Page 380 - Travels in Arabia (Vol 2)_Neat

XVII.) COAST OF NURIA. .‘353

many centuries ago; and some notices of
them being preserved by the Arabian authors,
the facts were communicated to Mohammed
’All, who, in 1832, despatched a party to ex­
amine and report on them.
The inhabitants of the mountain are de­
scribed as a fierce and peculiarly intolerant
race; but the Pasha’s name served as a
secure passport, and after considerable diffi­

culty and danger in ascending the steep and
slippery sides of the mountain, Monsieur
Linon, who commanded the expedition, with
his companions, reached the spot. His opi­
nion, as communicated to me by one of the
party, was, that the mines might be worked
to advantage, provided water could be pro­
cured in their vicinity; but after much dili­
gent search and inquiry, they were unable to
find any, though some traces of the troughs
in which the ore had formerly been washed,
still existed.

From Mersa Shab to Sherm Hile’ib, there
are no anchorages, and we could not in con­

sequence approach the shore; added to which,
the weather was tempestuous in the extreme,
and scarcely a day elapsed without the safety
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