CHAP. XIX.] 
FIRST VIEW OF THE SEA . 
507 
nooks among the cliffs were fringed with lovely green 
trees. It was extraordinary to observe the activity of 
the camels in climbing the most difficult passes, and in 
picking their way among the rocks and stones that 
obstructed the route. In many places camels might 
be seen grazing upon the green mimosa bushes, that 
growing among the rocks high upon the mountains 
had tempted the animals into places that I should not 
have believed they could have reached. 
After a journey of twenty-four days from the Nile 
at Berber, we emerged from the mountain-pass, and 
from the elevated embouchure we obtained a sudden 
and most welcome view of the Bed Sea. We now 
quickly descended : the heat increased every hour ; and 
after a long day’s march, we slept within a few miles 
of Souakim. On the following morning we entered 
the town. 
Souakim is a considerable town; the houses are all 
built of coral. The principal dwellings, and the custom¬ 
house and Government offices are situated on an island 
in the harbour. We were received with much atten¬ 
tion by the Governor, Moomtazze Bey, who very 
kindly offered us a house. The heat was frightful, the 
thermometer 115° Fahrenheit, and in some houses 120°. 
There is no doubt that Souakim should be the port 
for all exports and imports for the Soudan provinces. 
Were a line of steamers established from Suez, to call 
regularly at Souakim, at a moderate freight, it would 
become a most prosperous town, as the geographical 
position marks it as the nucleus for all trade with the 
interior. At present there is no regularity: the only 
steamers that touch at Souakim are those belonging to 
the Abdul Azziz Company, that trade between Suez 
and Jedda. Although advertised for distinct periods, 
they only visit Souakim when they think proper, and 
their rates are most exorbitant. 
There was no steamer upon our arrival. After wait¬ 
ing in intense heat for about a fortnight, the Egyptian 
thirty-two gun steam frigate, Ibrahimeya , arrived with 
