Page 312 - Travels in Arabia (Vol 2)_Neat

XIV.] COAST Ol« ARABIA. 293

the troops be exchanged, removed, or thrown
suddenly into any given point? For the sup­

pression of pirates, steamers will be found
most efficient, their vessels often escaping our
sailing-ships in the calms and light breezes
prevailing in the eastern seas. It is indeed
impossible to view the re-adoption of this old &
line of route otherwise than as pregnant with
events the most important to the civilised
world. That immense commerce which has

ever flowed between the east and west—which
m
made Tyre mighty, Genoa superb, and the
merchants of Venice princes—was turned
aside from this channel after the discovery of
the passage round the Cape, simply for the i
two following impediments, which modern
skill may soon be expected to surmount.
1st. The perilous and intricate navigation
of the Red Sea.
2nd. The expense and labour which vessels
incurred in landing, conveying across the
Desert, and re-shipping their cargoes on the
Mediterranean.

The time seems fast approaching when
steamers, from possessing less cumbrous ma­

chinery, or from other causes, will be enabled