120 
MOCHA* 
ought to be made in their favour from the unprincipled character 
of those persons with whom they are generally obliged to transact 
business. Duroz, the principal Banian at Aden, appeared to be 
one of the most respectable of the class I have ever met with. 
On the 11th of October we left Aden with a fair wind and a 
favourable current, the weather being pleasant and the water 
smooth, and we continued all day coasting along the shore, the 
mountains of which are very remarkable in their forms. At 
sunset, by an amplitude, we found the variation to be 7° 10' west. 
13th. — We passed Cape St. Anthony in the night, and, at day- 
break, had it still in sight, bearing NE. b. distant eight 
leagueSj Babelmandeb Straits, NW. b. W. nine leagues, and the 
coast of Africa W. S. W. seven leagues. In this situation it is 
particularly important for strangers unacquainted with the coast 
to keep near the Arabian shore until the Island of Perim appear 
in sight, as many ships, by not attending to this caution, ha ve got 
entangled in the deep Bay of Tajoura, a remarkable instance of 
which is to be met with in the Voyage de T Arabic Heureuse, page 
59, 64, where, in December 1708, owing to a mistake of this 
nature, the vessel Le Curieux was very nearly lost on one of the 
shoals in this dangerous Bay. At eleven in the morning we 
passed through the Straits of Babelmandeb, with a strong current 
setting in NW. b. N. and at half past three came to an anchor in 
Mocha Roads. Soon afterwards I received a letter from Captain 
Rudland inviting me on shore, and in the evening I took up my 
residence at the British factory. 
Captain Rudland, shortly afterwards, was obliging enough to 
disclose his orders from the Bombay Government, for opening a 
commercial intercourse with Abyssinia, the plans which he had 
