Page 346 - Travels in Arabia (Vol 2)_Neat
P. 346
xv.] COAST OF NUBIA. 325
so familiar to us during our survey of this
region, that we never hesitated to attribute
the above inconsistency to this cause. Such
optical phenomena we also observed to occur
:
more frequently, and in a more striking man
ner, about the place I am now considering
than in any other part of the Red Sea.
The feat performed by Bruce on the occa
sion of this voyage, of taking the large mat
sail of the boat in his arms and cutting
it adrift, has excited the scepticism of his
critics. I may, however, remark that I have .V
£
%
frequently observed at Jiddah a single boat
man manage the large sail of a bagala with
so little difficulty, as to leave no doubt in my
mind of the possibility of Mr. Bruce’s story.
Upon the whole, it is candid to admit that
1
Bruce’s account of his visit to these islands
is by no means clearly or perspicuously nar
rated. But surely this defect cannot justify
the harsh comments which have been made
on it by those who have never visited the
locality, but have formed a premature de
cision on its merits from hearsay evidence
given by natives, who, it is beyond doubt,
referred to latitudes totally different from