distance, according to the _Periplûs_, of 3000 stadia—a somewhat
excessive estimate. The place is called also +Adoulei+ and more
commonly Adoulis by ancient writers (Ptol. IV. vii. 8; VIII. xvi. 11).
It is represented by the modern Thulla or Zula [pronounced Azule,—lat.
15° 12´-15° 15´ N., long. 39° 36´ E.].—To the West of this, according
to Lord Valentia and Mr. Salt, there are to be found the remains
of an ancient city. It was situated on the +Adoulikos Kolpos+
(Ptol. I. xv. 11.; IV. vii. 8), now called Annesley Bay, the best
entrance into Abyssinia. It was erroneously placed by D’Anville at
Dokhnau or Harkiko, close to Musawwâ [lat. 15° 35´ N.] There is much
probability in the supposition that it was founded by a party of those
Egyptians who, as we learn from Herodotos (II. 30), to the number of
240,000 fled from their country in the days of Psammêtikḥos (B.
C. 671-617) and went to as great a distance beyond Meroë, the
capital of Ethiopia, as Meroë is beyond Elephantinê. This is the
account which Pliny (VI. 3-4) gives of its foundation, adding that
it was the greatest emporium of the +Troglodytes+, and distant
from +Ptolemaïs+ a five days’ voyage, which by the ordinary
reckoning is 2,500 stadia. It was an emporium for rhinoceros’ hides,
ivory and tortoise-shell. It had not only a large sea-borne traffic,
but was also a caravan station for the traffic of the interior of
Africa. Under the Romans it was the haven of +Auxumê+ (Ptol.
IV. vii. 25,—written also Auxumis, Axumis), now Axum, the capital
of the kingdom of Tigre in Abyssinia. +Auxumê+ was the chief
centre of the trade with the interior of Africa in gold-dust, ivory,
leather, hides and aromatics. It was rising to great prosperity and
power about the time the _Periplûs_ was written, which is the earliest
work extant in which it is mentioned. It was probably founded by the
Egyptian exiles already referred to. Its remaining monuments are
perfectly Egyptian and not pastoral, Troglodytik, Greek, or Arabian in
their character. Its name at the same time retains traces of the term
+Asmak+, by which, as we learn from Herodotos, those exiles were
designated, and Heeren considers it to have been one of the numerous
priest-colonies which were sent out from Meroë.
At Adouli was a celebrated monument, a throne of white marble
with a slab of basanite stone behind it, both covered with Greek
characters, which in the sixth century of our era were copied by
+Kosmas Indikopleustês+. The passage in Kosmos relating to this
begins thus: “+Adulê+ is a city of Ethiopia and the port of
communication with +Axiômis+, and the whole nation of which
that city is the capital. In this port we carry on our trade from
Alexandria and the Elanitik Gulf. The town itself is about a mile
from the shore, and as you enter it on the Western side which leads
from +Axiômis+, there is still remaining a chair or throne which
appertained to one of the Ptolemys who had subjected this country to
his authority.” The first portion of the inscription records that
Ptolemy Euergetês (247-222 B.C.) received from the Troglodyte
Arabs and Ethiopians certain elephants which his father, the second
king of the Makedonian dynasty, and himself had taken in hunting in
the region of ADULÊ and trained to war in their own kingdom.
The second portion of the inscription commemorates the conquests of an
anonymous Ethiopian king in Arabia and Ethiopia as far as the frontier
of Egypt. +Adouli+, it is known for certain, received its name
from a tribe so designated which formed a part of the +Danakil+
shepherds who are still found in the neighbourhood of Annesley Bay,
in the island of Diset [lat. 15° 28´, long. 30° 45´, the Diodôros
perhaps of the _Periplûs_] opposite which is the town or station of
Masawâ (anc. Saba) [lat. 15° 37´ N., long. 39° 28´ E.], and also
in the archipelago of +Dhalak+, called in the _Periplûs_, the
islands of +Alalaiou+. The merchants of Egypt, we learn from the
work, first traded at Masawwâ but afterwards removed to Oreinê for
security. This is an islet in the south of the Bay of Masawwâ, lying
20 miles from the coast; it is a rock as its name imports, and is of
considerable elevation.
