It Was Shut Up About 140 Years Afterwards By Abu Jafar Al Mansur.

- Astl.]

Although the town of Suez had a great name of old, it is small enough at this time, and I believe had been utterly ruined and abandoned if the Turkish navy had not been stationed here. In the front of the land which faces the south where this sea ends there is the mouth of a small creek or arm of the sea entering a short way into the land, which extends towards the west till stopped by a hillock, the only one that rises in these parts: Between which creek and the bay or ending of the sea is a very long and narrow tongue or spit of sand, on which the gallies and ships of the Turks lie aground; and on which the ancient and warlike City of the Heroes is seated[323]. There still remains a small castle, without which are two high ancient towers, the remains of the City of Heroes which stood here in old times. But on the point of land where the creek enters there is a great and mighty bulwark of modern structure, which defends the entry of the creek, and scours the coast behind the sterns of the gallies if any one should attempt to land in that place. Besides this, there runs between the gallies and the strand, an entrenchment like a ridge or long hill, making the place very strong and defensible. Having considered this place attentively, it seemed to me impossible to land in any part except behind the little mountain on the west at the head of the creek, as we should be there free from the Turkish artillery, and likewise the possession of this hillock might contribute to our success against the enemy.

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