524
DAHAB.
are a number of shallow ponds into which the sea flows at hightide ¬
; here the salt is made which supplies all the peninsula, as well
as the fishermen for curing their fish ; the openings of the ponds
being closed with sand, the water is left to evaporate, when a thick
crust of salt is left, which is collected by the Bedouins. Dahab is
a favourite resort of the fishermen, who here catch the fish called
Boury () in great quantities.
The date trees of Dahab, which belong to the tribe of Mezeine
and Aleygat, presented a very different appearance to those of
Egypt and the Hedjaz, where the cultivators always take off the
lower branches which dry up annually ; here they are suffered to
remain, and hang down to the ground, forming an almost impenetrable ¬
barrier round the tree, the top of which only is crowned with
green leaves. Very few trees had any fruit upon them ; indeed date
trees, in general, yield a very uncertain produce, and even in years,
when every other kind of fruit is abundant, they are sometimes quite
barren. We met here several families of Arabs, who had come to
look after their trees, and to collect salt. In the midst of the small
peninsula of Dahab are about a dozen heaps of stones irregularly
piled together, but shewing traces of having once been united;
none of them is higher than five feet. The Arabs call them Kobour ¬
el Noszara, or the tombs of the Christians, a name given by
them to all the nations which peopled their country before the introduction ¬
of the Islam.
We remained several hours under the refreshing shade of the
palm trees, and then continued our road. In crossing the tongue
of land I observed the remains of what I conceived to be a road
or causeway, which began at the mountain and ran out towards
the point of the peninsula ; the stones which had formed it were
now separated from each other, but lay in a straight line, so as to
afford sufficient proof of their having been placed here by the
