182 
DESCRIPTIONS OF EGYPT. 
the narrowest part of the Gulf of Suez, where it 
does not exceed four leagues in breadth. The me- 
mory of this remarkable event was preserved by 
tradition among the inhabitants of this coast at 
so late a period as the days of Diodorus.* The 
African coast is naked and rugged ; the water 
is so deep as frequently to afford no soundings 
along the shore, but it is interspersed with con- 
cealed rocks of the hardest texture, and sharp as 
spears. Towards Suez the shore is skirted by 
some small islands, or rather rocks, which are as 
barren as the main land. The principal of these 
are the Jaffateen islands, which are four in num- 
ber, and lie in the form of a semicircle, con- 
nected by shoals and sunk rocks. After pass- 
ing to the south of GebeLel-Zeit, or the Mount 
of Petroleum, Myos Hormus, the harbour chosen 
in preference to Suez by Ptolemy Philadelphus, is 
the first station which presents itself. It is cover- 
ed by the JafFateens, and lies in N. L. 27° 0'. 
The name of this harbour was afterwards change 
ed to Aphrodites Hormus. For a considerable 
period this city was the emporium of the Arabian 
trade, but after it fell into the hands of the Ro- 
mans, it seems to have been supplanted by Bere- 
nice. Old Cosseir, which lies about six miles to 
the north of the modern town, is the Leucos Por- 
* Diodor. Sicul. 1. iii. c. 3. 
