Page 152 - Travels in Arabia (Vol 2)_Neat

VIII.] GULF OF 'AKAUAH. 133

Sea to the entrance of the Sea of ’Akabah.
The northerly wind, which prevails during
the greater part of the year, naturally takes
the direction of this valley. Finding no other
outlet, however, than its southern termination,
it acquires there its extraordinary force and
strength ; and although the body of water

exposed to its influence is not greater than in
some large rivers, yet, having none of their
sinuosities, the course of its waves is uninter­
cepted to the entrance of the straights, and
finding but a small outlet, the water returns
by a violent effort in a powerful current.
Those who have witnessed the effects of a
rapid tide contending against an equally
strong swell will be at no loss to imagine

the same effects operating on a larger scale
from similar causes in the Sea of ’Akabah.
Our friends the Arabs were watching our
progress with much interest; for the morning
after we anchored, two boys came on board,
who confessed that the object of their visit
was to ascertain if we had not been wrecked
in the gale. What a god-send such an event
would have been to these poor tribes! Nor,
considering their abject condition, let us view