“The construction and management of the vessels are equally singular, and I fear any description will fall infinitely short of the original; they were, I believe, designed by those who built them, to bear some resemblance to ships, but, having few of the properties of those machines, proceed on a principle totally different from any I before beheld; that _primum mobile_ to which ships of other countries are indebted for their voyages is here of little use, and calms are more favourable than wind to forward their progress; ... they ... seem equally averse to a fair as to a contrary wind, remaining at anchor until it subsides into a calm, their busy scene then commences, the anchor is weighed and the vessel put in motion by means of the boat with about twenty oars in it, towing till a breeze springs up; when this begins to be more than what our seamen call a light air, they hurry to the shore and let go their anchor, and for this purpose always choose a berth the most environed by rocks and shoals, never thinking themselves secure but when in the midst of danger; their common time of anchoring was about two o’clock in the afternoon, for about that time the breeze generally freshened, and in proportion as that increases they put out anchors, till they have six in the water, and two or three hawsers besides, to tie them to the surrounding rocks: ... in what they called good weather, we had not above two anchors out, and if it fell calm after sunset they ventured to get one of them up, that they might be ready for the land breeze in the morning, which generally sprung up at two o’clock and blew till nine or ten.... I believe, without these land breezes we should never have arrived at Suez; a circumstance that very frequently happens to many vessels of this annual fleet, for if they do not make good their passage before the latter end of May, the northerly winds blow so constantly as to render it impossible, for vessels that cannot work to windward, to get up the narrow channel from Tor to Suez. “When it is remembered that the journey from London to Madras has been performed in sixty-three days, it is surprising to see the English neglect so great an advantage when they have the power of securing it.” Vice Admiral Rosily, who navigated the Red Sea in 1789, on board the frigate Venus, and who was consulted by M. Lepère, was far from admitting the dangers and difficulties of the Red Sea to be as great as is usually supposed. In fact, these dangers, conjured up solely by the ignorance of ancient and modern navigators, have been accredited by general opinion, or rather by general mistake. The frigate Venus traversed the Red Sea in all directions without experiencing either damage or difficulty. We may therefore rest assured, that no merchant vessel will encounter any difficulties but those which are inseparable from all narrow seas; the Adriatic, which is still narrower than the Red Sea, has never been considered impassable.