ISTHMUS OF SUEZ. 
143 
the Arabs, from which the Red Sea has received 
its Arabic appellation. At the northern extre- 
mity of the gulf is the position of Arsinoe, which 
has long been rendered inaccessible to mariners, 
by impervious shoals formed in its vicinity. The 
loose texture of the low and sandy soil of the 
peninsula combines, with the action of the waves, 
to aid the formation of salt morasses ; and the 
accumulation of sand on the banks of coral, which 
are numerous in the Red Sea, forms the most 
dangerous shoals. When the sea is unruffled, 
the coral banks, particularly on the Arabia^ 
shore, exhibit such appearances of beauty, as 
rival the splendid fictions of the ancients con- 
cerning the palaces and groves of the Nereids 
beneath the waves. The promontory of Tor, a 
continuation of the ridge of Sinai, divides the ex- 
tremity of the Red Sea into two deep gulfs. At 
the extremity of the eastern or Elanitic gulf, Aila, 
from which it derives its name, was situated. 
Kolzoum is situated near the extremity of the 
larger gulf, which, in ancient authors, is com- 
monly denominated that of Heroopolis. By the 
Arabic authors, both the cities of Kolzoum and 
Aila are included within the boundaries of Egypt. 
The retreat of the Red Sea, on the Arabian side, 
gradually increases the breadth of the isthmus ; 
though the inaccurate accounts of the Grecian 
and Arabian geographers seem to support the 
2J, 
