I 
142 DESCRIPTIONS OF EGYPT. 
€^ stern part of the Sharkie are Belbeis and Sala- 
hia^ the first of which contains about five thou- 
sand inhabitants, and the other is supposed to ex- 
ceed it in population. Suez, from which the 
narrow isthmus that connects Asia with Africa 
derives its name, is situated in N. lat. 30° 2^, near 
the extremity of that shallow gulf in which the 
Red Sea terminates. Though the emporium of 
Arabian commerce, the difficulty of procuring 
subsistence has prevented it from attaining im- 
portance as a city, and reduced it to a mere mili- 
tary station. It is supplied with water from a 
brackish spring on the Arabian coast, situated at 
the distance of three hours' journey, in the small 
Oasis of Honareb. Fuel, and every kind of pro- 
visions, are brought from the fertile districts of 
Egypt. The gradual retrocession of the sea, 
which has rendered the harbours accessible only 
to small boats at high water, deprives Suez of the 
only advantage which could compensate so un- 
favourable a situation. The character of the 
surrounding scenery is of the most dreary and 
savage kind. Not the smallest appearance of 
verdure can be observed from the terraces of the 
city, but the eye travels heavily over the yellow 
sands and the pools of green water, to rest on the 
white rocks of Arabia. Adjacent to Suez, on the 
northern side, a heap of mouldered ruins marks 
the site of the ancient Clysma, the KoJzoum of 
