rds to
three. The ground is hard clay, and the bay is very large with many
creeks and nooks within, and many islands; many of these creeks
penetrating deep into the main-land, so that in every place there may be
many vessels hidden without being observed from the other branches of
the harbour. A quarter of a league off to sea from the mouth of this
harbour there is a shoal which defends it completely from the admission
of any sea, as this shoal is above water, and has no passage except by
the entrance already mentioned, which trends E. by N. and W. by S. A
cannon-shot from this bay there is a great well, but the water is very
brackish.

[Footnote 293: Considering the very small rise and fall of the tide at
Swakem, the text in this place ought perhaps only to have been
_inches_.--E.]

On the 22d we left this harbour of Doroo at day light, proceeding by
means of our oars, and found the sea very full of rocks, so that
escaping from some we got foul of others, and at half past ten o'clock
we had to fasten our vessels to the rocks. Proceeding onwards, we got
towards evening in with the land, and having doubled a point we entered
a very large bay named _Fuxaa_, or _Fushaa_, three leagues and a half
beyond _Doroo_, the coast between stretching N. and E. with a tendency
towards N.W. and S.E. This bay of _Fushaa_ is remarkable by a very high
sharp peaked hill, in lat. 20 15' N. In the very mouth of the harbour
there are two very low points, lying N. by E. and S. by W. from each
other, distant a league and half. As no great sea can enter here it is a
very good harbour, having 10 and 12 fathoms water on a mud bottom,
diminishing inwards to five fathoms. Along the land within the bay on
the south side there are nine small islands in a row, and in other
places there are some scattered islets, all very low and encompassed by
shoals. The land at this bay is very dry and barren, and it has no
water.

On the 25th we continued along the coast, having many rocks to seawards
about a league off; and at ten o'clock we entered a very large harbour
named _Arekea_, four leagues beyond _Fushaa_, the coast between running
N. and S. with some tendence to N.W. and S.E. _Arekea_, the strongest
and most defensible harbour I have ever seen, is 22 leagues beyond
_Swakem_. In ancient times it was called _Dioscori_ according to Pliny.
In the middle of the entry to this port there is a considerable island,
about a cross-bow shot in length and breadth,