Page 197 - Travels in Arabia (Vol 2)_Neat

178 COAST OF ARABIA. [CII.

escaped being wrecked during a gale from
the northward. I have since learned that on
the same spot was lost one of those enormous
vessels that formerly traded between Jiddah
and Suez.
From the boisterous weather and numerous
rocks in this part of the sea, the navigation is
so exceedingly dangerous, that scarcely a day
elapsed without some hair-breadth escape.
It would have been impossible to have con­

ducted a ship of greater burden, or one less
quickly manageable, amidst the labyrinth of
shoals through which we had often to thread
our way.
Barak&n is divided into two parts, which
are connected together by a low sandy tract;
so that the two quoin-like hills into which it
rises at a distance appear as two separate
islets. On a nearer approach, its broken and

rugged appearance is very remarkable; large
masses have been detached from the body of
the hills, and lie scattered at their bases.
The anchorage here is small and indifferent.
The island of Ye’fib&h is higher than either
Barak&n or Shushfi’ah, but its appearance
and formation are the same. Their posi-

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