I 
MYOS HORMOS. . 333 
Such are the accounts we have received of the ancient port of 
Myos Hormos ; and it is a coincidence of circumstances that could 
hardly have been expected to be noted by a traveller who did 
not direct his attention particularly to a comparison of what was 
before his eyes, with the description of former navigators, that Don 
Juan de Castro describes a port called Shakara as encompassed by 
a very red hill, and near to it another " very capacious and noted 
harbour, called Shawna, where, according to the report of the 
Moors and inhabitants, there stood formerly a famous city of the 
gentiles." The latter place is laid down by De la Rochette in 2,4"" 53% 
and the former in ^5° 8', either of which would sufficiently agree 
with the distance from Berenice as given in the Periplus. As the 
red hill is represented as being a very large one, it might be sup- 
posed to reach sufficiently near to Shawna to have been described 
by the ancients, as a mark of that port, where are probably existing 
the remains of ancient magnificence which have given rise to the 
Moorish account. But if this difficulty were removed, the circum- 
stance of the three islands is still remaining to cause a doubt of 
Shawna being Myos Hormos. I can only observe, that at present 
there is no proof that three small islands do not exist, opposite to 
their harbours, and that we know of no other that will answer the de- 
scription given. Strabo and Diodorus both observe, that two of these 
islands were covered with olive trees, and the third was frequented 
by sea birds. This description is so positive that I cannot admit 
the supposition, that there might be other islands which were over- 
looked ; yet this would be the case were Myos Hormos placed op- 
posite to the Jaffateen Islands. A still stronger objection to this 
conjecture is, that the coast there is perfectly open, and cannot 
