Page 164 - Travels in Arabia (Vol 2)_Neat

.X.] GULF OF ’AKAUAH. 145

is loss gloomy than at the lower part of the
Gulf. Instead of bold naked precipices, ris­
ing abruptly from the sea, we have here a
succession of sandy capes, sweeping into the
waves at nearly the same angle; their inclina­
tion being the same as the valleys of which
they are but a continuation. Calm, and
without a cloud to overshadow its now tran­
quil bosom, no traces are exhibited of the
fury with which, but a few hours previous, it
had been agitated. Neither boats nor vessels
animate the picture, and it has the appear­
ance of a vast and solitary lake. On the

other hand, beyond the extremity of the Gulf,
we obtain an extensive view of the valley of
El Ghor. For some distance it resembles
a broad plain dotted with trees; but the
mountains which bound it continue, as in
the Sea of ’Akabah, in a straight direc­
tion, and the Gulf is therefore merely a pro­
longation of the valley, and they form, thus
united, a bolder, more extensive, and more
regular feature than can probably be paral­
leled in any other portion of the globe.
At a short distance to the southward of the
castle the pass was pointed out to us from
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