extremity of this sea, through- 

 out the whole of which distance, not a river, it is be- 

 lieved, is known to flow into it.* 



It is supposed by many that this sea is fast retreat- 

 ing, becoming less, or filling up ; or in other words, 

 the land is encroaching on the sea ; and under existing 

 circumstances it is by no means to be wondered at. 

 If we consider the immensely extended regions over 

 which the easterly monsoons are, for nearly half the 

 year, sweeping, and driving the sand in torrents into 

 this sea, we shall not be disposed to doubt the fact; 

 nor at a loss to account for the innumerable sand banks, 

 and shallowness of the water, all along its eastern 

 coast. 



To what extent these inroads have been carried 

 along a great part of it, I have no means of ascer- 

 taining. But that they ^ire constantly progressing and, 



* AH Bey's Travels, vol. II. page 185. 



