Page 159 - Travels in Arabia (Vol 2)_Neat

140 SURVEY OF THE [cm.

gone to pieces. The Bedowins we had on
board at the time the wind shifted carried the
intelligence to the shore, and they there,
amidst the towering crags above us, assem­
bled in great numbers. From the prepara­
tions they were making, it appeared doubtful
if they would await the vessel’s wreck ere they
3 attacked us: had they done so, we must have
lost a great many men, as their elevated posi­
i
tion gave the party complete command of our
decks, and the rocks placed them beyond the
reach of our fire. The guns however were
loaded, and all was in readiness to do our
best. From this unpleasant predicament we
were released towards the morning by the
springing up of the land-breeze. We had
barely cleared the point of the bay ere a
strong southerly gale set in, and we ran before
it to an anchorage formed by a small island
on the Sinai side, Jezirat Pharoun (Pharaoh’s
Isle), and the main. Our good fortune did
not desert us here. The breeze, after anchor­

ing, increased to a gale; the channel was not
more than a hundred yards in width; the
swell rolled high into it, and our stern was
not more than thirty yards from the rocks on