+Aduli+ being the best entrance into Abyssinia, came prominently
into notice during the late Abyssinian war. Beke thus speaks of it,
“In our recent visit to Abyssinia I saw quite enough to confirm the
opinion I have so long entertained, that when the ancient Greeks
founded Adule or Adulis at the mouth of the river Hadâs, now only a
river bed except during the rains, though a short way above there is
rain all the year round, they knew that they possessed one of the keys
of Abyssinia.”
5. Below Adouli, about 800 stadia, occurs another very deep bay,
at the entrance of which on the right are vast accumulations of
sand, wherein is found deeply embedded the Opsian stone, which is
not obtainable anywhere else. The king of all this country, from
the +Moskhophagoi+ to the other end of +Barbaria+, is
+Zôskalês+, a man at once of penurious habits and of a grasping
disposition, but otherwise honourable in his dealings and instructed in
the Greek language.
(5) At a distance of about 100 miles beyond +Adouli+ the coast
is indented by another bay now known as +Hanfelah+ bay [near
Râs Hanfelah in lat. 14° 44´, long. 40° 49´ E.] about 100 miles from
Annesley Bay and opposite an island called Daramsas or Hanfelah. It
has wells of good water and a small lake of fresh water after the
rains; the coast is inhabited by the Dummoeta, a tribe of the Danakil.
This is the locality where, and where only, the Opsian or Obsidian
stone was to be found. Pliny calls it an unknown bay, because traders
making for the ports of Arabia passed it by without deviating from
their course to enter it. He was aware, as well as our author, that
it contained the Opsian stone, of which he gives an account, already
produced in the introduction.
6. These articles which these places import are the following:—
Ἱμάτια βαρβαρικα, ἄγναφα τὰ ἐν Ἀιγύπτω γινόμενα—Cloth undressed, of
Egyptian manufacture, for the Barbarian market.
Στολὰι Ἀρσινοητικὰι—Robes manufactured at Arsinoê.
Ἀβόλλαι νόθοι χρωμάτιναι—Cloaks, made of a poor cloth imitating a
better quality, and dyed.
Λέντια—Linens.
Δικρόσσια—Striped cloths and fringed. Mantles with a double fringe.
Λιθίας ὑαλῆς πλείονα γένη καὶ ἄλλης μορρίνης, τῆς γινομένης έν
Διοσπόλει—Many sorts of glass or crystal, and of that other transparent
stone called Myrrhina, made at Diospolis.
Ὀρείχαλκος—Yellow copper, for ornaments and cut into pieces to pass for
money.
Μελίεφθα χαλκᾶ—Copper fused with honey: for culinary vessels and
cutting into bracelets and anklets worn by certain classes of women.
Σίδηρος—Iron. Consumed in making spearheads for hunting the elephant
and other animals and in making weapons of war.
Πελύκια—Hatchets.
Σκέπαρνα—Adzes.
Μάχαιραι—Swords.
Ποτήρια χαλκᾶ στρογγύλα μεγάλα—Drinking vessels of brass, large and
round.
Δηνάριον ὀλίγον—A small quantity of denarii: for the use of merchants
resident in the country.
Οἶνος Λαοδικηνὸς καὶ Ἰταλικὸς οῦ πολῦς—Wine, Laodikean, _i.e._ Syrian,
from Laodike, (now Latakia) and Italian, but not much.
Ἔλαιον οὐ πολύ—Oil, but not much.
Ἀργυρώματα καὶ χρυσώματα τοπικῷ ῥυθμῷ κατεσκευασμέναι—Gold and silver
plate made according to the fashion of the country for the king.
Ἀβόλλαι—Cloaks for riding or for the camp.
Καυνάκαὶ ἁπλοῖ—Dresses simply made of skins with the hair or fur on.
These two articles of dress are not of much value.
These articles are imported from the interior parts of Ariakê:—
Σίδηρος Ἰνδικὸς—Indian iron.
Στόμωμα—Sharp blades.
Ὀθόνιον Ἰνδικὸν τὸ πλατύτερον, ἡ λεγομένη μοναχὴ.—Monakhê,[17] Indian
cotton cloth of great width.
Σαγματογῆναι—Cotton for stuffing.
Περιζώματα—Sashes or girdles.
Καυνάκαὶ—Dresses of skin with the hair or fur on.
Μολόχινα—Webs of cloth mallow-tinted.
Σινδόνες ὀλίγαι—Fine muslins in small quantity.
Λάκκος χρωμάτινος—Gum-lac: yielding Lake.
