After getting within the Straits, the channel is divided into two, by the island of Perim, otherwise called _Mehun_. The inmost and northern channel, or that towards the Arabian shore, is two leagues broad at most, and from twelve to seventeen fathom of water. The other entry is three leagues broad, with deep water, from twenty to thirty fathom. From this, the coast on both sides runs nearly in a north-west direction, widening as it advances, and the Indian Ocean grows straiter. The coast upon the left hand is part of the kingdom of Adel, and, on the right, that of Arabia Felix. The passage on the Arabian shore, though the narrowest and shallowest of the two, is that most frequently sailed through, and especially in the night; because, if you do not round the south-point of the island, as near as possible, in attempting to enter the broad one, but are going large with the wind favourable, you fall in with a great number of low small islands, where there is danger. At ten o’clock, with the wind fair, our course almost north-east, we passed three rocky islands about a mile on our left. On the 2d, at sun-rise, we saw land a-head, which we took to be the Main, but, upon nearer approach, and the day becoming clearer, we found two low islands to the leeward; one of which we fetched with great difficulty. We found there the stock of an old acacia-tree, and two or three bundles of wreck, or rotten sticks, which we gathered with great care; and all of us agreed, we would eat breakfast, dinner, and supper hot, instead of the cold repast we had made upon the drammock in the Straits. We now made several large fires; one took the charge of the coffee, another boiled the rice; we killed four turtles, made ready a dolphin; got beer, wine, and brandy, and drank the King’s health in earnest, which our regimen would not allow us to do in the Straits of Babelmandeb. While this good chear was preparing, I saw with my glass, first one man running along the coast westward, who did not stop; about a quarter of an hour after, another upon a camel, walking at the ordinary pace, who dismounted just opposite to us, and, as I thought, kneeled down to say his prayers upon the sand. We had launched our boat immediately upon seeing the trunk of the tree on the island; so we were ready, and I ordered two of the men to row me on shore, which they did. It is a bay of but ordinary depth, with straggling trees, and some flat ground along the coast. Immediately behind is a row of mountains of a brownish or black colour. The man remained motionless, sitting on the ground, till the boat was ashore, when I jumped out upon the sand, being armed with a short double-barrelled gun, a pair of pistols, and a crooked knife. As soon as the savage saw me ashore, he made the best of his way to his camel, and got upon his back, but did not offer to go away.