Al Tur, which
passing by the foot of Mount Sinai, penetrates a great way into Arabia.
This has been described by the Arabian geographers, and confirmed by two
eminent travellers of our own country, Dr Shaw and Dr Pococke, both of
whom have delineated it in their maps[213].
[Footnote 213: The topography of the Red Sea has been much improved by
Bruce, in his Travels in Abyssinia, and since him by Lord Valentia in
his Travels in India. - E.]
"The present voyage shews the way of sailing in these eastern seas by
the Turks, with whom we may join the Arabs and Indians; and it mentions
several particulars respecting the siege of Diu, and particularly
respecting the conduct of the Pacha, which could not be so well known to
the Portuguese; serving to rectify some things and elucidate others. It
must be observed that the soundings or depths of water, though expressed
in fathoms, which are reckoned at six feet in the British marine
service, are here to be understood as paces of five feet each. The
time is expressed according to the Italian mode of reckoning; which
begins the day at sunset, and counts the hours successively round from
one to twenty-four; instead of dividing the entire day into twice
twelve hours, as is customary with the English and other European
nations."[214] - Astl.
