The
sailing directions say that this sea is ill surveyed, except in the
direct channel. There are many coral reefs and sunken rocks, and on
whichever side you may happen to be wrecked, the natives are ready to
rob, ill-treat, and kill you, or sell you as slaves in the interior.
It was on two projecting coral reefs from the island of Shaduan, that
the 'Carnatic' was wrecked in 1869. She ran ashore at four o'clock in
the morning of the 13th of September, soon after having made the light
on Rhas Garril. We were at Suez in October of the same year, and
everybody was then full of the sad particulars of the wreck, the
soldiers being especially useful in bringing in the passengers'
luggage, which had been recovered from the Arabs. One of our firemen,
Abraham, was on board the 'Carnatic' at the time of the disaster, and
lost all his worldly goods (not many, I should think, judging by what
he has brought on board here).
The sea was very rough and disagreeable all day. To us the temperature
appears quite cool, indeed cold, though the thermometer still remains
at 75 deg.. Our friends at Aden, who prophesied that I should want my
sealskin jacket before leaving the Gulf of Suez, were not so far wrong
in their prognostications as I imagined at the time.
_Tuesday, April 24th_.
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