Before leaving the Gulf of Arabia or of Mecca, it may be proper to consider the reason why the ancients called this Gulf the Red Sea, and to give my own opinion founded on what I actually saw, whether it differ in colour from the great ocean. In the sixth book of his Natural History, Pliny quotes several opinions as the origin of the name Erythros given to this sea by the ancients[334]. The first is, that it took its name from Erythra, a king who once reigned on its borders, whence came Erythros which signifies red in the Greek. Another opinion was that the reflexion of the sun-beams gave a red colour to this sea. Some hold that the red colour proceeds from the sand and ground along the sea coast, and others that the water was red itself. Of these opinions every writer chose that he liked best. The Portuguese who formerly navigated this sea affirmed that it was spotted or streaked with red, arising as they alleged from the following circumstances. They say that the coast of Arabia is naturally very red, and as there are many great storms in this country, which raise great clouds of dust towards the skies, which are driven by the wind into the sea, and the dust being red tinges the water of that colour, whence it got the name of the Red Sea.
[Footnote 334: By Dr. Hyde, in his notes on Peritsol, and Dr. Cumberland, in his remarks on Sanchoniatho, and by other writers, Erythros or Red is supposed to be a translation of Edom, the name of Esau; whence it is conjectured that this sea, as well as the country of Idumea, took their denominations from Edom. But this does not seem probable for two reasons: First, because the Jews do not call it the Red Sea but Tam Suf, or the Sea of Weeds; and, second, the ancients included all the ocean between the coasts of Arabia and India under the name of the Erythrean or Red Sea, of which the Persian and the Arabian Gulfs were reckoned branches.--Ast. I. 129. c.]
From leaving Socotora, till I had coasted the whole of this sea all the way to Suez, I continually and carefully observed this sea; and the colour and appearance of its shores, the result of which I shall now state. First then, it is altogether false that the colour of this sea is red, as it does not differ in any respect from the colour of other seas. As to the dust driven by the winds from the land to the sea staining the water; we saw many storms raise great clouds of dust and drive them to the sea, but the colour of its water was never changed by these. Those who have said that the land on the coast is red, have not well observed the coats and strands: for generally on both, sides the land by the sea is brown and very dark, as if scorched. In some places it appears black and in others white, and the sands are of these colours. In three places only there are certain parts of the mountains having veins or streaks of a red colour; and at these places the Portuguese had never been before the present voyage. These three places are all far beyond Swakem towards Suez, and the three hills having these red streaks or veins are all of very hard rock, and all the land round about that we could see are of the ordinary colour and appearance. Now, although substantially the water of this sea has no difference in colour from that of other seas, yet in many places its waves by accident seem very red, from the following cause. From Swakem to Kossir, which is 136 leagues, the sea is thickly beset with shoals and shelves or reefs, composed of coral stone, which grows like clustered trees spreading its branches on all sides as is done by real coral, to which this stone bears so strong resemblance that it deceives many who are not very skilful respecting the growth and nature of coral.
This coral stone is of two sorts, one of which is a very pure white, and the other very red. In some places this coral stone is covered by great quantities of green ouze or sleech, and in other places it is free from this growth. In some places this ouze or sleech is very bright green, and in others of an orange-tawny colour. From Swakem upwards, the water of this sea is so exceedingly clear, that in many places the bottom may be distinctly seen at the depth of 20 fathoms. Hence, where-ever these shoals and shelves are, the water over them is of three several colours, according to the colour of these rocks or shelves, red, green, or white, proceeding from the colour of the ground below, as I have many times experienced. Thus when the ground of the shoals is sand, the sea over it appears white; where the coral-stone is covered with green ouze or sleech, the water above is greener even than the weeds; but where the shoals are of red coral, or coral-stone covered by red weeds, all the sea over them appears very red. And, as this red colour comprehends larger spaces of the sea than either the green or the white, because the stone of the shoals is mostly of red coral, I am convinced that on this account it has got the name of the Red Sea, and not the green sea or the white sea, though these latter colours are likewise to be seen in perfection.
The means I used for ascertaining this secret of nature were these. I oftentimes fastened my bark upon shoals where the sea appeared red, and commanded divers to bring me up stones from the bottom. Mostly it was so shallow over these shoals, that the bark touched; and in other places the mariners could wade for half a league with the water only breast high. On these occasions most of the stones brought up were of red coral, and others were covered by orange-tawny weeds. Whether the sea appeared green, I found the stones at the bottom were white coral covered with green weeds; and where the sea was white I found a very white sand. I have conversed often with the Moorish pilots, and with persons curious in antiquities, who dwelt on this sea, who assured me that it was never stained red by the dust brought from the land by the winds: I do not, however reprove the opinion of former Portuguese navigators; but I affirm, that having gone through this sea oftener than they, and having seen its whole extent, while they only saw small portions, I never saw any such thing. Every person with whom I conversed wondered much at our calling it the Red Sea, as they knew no other name for it than the sea of Mecca[335]. On the 9th of August 1541, we entered the port of Anchediva, where we remained till the 21st of that month, when we went in foists or barks and entered the port of Goa, whence we set out on this expedition on the 31st of December 1540, almost eight months before.
[Footnote 335: This might have been the case among the pilots at this time; but among Arabic geographers it is likewise called the Sea of Hejaz, the Sea of Yaman, and the Sea of Kolzum.--Astl.]
Table of Latitudes observed in the Journal of Don Juan[336].
Deg. Min.
Socotora, 12 40
Bab-al-Mondub[A] 12 15
Sarbo port,[B] 15 76[337]
Shaback, scarcely 19 0
A nameless island, 19 0
Tradate, harbour 19 50
Fushaa, bay 20 15
Farate, river 21 40
Ras-al-Jidid, port[B] 22 0
Comol, port 22 30
Ras-al-Nef, Cape 24 0
Swairt island 24 10
Gaudenauchi, port 24 40
Tuna, haven 25 30
Kossir[A] 26 15
Safanj-al-bahr, island 27 0
Island, 2 leagues N.W. from Sheduan 27 40
Toro, town 28 10
Anchorage, 20 leagues farther 29 17
Suez 29 45
[Footnote 336: In this Table [A] denotes two observations having been made at the place; [B] indicates more observations than two; and all the rest only one. All of course north.--E.]
[Footnote 337: In the enumeration of latitudes in Astleys Collection this is set down as 15 deg. 17 min. but in the text of Purchas it is stated as here.--E.]