On The 1st Of February I Landed At The Port In This Island Of
Sarbo Taking The Pilot And Master Along With Me, That We Might All
Three Take The Altitude Of The Sun.
At its greatest height it was scarce
71 deg.
Above the horizon, and the declination of that day being 13 deg. 56',
the latitude was 15 deg. 7' N. About 24 leagues short of Massua, and 4
leagues from the Abyssinian coast, in lat. 15 deg. N. there is a great
cluster or archipelago of islands, some of which hardly rise above the
surface of the sea, while others are so lofty that they seem to touch
the clouds; and between these there are so many bays, ports, and
harbours, that no wind can annoy us. All of these islands want water,
except one very high island, called Whale Island by the Portuguese,
because it very much resembles one, in which there is water and plenty
of cattle, with a large haven in which ships may winter. Of all these
islands, that which is most out to sea is called in Arabic Sarbo,
where we now lay at anchor. The island of Sarbo is about a league in
length and half a league broad, all low land with many low barren trees,
and covered with grass. In every place we found the marks of men and
cattle, but we only saw one camel, for which reason our men called it
the Island of the Camel. Though we sought the whole island with much
diligence we could find no water, except in one well dug in a stone
which seemed intended to contain rain water.
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