Page 167 - Travels in Arabia (Vol 2)_Neat

140 SURVEY OF THE [cii.

minutely investigated by Laborde and Riippel.
It would be unjust, while mentioning the
latter traveller’s name, to withhold the tribute
due to him for the correctness of his chart of
the Gulf. Before its publication we had not

one which was even tolerable; and if our
survey, in a practical sense, has rendered his
of less importance, yet, in a scientific point of
view, its value will be enhanced by the stamp
of fidelity with which our labours have in­
vested it.
There are no boats of any description near
’Akabah ; and, from the violent gusts to which
its local features subject it, I doubt if any
but very large vessels could live there. The
Bedowins procure their fish on the rocks

which gird the shore. On either hand, a flat
platform extends out for several yards, having
but two or three feet water on it, beyond
which, it sinks perpendicularly to an almost
unfathomable depth. Along this they creep
stealthily, with their cast-net over the left arm.
Its form is round, and loaded at the lower part
with small pieces of lead ; and, when the fish­
erman approaches a shoal of fish, his art
consists in throwing the net so that it may