MA CO WAR. 325 
which had been made to us by our friends at Massowah and Suakin. 
During our unfortunate confinement in Mouse-trap Bay, frequent 
visits were paid to the mas^t head, and numerous bearings were 
taken of the rocky Island of Macowar, and its adjacent harbour. 
All these so perfectly agreed with the observations made by 
Captain Court on his former voyage, that I cannot but consider 
their identity, and consequently their actual position, as suffi- 
ciently established. If, hereafter, navigators should use this pas- 
sage, which among the moderns was first navigated by the Portu- 
guese, and next by myself, they will receive important assistance 
from the chart of my amiable and able friend Captain Charles Court, 
to whose indefatigable exertions during a voyage of considerable 
danger, and perpetual anxiety, in taking bearings, and making every 
useful nautical observation, the public is indebted for the accurate 
Chart of the Western Coast of the Red Sea, which I have the plea- 
sure of laying before them. As a tribute of that esteem which I 
entertained for his private character, and professional abilities, I 
have called the narrow passage between the shoals from Suakin to 
Macowar, Court's Passage. 
It would have given me particular satisfaction to have examined 
the port of Macowar, on account of the advantages, which it has 
over any of those in Court's Passage, from its being accessible to 
vessels without their entering the shoals. It was invariably re- 
presented by the pilots as being an excellent harbour; and that it 
is one, is confirmed by Don Juan de Castro, who speaks of it under 
the name of Salaka, for Mouse-trap Bay could never be meant by a 
port which received the Portuguese fleet. Water is undoubtedly to 
be procured there, though, in very dry seasons, it is not very good, 