The articles locally produced for export are ivory, tortoise-shell, and
rhinoceros. Most of the goods which supply the market arrive any time
from January to September—that is, from Tybi to Thôth. The best season,
however, for ships from Egypt to put in here is about the month of
September.
7. From this bay the Arabian Gulf trends eastward, and at
+Aualitês+ is contracted to its narrowest. At a distance of
about 4000 stadia (_from Adouli_), if you still sail along the same
coast, you reach other marts of +Barbaria+, called the marts
beyond (_the Straits_), which occur in successive order, and which,
though harbourless, afford at certain seasons of the year good
and safe anchorage. The first district you come to is that called
+Aualitês+, where the passage across the strait to the opposite
point of Arabia is shortest. Here is a small port of trade, called,
like the district, +Aualitês+, which can be approached only by
little boats and rafts. The imports of this place are—
Ὑαλὴ λίθια σύμμικτος—Flint glass of various sorts.
Χυλός] Διοσπολιτικῆς ὄμφακος—Juice of the sour grape of Diospolis.
Ἰμάτια βαρβαρικὰ σύμμικτα γεγναμμένα—Cloths of different kinds worn in
Barbaria dressed by the fuller.
Σῖτος—Corn.
Οἶνος—Wine.
Κασσιτερος ὀλίγος—A little tin.
The exports, which are sometimes conveyed on rafts across the straits
by the +Berbers+ themselves to +Okêlis+ and +Mouza+ on
the opposite coast, are—
Ἀρώματα—Odoriferous gums.
Ἐλέφας ὀλίγος—Ivory in small quantity.
Χελώνη—Tortoise-shell.
Σμύρνα ἐλαχίστη διαφέρουσα δὲ τῆς ἄλλης—Myrrh in very small quantity,
but of the finest sort.
Μάκειρ—Macer.
The barbarians forming the population of the place are _rude and_
lawless men.
(6, 7) From this bay the coast of the gulf, according to our author,
has a more easterly direction to the Straits, the distance to which
from Adouli is stated at 4,000 stadia, an estimate much too liberal.
In all this extent of coast the _Periplûs_ mentions only the bay of
the Opsian-stones and conducts us at once from thence to Aualités at
the straits. Strabo however, and Juba, and Pliny, and Ptolemy mention
several places in this tract, such as +Arsinoë+, +Berenîkê+,
+Epideirês+, the Grove of Eumenês, the Chase of Puthangelos, the
Territory of the Elephantophagoi, &c. The straits are called by Ptolemy
+Deirê+ or +Dêrê+ (_i. e._ the neck), a word which from its
resemblance in sound to the Latin _Dirae_ has sometimes been explained
to mean “the terrible.” (I. xv. 11; IV. vii. 9; VIII. xvi. 12). “The
_Periplûs_,” Vincent remarks, “makes no mention of Deirê, but observes
that the point of contraction is close to +Abalitês+ or the
Abalitik mart; it is from this mart that the coast of Africa falling
down first to the South and curving afterwards towards the East is
styled the Bay of +Aualitês+ by Ptolemy, (IV. vii. 10, 20, 27, 30,
39,) but in the _Periplûs_ this name is confined to a bay immediately
beyond the straits which D’Anville has likewise inserted in his map,
but which I did not fully understand till I obtained Captain Cook’s
chart and found it perfectly consistent with the _Periplûs_.” It is the
gulf of Tejureh or Zeyla.
The tract of country extending from the Straits to Cape Arômata
(now Guardafui) is called at the present day +Adel+. It is
described by Strabo (XVI. iv. 14), who copies his account of it from
Artemidoros. He mentions no emporium, nor any of the names which occur
in the _Periplûs_ except the haven of Daphnous. [Bandar Mariyah, lat.
11° 46´ N., long. 50° 38´ E.] He supplies however many particulars
regarding the region which are left unnoticed by our author as having
no reference to commerce—particulars, however, which prove that
these parts which were resorted to in the times of the Ptolemies for
elephant-hunting were much better known to the ancients than they
were till quite recently known to ourselves. Ptolemy gives nearly the
same series of names (IV. vii. 9, 10) as the _Periplûs_, but with some
discrepancies in the matter of their distances which he does not so
accurately state. His list is: +Dêre+, a city; +Abalitês+
or Aualitês, a mart; +Malaô+, a mart; +Moundou+ or
+Mondou+, a mart; Mondou, an island; Mosulon, a cape and a mart;
+Kobê+, a mart; +Elephas+, a mountain; +Akkanai+ or
Akannai, a mart; +Arômata+, a cape and a mart.
