For Though All These
Things Came About By A Miracle, We See Always On Like Occasions There Is
A Shew And Manner Of Reason.
I asked of this Moor if it were true that
the Christians of Cairo had carried away the body
Of St Catharine from
Mount Sinai; but he said he had never heard of it, neither did he
believe the story; and that only four months before he had been in
Cairo, which city they call Mecara[320], where he heard of no such
thing. He thought likewise that the Christians about Mount Sinai would
never have permitted such a thing, as they all considered that woman as
a saint, and held her body in great reverence. He told me also that two
or three leagues before coming to Suez there is a fountain which was
given to the Jews at the intercession of Moses, whom they call Muzau,
the water of which surpasses all others in goodness. On inquiring what
kind of a place was the town of Suez, he said he had never been there,
as no person could enter that town except those appointed by the
governor of Cairo for taking care of the gallies, nor come nearer than
two leagues under pain of death.
[Footnote 320: Mecara, perhaps by mistake for Mecara or Mezara, which is
very near Mesr as it is called by the Turks. Cairo is an Italian
corruption of Kahera or al Kahira - Astl.]
SECTION VIII.
Continuation of the Voyage from Taro or al Tor to Suez.
We set sail the day after our arrival at Toro, being the 23d of April
1541, and on the 24th we were in the lat. of 27 deg. 17' N. At this place,
which is 20 leagues beyond Toro and 52 leagues from al Kossir, the
land of Egypt, or that coast of the Red Sea which continueth all the way
from Abyssinia, comes out into the sea with a very long and low point,
which winds a great way inwards to the land and more crooked than any
other I have seen. After forming a large fine bay, it juts out into a
large high cape or point, which is three short leagues from Suez, at
the other extremity of this bay, and from that first promontory to
Suez the land bears N.W. by N. and S.E. by S. The shore of this bay is
very high and rough, and at the same time entirely parched and barren.
The whole of this large bay, except very near the shore, is so deep that
we had no ground with fifty fathom, and the bottom is a soft sand lake
ouze. This bay I hold to have been undoubtedly the Sinus Elaniticus of
the ancients, though Strabo and Ptolemy, being both deceived in regard
to its situation, placed it on the coast of Stony Arabia at Toro.
This I mentioned before, when describing Toro, that Strabo says the
Arabian Gulf ends in two bays, one called Elaniticus on the Arabian
side, and the other on the Egyptian side where stands the City of
Heroes[321]. Ptolemy evidently fixes the elanitic sinus on the coast
of Arabia, where Toro now stands; which is very wonderful, considering
that Ptolemy Was born in Alexandria, where he wrote his Cosmography and
resided all his life, and which city is so very near these places.
[Footnote 321: No description can be more explicit: but Don John
unfortunately knew not of the eastern sinus, and found himself
constrained to find both sinuses in one gulf. - E.]
The 26th of April we set sail, and at eleven o'clock we lowered our
sails, rowing along shore, where we cast anchor. Two hours before sunset
we weighed again with the wind at north and rowed along shore; and
before the sun set we anchored behind a point of land on the Arabian
shore, which sheltered us effectually from the north wind, having
advanced only a league and a half this day. This point is three small
leagues short of Suez, and is directly east of the N.W. point of the
Great Gulf, distance about a league. From this point, about half a
league inland, is the fountain of Moses already mentioned. As soon as we
had cast anchor we went on shore, whence we saw the end of this sea,
which we had hitherto thought without end, and could plainly see the
masts of the Turkish ships. All this gave us much satisfaction, yet
mixed with much anxiety. As the wind blew hard all night from the north,
we remained at anchor behind the point till day.
On the morning of the 27th, the wind blowing hard at N.N.W. we remained
at anchor till ten, when we departed from the point and made for Suez
with our oars. When about a league from the end of the sea, I went
before with two catures to examine the situation of Suez and to look
out for a proper landing-place. We got close up to Suez about three
o'clock in the afternoon, where we saw many troops of horse in the
field, and two great bands of foot-soldiers in the town, who made many
shots at us from a blockhouse. The Turkish navy at this place consisted
of forty-one large gallies, and nine great ships. Having completed the
examination, and returned to our fleet, we all went to the point of land
to the west of the bay, and came to anchor near the shore in five
fathoms water, in an excellent harbour, the bottom a fine soft sand.
It is certain that in ancient times Suez was called the City of
Heroes, for it differs in nothing as to latitude situation and bearings
from what is said in Ptolomy, Table III. of Africa. More especially as
Suez is seated on the uttermost coast of the nook or bay where the sea
of Mecca ends, on which the City of Heroes was situated, as Strabo
writes in his XVII book thus:
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