Page 177 - Travels in Arabia (Vol 2)_Neat

158 SURVEY OF THE [cu.

9° W.; and the direct distance is one hun­

dred and twenty-five miles. The Bedowins
estimate the journey from ’Akabah by both
these routes at three days. There would, I
imagine, be no difficulty in securing, by
means of a few presents, the good will and
assistance of the various Bedowin chiefs;
and if, on examination, the weather should be
found too boisterous (but this with steamers
I do not contemplate), the packets might be

landed near the entrance of the straits, and
conveyed along its shores.

Plague or pestilence may intercept, at no
very distant period, the communication by
the way of Egypt, and this oldest and now
nearly-forgotten route would then again be­
come available.
Had circumstances permitted Burckhardt
to traverse the sea-coast of Arabia, between
Jiddah and the entrance of the Gulf, the
accuracy and extent of his information would,
without doubt, have left little to be gleaned
by any subsequent visitor; but it will be
remembered that his researches on this coast
were confined to the cities of Jiddah and
Yembo, and that the remaining portion was