In General, The Arab Sailors Are Very Superstitious; They Hold Certain Passages In Great Horror; Not Because They Are More Dangerous Than Others, But Because They Believe That Evil Spirits Dwell Among The Coral Rocks, And Might Possibly Attract The Ship Towards The Shoal, And Cause Her To Founder.

For the same reason they observe the constant practice of throwing, at every meal, a handful of dressed victuals into the sea, before they sit down themselves to the repast; saying that the inhabitants of the sea must also have their morsel, otherwise they will impede the vessel's course.

Our Reys once forgot this tribute; but on recollecting it, he ordered a fresh loaf to be baked, and threw it into the sea.

We met every day, during this voyage, ships coming from Egypt, and often lay in the same bay with three or four of them, in the evening. On such occasions quarrels frequently happen about water; and ships are often obliged to wait one or two days before the Bedouins bring a sufficient supply down to the coast. Butter, milk, honey, sheep, goats, salt fish, firewood, thin branches of the shrub Arak, of which the Arabians make their tooth-brushes, and which the Bedouins collect on this coast, are every where to be had in plenty, and are generally exchanged for corn or tobacco. These Bedouins are daring robbers, and often swim to the ships during the night, to watch for the opportunity

[p.430] of pilfering. The water on the whole coast is bad, except at Wodjeh and at Dhoba.

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Words from 164378 to 164639 of 182297