Page 267 - Travels in Arabia (Vol 2)_Neat

248 COAST OF ARABIA. [cif.

coast. A glance at the chart will point out
that, with the exception of occasional gaps,
$8
I a continued line of reefs runs nearly parallel
- to the shore, and extends along the whole of
i the Arabian side of the sea. In the interval
formed by the outer boundary of the reefs
and the line of coast there are innumerable
detached coral rocks and banks, all having
between them deep channels, which are con­
stantly traversed by native coasting vessels.
Now it is well known that, within these chan­

nels, smooth water is always found; and,
near the shore, land and sea breezes often
prevail, when hard north-westerly or south­
erly winds are experienced in the middle of
the sea.
53
These banks possess so remarkable a power
of retarding the progress and lessening the
power of the wind, that a breeze from sea­
ward has frequently been observed to linger
for nearly an hour at one of these ridges be­
fore passing over it; and frequently near the
coast, when running along with a fine land

wind on one side of a reef, we observed a
fresh sea breeze prevailing from a contrary
direction on the other.