Page 344 - Travels in Arabia (Vol 2)_Neat

II!!
xv.J COAST OF NUBIA. 323

“ they are never at a loss for a name, and
those who do not understand their language

always believe them.” Of the truth of this
remark our experience afforded us frequent
proofs. We found that the fishermen often
applied the name of one island to another,
and even the pilots did not on many occasions
ascertain their real names until they landed
on them. A careful comparison, however, of
his account of this visit with the actually
existing localities will, I think, divest his
narrative of that character of suspicion which
some have attempted to throw upon it.

There is little doubt that Bruce must have
alluded to the Island of Wadi Jemal, the
true latitude of which corresponds pretty
nearly with that assigned by him to his
Emerald Island, a title which he may have
bestowed on it himself, or, what is more
likely, it may have received from the Arabs,
who probably thus named it in consequence
of its vicinity to the emerald mines or
mountains situated on the adjacent conti­
nent. The distance between the island and
opposite main, as given by Bruce, applies
exactly to Wadi Jemal, and the correctness
y 2