RED Sea, or Arabic Gulph, so much celebrated in sacred history, separates Arabia from Upper Ethiopia and part of Egypt. This sea is 350 leagues in length and 40 in breadth. As no river falls into it of sufficient force to counteract the influence of the tide, it is more affected by the motions of the great ocean than any of the inland seas nearly in the same latitude. It is not much exposed to tempests: the winds usually blow from north to south, and being periodical, like the monsoons of India, invariably determine the season of falling into or out of this sea. It is divided into two gulphs; that to the east was called the Eritrean gulph, from the city Adana at the north end of it; and that to the west the Heroopolitic, from the city of Heroopolis; the former of which belongs to Arabia, and the latter to Egypt.

Mr Bruce has made many observations on this sea, which are worthy of notice.—With regard to the name, he says it was certainly derived from Edom or Esau the son of Jacob; though in another place he says, he wonders that writers have not rather supposed it to have got the epithet of Red, from the colour of the sand on its coasts, than for other reasons they have alleged. With regard to any redness in the water itself, or in the bottom, which some have asserted, our traveller affirms us that there is no such thing. It is more difficult to assign a reason for the Hebrew name of it, which signifies the Sea of Weeds; as he never saw a weed throughout the whole extent of it. "Indeed," (says he) upon the slightest consideration, it will occur to any one, that a narrow gulph, under the immediate influence of the monsoons, blowing from contrary points five months each year, would have too much agitation to produce such vegetables, seldom found but in stagnant waters, and seldom, if ever, found in salt ones. My opinion then is, that it is from the large trees or plants of white coral, spread everywhere over the bottom of the Red Sea, perfectly in imitation of plants on land, that the sea has obtained this name.—I saw one of these, which, from a root nearly central, threw out ramifications of an almost circular form, measuring 26 feet every way."

Our author has also made many useful observations on the navigation of this sea. "All the western shore (he says) is bold, and has more depth of water than the east; but on this side there is neither anchoring ground nor shoals. It is rocky, with a considerable depth of water everywhere; and there are a number of sunken rocks, which, though not visible, are sufficiently near the surface to destroy a large ship." The cause of this, in Mr Bruce's opinion, is, that the mountains on the side of Abyssinia and Egypt are all of hard stone, porphyry, many different kinds of marble, granite, alabaster, and basaltes. These being all composed of solid materials, therefore, can part with very little dust or sand, which might otherwise be blown from them into the sea. On the opposite coast, viz. that of Hejaz and Tahamah, on the Arabian side, the whole consists of moving sands; a large quantity of which is blown from the south-east by the dry winter monsoons; which being lodged among the rocks on that side, and confined there by the north-east or summer monsoon, which is in a contrary direction, hinders them from coming over to the Egyptian side. Hence the western coast is full of sunken rocks for want of sand to cover them, with which they would otherwise become islands. They are naked and bare all round, with sharp points like spears; while, on the east-side, every rock becomes an island, and every two or three islands become an harbour. On the ends of the principal of these harbours the people have piled up great heaps of stones to serve as signals: "and it is in these (says Mr Bruce) that the large vessels from Cairo to Jidda, equal in size to our large 74 gun-ships (but from the citizens of mason-work built within for holding water, I suppose double their weight), after navigating their portion of the channel in the day-time, come safely and quietly to at four o'clock in the afternoon; and in these little harbours pass the night, to sail into the channel again next morning."

The western channel of the Red Sea was chosen, in the days of the Ptolemies, for the track of the Indian and African. These monarchs erected a great number of cities all along the western coast; and notwithstanding the dangers of the navigation, we do not hear that it was ever abandoned on account of them.

From the observations made by our author on the navigation of the Red Sea, he undertakes to point out a safe passage for large ships to the gulph of Suez, so that they may be able to judge of the propriety of their own course themselves, without trifling implicitly to the pilots they meet with, who are often very ignorant of their profession. This sea, according to Mr Bruce, may be divided into four parts, of which the channel occupies two, till near the latitude of 26°, or that of Coffin. On the west it is deep water, with many rocks; and on the east it is full of islands, as has been already mentioned. Between these islands there are channels and harbours of deep water, where ships may be protected in any wind; but a pilot is necessary in sailing among these from Mocha to Suez, and the voyage besides can be continued only during part of the day. Ships bound to Suez without the consent of the sheriffs of Mecca, that is, without any intention of selling their cargo at Jidda, or paying custom there, ought to take in their fresh water at Mocha; or if there be any reason against this, a few hours will carry them to Azab or Saba on the Abyssinian coast, where they may be plentifully supplied: but it must be remembered, "that the people here are Gallo, the most treacherous and villainous wretches on earth." Here not only water may be procured, but plenty of sheep, goats, with some myrrh, and incense in the proper season.—Great caution, however, must be used in dealing with the people, as even those of Mocha, who are absolutely necessary to them in their commercial dealings, cannot trust them without surety or hostages. Not many years ago, the surgeon and mate of the Elgin East Indiaman, with several other sailors, were murdered by these savages as they went ashore to purchase myrrh, though they had a letter of safe conduct from the sheik.