The mart of +Abalitês+ is represented by the modern +Zeyla+
[lat. 11° 22´ N., long. 43° 29´ E., 79 miles from the straits.] On
the N. shore of the gulf are Abalit and Tejureh. Abalit is 43 miles
from the straits, and Tejureh 27 miles from Abalit. This is the
+Zouileh+ of Ebn Haukal and the +Zalegh+ of Idrisi. According
to the _Periplûs_ it was near the straits, but Ptolemy has fixed it
more correctly at the distance from them of 50 or 60 miles.
8. Beyond Aualitês there is another mart, superior to it, called
+Malaô+, at a distance by sea of 800 stadia. The anchorage is
an open road, sheltered, however, by a cape protruding eastward. The
people are of a more peaceable disposition than their neighbours. The
imports are such as have been already specified, with the addition of—
Πλείονες χιτῶνες—Tunics in great quantity.
Σάγοι Ἀρσινοητικοι γεγναμμένοι καὶ βεβαμμένοι—Coarse cloaks (or
blankets) manufactured at Arsinoê, prepared by the fuller and dyed.
Μελίεφθα ὀλίγα—A few utensils made of copper fused with honey.
Σίδερος—Iron.
Δηνάριον οὐ πολὺ χρυσοῦντε καὶ ἀργυροῦν—Specie,—gold and silver, but
not much.
The exports from this locality are—
Σμύρνα—Myrrh.
Λίβανος ὁ περατικος ὀλίγὸς—Frankincense _which we call peratic_, _i.e._
from beyond the straits, a little only.
Κασσία σκληροτέρα—Cinnamon of a hard grain.
Δούακα—Douaka (_an inferior kind of cinnamon_).
Κάγκαμον—The gum (_for fumigation_) _kangkamon_. ‘Dekamalli,’ gum.
Μάκειρ—The spice _macer_, which is carried to Arabia.
Σώματα σπανίως—Slaves, a few.
(8) +Malaô+ as a mart was much superior to Abalitês, from which
our author estimates its distance to be 800 stadia, though it is in
reality greater. From the description he gives of its situation it
must be identified with Berbereh [lat. 10° 25´ N., long. 45° 1´ E.]
now the most considerable mart on this part of the coast. Vincent
erroneously places it between Zeyla and the straits.
9. Distant from +Malaô+ two days’ sail is the trading port of
+Moundou+, where ships find a safer anchorage by mooring at an
island which lies very close to shore. The exports and imports are
similar to those of the preceding marts, with the addition of the
fragrant gum called _Mokrotou_, a peculiar product of the place. The
native traders here are uncivilized in their manners.
(9) The next mart after Malaô is +Moundou+, which, as we learn
from Ptolemy, was also the name of an adjacent island—that which is
now called Meyet or Burnt-island [lat. 11° 12´ N., long. 47° 17´ E.,
10 miles east of Bandar Jedid].
10. After +Moundou+, if you sail eastward as before for two or
three days, there comes next +Mosullon+, where it is difficult to
anchor. It imports the same sorts of commodities as have been already
mentioned, and also utensils of silver and others of iron but not so
many, and glass-ware. It exports a vast amount of cinnamon (whence
it is a port requiring ships of heavy burden) and other fragrant and
aromatic products, besides tortoise-shell, but in no great quantity,
and the incense called _mokrotou_ inferior to that of Moundou, and
frankincense brought from parts further distant, and ivory and myrrh
though in small quantity.
(10) At a distance beyond it of two or three days’ sail occurs
+Mosulon+, which is the name both of a mart and of a promontory.
