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.
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