To such as do not want to be known, our author recommends a low black island on the coast of Arabia, named Camaran, in latitude 15° 30'. It is distinguished by a white house or fortress on the west end of it; where water is to be had in still greater plenty than at Azab; but no provisions, or such only as are very bad, can be procured. If it is necessary not to be seen at all on the coast, the island of Fooft is recommended by our author as having excellent water, with a saint or monk, whose office is to keep the wells clean. This is one of the chain of islands which stretches almost across the gulph from Loheia to Mafuah, and from actual observation by Mr Bruce, is found to be situated in N. Lat. 15° 59' 43". E. Long. 42° 47'. From this to Yambo there is a safe watering-place; and there is an absolute necessity for having a pilot before you come to Ras Mahomet; because, over the Aelanic gulph, the mountains of Auckla, and the Cape itself, there is often a thick haze which lasts for many days together, and a number of ships are lost by mistaking the eastern bay or Aelanic gulph for the entrance of the gulph of Suez; the former has a ridge of rocks nearly across it. After reaching Sheduan, a large island, about three leagues farther in a north by west direction, there is a bare rock distinguished by no particular name; but so situated that ships ought not to come within three leagues of it. This rock is to be left to the westward at the distance just mentioned; after passing which you meet with shoals forming a pretty broad channel, with foundings from 15 to 30 fathoms; and again, on standing directly for Tor, there are two other oval sands with sunk rocks in the channel, between which you are to steer. Tor may be known at a distance by two hills that stand near the water side; which, in clear weather, may be seen six leagues off. Jut to the south-east of these is the town and harbour, where there are some palm-trees about the houses, the more remarkable, as being the first that are seen on the coast. The foundings in the way to Tor harbour are clean and regular; "and, by giving the beacon a small birth on the larboard hand, you may haul in a little to the northward, and anchor in five or six fathom." In spring-tides, it is high water at Tor nearly about 12 o'clock: in the middle of the gulph there is no perceptible tide, but at the sides it runs at the rate of more than two knots in the hour. Tor itself is but a small village, with a convent of monks belonging to those of Mount Sinai. It was taken by Don John de Castro, and fortified soon after its discovery by the Portuguese; but has never since been a place of any consideration; serving now only for a watering place to the ships trading to or from Suez.—From this place there is a distinct view of mounts Horeb and Sinai, which appear above and behind the others, with their tops frequently covered with snow in the winter.

Mr Bruce next proceeds to consider some questions which may be reckoned matters of curiosity rather than anything else. One of these is concerning the level of the water of this sea itself, which has been supposed several feet above that of the Mediterranean. "To this (says our author) I answer, that the fact has been supposed to be so by antiquity, and alleged as a reason why Ptolemy's canal was made from the bottom of the Heroopolitic gulph rather than brought due north across the isthmus of Suez; in which last case it was feared it would submerge a great part of Asia Minor. But who has ever attempted to verify this by experiment? or who is capable of settling the difference of levels, amounting, as supposed, to some feet and inches, between two points 120 miles distant from each other, over a desert that has no settled surface, but is changing its height every day? Besides, since all seas are in fact but one, what is it that hinders the Indian ocean to flow to its level? What is it that keeps the Indian ocean up? Till this last branch of the question is refuted, I shall take it for granted that no such difference of level exists, whatever Ptolemy's engineers might have pretended to him; because, to suppose it fact, is to suppose the violation of one very material law of nature."

The next thing considered by our author is the passage of the Israelites through the Red Sea. At the place where he supposes the passage to have been, the sea is not quite four leagues broad, so that it might easily have been crossed in one night without any miracle. There is about 14 fathom water in the channel, and 9 at the sides, with good anchorage everywhere; the farther side is a low sandy coast, and a very easy landing place. "The draught of the bottom of the gulph (says he) given by Dr Pococke, is very erroneous in every part of it. It was proposed to Mr Niebuhr, when in Egypt, to inquire upon the spot, whether there were not some ridges of rocks where the water was shallow, so that an army at particular times might pass over? Secondly, whether the Etefian winds, which blow strongly all summer from the north-west, could not blow so violently against the sea, as to keep it back on a heap, so that the Israelites might have passed without a miracle? And a copy of these queries was left for me to join my inquiries likewise. But I must confess, however learned the gentlemen were who proposed these doubts, I did not think they merited any attention to solve them. If the Etefian winds, blowing from the north-west in summer, could heap up the sea as a wall on the right or to the south, of 50 feet high, still the difficulty would remain of building the wall on the left hand or to the north. Besides, water standing in that position for a day, must have lost the nature of a fluid. Whence came that cohesion of particles that hindered that wall to escape at the sides? This is as great a miracle as that of Moses. If the Etefian winds had done this once, they must have repeated it many a time before and since, from the same causes. Yet Diodorus Siculus says, the Troglodytes, the indigenous inhabitants of that very spot, had a tradition from father to son, from their very earliest and remotest ages, that once this division of the sea did happen there; and that, after leaving the bottom some time dry, the sea again came back and covered it with great fury. The words of this author are of the most remarkable kind. We cannot think this heathen is writing in favour of revelation. He knew not Moses, nor says a word about Pharaoh and his host; but records the miracle of the division of the sea in words nearly as strong as those of Moses, from the mouths of unbiased undefining pagans."

Red-Shank, in ornithology. See Scolopax.