It is mentioned by Pliny (VI. 34), who says: “Further on is the bay
of +Abalitês+, the island of +Diodôrus+ and other islands
which are desert. On the mainland, which has also deserts, occur a
town +Gaza+ [Bandar Gazim, long. 49° 13´ E.], the promontory and
port of +Mosylon+, whence cinnamon is exported. Sesostris led
his army to this point and no further. Some writers place one town
of Ethiopia beyond it, Baricaza, which lies on the coast. According
to Juba the Atlantic Sea begins at the promontory of Mossylon.” Juba
evidently confounded this promontory with Cape Arômata, and Ptolemy,
perhaps in consequence, makes its projection more considerable than
it is. D’Anville and Gosselin thought +Mossulon+ was situated
near the promontory Mete, where is a river, called the Soal, which
they supposed preserved traces of the name of Mossulon. This
position however cannot be reconciled with the distances given in
the _Periplûs_, which would lead us to look for it where Guesele is
placed in the latest description given of this coast. Vincent on very
inadequate grounds would identify it with Barbara or Berbera. [Müller
places it at Bandar Barthe and Ras Antarah, long. 49° 35´ E.]
11. After leaving +Mosullon+, and sailing past a place called
+Neiloptolemaios+, and past +Tapatêgê+ and the Little
Laurel-grove, you are conducted in two days to Capo +Elephant+.
Here is a stream called +Elephant+ River, and the Great
Laurel-grove called +Akannai+, where, and where only, is produced
the _peratic_ frankincense. The supply is most abundant, and it is of
the very finest quality.
(11) After Mosulon occurs Cape Elephant, at some distance
beyond +Neiloptolemaios+, +Tapatêgê+, and the Little
Laurel-grove. At the Cape is a river and the Great Laurel-grove
called +Akannai+. Strabo in his account of this coast mentions a
Neilospotamia which however can hardly be referred to this particular
locality which pertains to the region through which the Khori or San
Pedro flows, of which Idrisi (I. 45) thus writes: “At two journeys’
distance from Markah in the desert is a river which is subject to
risings like the Nile and on the banks of which they sow dhorra.”
Regarding Cape Elephant Vincent says, “it is formed by a mountain
conspicuous in the Portuguese charts under the name of Mount Felix
or Felles from the native term Jibel Fîl, literally, Mount Elephant.
The cape [Ras Filik, 800 ft. high, lat. 11° 57´ N., long. 50° 37´ E.]
is formed by the land jutting up to the North from the direction of
the coast which is nearly East and West, and from its northernmost
point the land falls off again South-East to Râs 'Asir—Cape Guardafui,
the Arômata of the ancients. We learn from Captain Saris, an English
navigator, that there is a river at Jibel Fîl. In the year 1611 he
stood into a bay or harbour there which he represents as having a safe
entrance for three ships abreast: he adds also that several sorts of
gums very sweet in burning were still purchased by the Indian ships
from Cambay which touched here for that purpose in their passage to
Mocha.” The passage in the _Periplûs_ where these places are mentioned
is very corrupt. Vincent, who regards the greater +Daphnôn+
(Laurel-grove) as a river called +Akannai+, says, “Neither place
or distance is assigned to any of these names, but we may well allot
the rivers Daphnôn and Elephant to the synonymous town and cape; and
these may be represented by the modern Mete and Santa Pedro.” [Müller
places Elephas at Ras el Fîl, long. 50° 37´ E., and Akannai at Ulûlah
Bandar, long. 50° 56´ E., but they may be represented by Ras Ahileh,
where a river enters through a lagoon in 11° 46´, and Bonah, a town
with wells of good water in lat. 11° 58´ N., long. 50° 51´ E.]
12. After this, the coast now inclining to the south, succeeds the mart
of +Arômata+, and a bluff headland running out eastward which
forms the termination of the Barbarine coast. The roadstead is an open
one, and at certain seasons dangerous, as the place lies exposed to the
north wind. A coming storm gives warning of its approach by a peculiar
prognostic, for the sea turns turbid at the bottom and changes its
colour. When this occurs, all hasten for refuge to the great promontory
called +Tabai+, which affords a secure shelter. The imports into
this mart are such as have been already mentioned; while its products
are cinnamon, gizeir (_a finer sort of cinnamon_), asuphê (_an ordinary
sort_), fragrant gums, magla, motô (_an inferior cinnamon_), and
frankincense.
(12) We come now to the great projection Cape Arômata, which is
a continuation of Mount Elephant. It is called in Arabic +Jerd
Hafûn+ or Ras Asir; in Idrisi, +Carfouna+, whence the name by
which it is generally known. [The South point 11° 40´ is Râs Shenarif
or Jerd Hafûn; the N. point 11° 51´ is Râs 'Asir.] It formed the limit
of the knowledge of this coast in the time of Strabo, by whom it is
called +Notou Keras+ or South Horn. It is described as a very
high bluff point and as perpendicular as if it were scarped. [Jerd
Hafûn is 2500 feet high.] The current comes round it out of the gulf
with such violence that it is not to be stemmed without a brisk wind,
and during the South-West Monsoon, the moment you are past the Cape to
the North there is a stark calm with insufferable heat. The current
below Jerd Hafûn is noticed by the _Periplûs_ as setting to the South,
and is there perhaps equally subject to the change of the monsoon.
