A SCUTE em's TOMB IN AIRAIBIA. 
CHAPTER L 
March 13, 1804. — It had always appeared to me an extraordinary 
circumstance, that if the western coast of the Red Sea were really 
as dangerous as the moderns have uniformly represented it, the 
ancients should invariably have navigated it in preference to the 
eastern coast ; nor could my suspicions that a western passage existed 
be removed by the silence of the British officers, after a long con- 
tinuance of our fleet in that sea. The evils which they had ex- 
perienced from the want of water, fresh provisions, and fuel, pointed 
out indeed most strongly the importance of ascertaining, whether 
these articles were not attainable at Massowah, Dhalac, or the 
