270 MARINE BIOLOGY OF THE SUDANESE RED SEA. 
area of sand scarcely raised above sea-level, cliffs and canals being the result 
of one earth movement. 
Bird's-eye View of Rawaya.—The view from the summit of Jebel Abu 
Shagara is beautiful and interesting in itself, and includes most of the features 
we are specially concerned with. Westwards is Khor Dongonab, here 8 miles 
wide, and beyond it the alluvial plain, which, throughout the length of this 
coast, separates the coral shore-line from the Archean hills. These rise 
majestically to the height of 8000 feet, the range continuing north and 
south with summits from four to six thousand feet. Ten miles southwards 
are the yellow islands of Makawar * and Mayitib, parts of which are faulted 
up to heights of 300 and 138 feet, while parts remain at about the same low 
level as Rawaya. The high ground occupies two-thirds the area of 
Makawar, while Mayitib is now separated into two, a pyramidal hill and 
a low flat island only six feet high, on the same reef flat. 
Between us and the islands is a maze of coral reefs, white lines of 
breakers bounding calm lagoons, separating the blue-black of the open sea 
from the greens and browns of the sheltered beds of living coral and 
shell sand. 
Rawaya, Makawar, and the reefs between are all one hill-range, part of 
which is just submerged, and which is continued still further south as the 
ordinary barrier reefs which fringe the rest of the coast. 
We stand between the dry ravine which almost cleaves the hill into two 
(Pl. 82. fig. 3) and the cliff which forms its eastern side. Below the ciiff 
is the bifurcated end of a canal eight miles long from its communication 
with Khor Dongonab, and a completely enclosed lake of salt water separated 
from the sea by reefs over which perhaps one might drag a canoe at times of 
high water. Judging from its colour I estimated its depth at 30 feet, and like 
all these canals the shores are low cliffs descending abruptly into nearly the 
full depth of the pool. In shape and position this is obviously a section of 
one of the ends of the long canal above mentioned which has been isolated 
by the imperfect continuity of the fault which formed them and the cliff on 
which we stand. Beyond these canals and lake the ground is rather higher 
than usual in Rawaya, broken up into troughs similar to the canals but for 
being smaller and not deep enough to contain water. 
Northwards we overlook the plain of yellow coral broken by brilliant blue 
sea-water inlets and lakes as far as Jebel Tétawib, nine miles away, noting 
particularly the long parallel-sided tongue of land, named Haysoit, separating 
the main canal from Khor Dongonab. 
Three miles to the north-east are the buildings of the Rawaya Salt 
* This is the Arabic name and means “ broken” or “hollowed,” referring perhaps to its 
precipitous eastern side or to its division longitudinally by a fault-valley. Its native or 
Hamitic name is Meqursam. 