With this account of the coast from the straits to the great Cape may
be compared that which has been given by Strabo, XVI. iv. 14:
“From +Deirê+ the next country is that which bears
aromatic plants. The first produces myrrh and belongs to the
+Ichthyophagi+ and +Creophagi+. It bears also the
persea, peach or Egyptian almond, and the Egyptian fig. Beyond is
+Licha+, a hunting ground for elephants. There are also in many
places standing pools of rainwater. When these are dried up, the
elephants with their trunks and tusks dig holes and find water. On
this coast there are two very large lakes extending as far as the
promontory Pytholaus. One of them contains salt water and is called
a sea; the other fresh water and is the haunt of hippopotami and
crocodiles. On the margin grows the papyrus. The ibis is seen in
the neighbourhood of this place. Next is the country which produces
frankincense; it has a promontory and a temple with a grove of
poplars. In the inland parts is a tract along the banks of a river
bearing the name of +Isis+, and another that of +Nilus+,
both of which produce myrrh and frankincense. Also a lagoon filled
with water from the mountains. Next the watch-post of the Lion and the
port of +Pythangelus+. The next tract bears the false cassia.
There are many tracts in succession on the sides of rivers on which
frankincense grows, and rivers extending to the cinnamon country.
The river which bounds this tract produces rushes (φλους) in great
abundance. Then follows another river and the port of +Daphnus+,
and a valley called +Apollo+’s which bears besides frankincense,
myrrh and cinnamon. The latter is more abundant in places far in
the interior. Next is the mountain +Elephas+, a mountain
projecting into the sea and a creek; then follows the large harbour
of +Psygmus+, a watering place called that of +Kunocephali+
and the last promontory of this coast +Notu-ceras+ (or the
Southern Horn). After doubling this cape towards the south we have
no more descriptions of harbours or places because nothing is known
of the sea-coast beyond this point.” [Bohn’s _Transl._] According to
Gosselin, the Southern Horn corresponds with the Southern Cape of
Bandel-caus, where commences the desert coast of Ajan, the ancient
+Azania+.
According to the _Periplûs_ Cape +Arômata+ marked the termination
of +Barbaria+ and the beginning of +Azania+. Ptolemy however
distinguishes them differently, defining the former as the interior
and the latter as the sea-board of the region to which these names
were applied.
The description of the Eastern Coast of Africa which now follows is
carried, as has been already noticed, as far as +Rhapta+, a place
about 6 degrees South of the Equator, but which Vincent places much
farther South, identifying it with Kilwa.
The places named on this line of coast are: a promontory called
+Tabai+, a Khersonesos; +Opônê+, a mart; the Little
and the Great +Apokopa+; the Little and the Great Coast;
the +Dromoi+ or courses of +Azania+ (first that of
+Serapiôn+, then that of +Nikôn+); a number of rivers;
a succession of anchorages, seven in number; the +Paralaoi+
islands; a strait or canal; the island of +Menouthias+; and
then +Rhapta+, beyond which, as the author conceived, the ocean
curved round Africa until it met and amalgamated with the Hesperian or
Western Ocean.
13. If, on sailing from +Tabai+, you follow the coast of the
peninsula _formed by the promontory_, you are carried by the force of a
strong current to another mart 400 stadia distant, called +Opônê+,
which imports the commodities already mentioned, but produces most
abundantly cinnamon, spice, _motô_, slaves of a very superior sort,
chiefly for the Egyptian market, and tortoise-shell of small size but
in large quantity and of the finest quality known.
(13) Tabai, to which the inhabitants of the Great Cape fled for
refuge on the approach of a storm, cannot, as Vincent and others have
supposed, be Cape Orfui, for it lay at too great a distance for the
purpose. The projection is meant which the Arabs call Banna. [Or,
Tabai may be identified with Râs Shenarif, lat. 11° 40´ N.] Tabai,
Müller suggests, may be a corruption for Tabannai.