. They
say that the coast of Arabia is naturally very red, and as there are
many great storms in this country, which raise great clouds of dust
towards the skies, which are driven by the wind into the sea, and the
dust being _red_ tinges the water of that colour, whence it got the name
of the Red Sea.

[Footnote 334: By Dr. Hyde, in his notes on _Peritsol_, and Dr.
Cumberland, in his remarks on Sanchoniatho, and by other writers,
_Erythros_ or _Red_ is supposed to be a translation of _Edom_, the name
of _Esau_; whence it is conjectured that this sea, as well as the
country of _Idumea_, took their denominations from _Edom_. But this does
not seem probable for two reasons: _First_, because the Jews do not call
it the _Red Sea_ but _Tam Suf_, or the _Sea of Weeds_; and, _second_,
the ancients included all the ocean between the coasts of Arabia and
India under the name of the _Erythrean_ or _Red Sea_, of which the
_Persian_ and the _Arabian Gulfs_ were reckoned branches.--Ast. I. 129.
c.]

From leaving _Socotora_, till I had coasted the whole of this sea all
the way to _Suez_, I continually and carefully observed this sea; and
the colour and appearance of its shores, the result of which I shall now
state. First then, it is altogether false that the colour of this sea is
red, as it does not differ in any respect from the colour of other seas.
As to the dust driven by the winds from the land to the sea staining the
water; we saw many storms raise great clouds of dust and drive them to
the sea, but the colour of its water was never changed by these. Those
who have said that the land on the coast is red, have not well observed
the coats and strands: for generally on both, sides the land by the sea
is brown and very dark, as if scorched. In some places it appears black
and in others white, and the sands are of these colours. In three places
only there are certain parts of the mountains having veins or streaks of
a red colour; and at these places the Portuguese had never been before
the present voyage. These three places are all far beyond _Swakem_
towards Suez, and the three hills having these red streaks or veins are
all of very hard rock, and all the land round about that we could see
are of the ordinary colour and appearance. Now, although substantially
the water of this sea has no difference in colour from that of other
seas, yet in many places its waves by accident seem very red, from the
following cause. From _Swakem_ to