Volume 1

A series of adventures in the course of a voyage up the Red-Sea, on the coasts of Arabia and Egypt; and of a route through the desarts of Thebais, hitherto unknown to the European traveller, in the year M.DCC.LXXVII. in letters to a lady / by Eyles Irwin, esq. ; illustrated with maps and cuts.

  • Eyles Irwin
Date:
M.DCC.LXXX. [1780]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A series of adventures in the course of a voyage up the Red-Sea, on the coasts of Arabia and Egypt; and of a route through the desarts of Thebais, hitherto unknown to the European traveller, in the year M.DCC.LXXVII. in letters to a lady / by Eyles Irwin, esq. ; illustrated with maps and cuts. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    [ ar ] the vizier’s guard, and. came with an invitation from his matter, to favor him with our:company on fhore.,» We were much taken - with the freedom of thefe people’s behavior ;, and, though they acknowledged to us, that no European veffel had put into their port before, we entertained no diftruft. of their fincerity, and readily promifed to take advantage of the vizier’s politenefs. There were: feveral of ‘us in: the fhip who talked.the Moor lan- guage, and were’ equally: deceived by the old fhaik, who was a Patan, and underftood it perfectly. -He converfed with fuch eafe and gravity of face, that) the eye of fufpicion might have been lulled afleep, and age itfelf relaxed, ofjits feverity of opinion. After regaling them with coffee and tea, of which they wil- lingly partook, we difmiffed them. with advice of our. intentions to go on fhore in the morning. . The preliminaries were adjufted ; and we agreed to falute the fort at fun-rife, wih thefe, meflen~ gers promsifediti to come, on bead dors us. r hsi THURSDAY, Sth May I was awakened this’ morning by the veffel’s’: Citi: which was irregularly returned! by the fort. As foon as breakfaft was over, I went into the long-boat with the captain, two ftpercar- goes, our interpreter, ‘and three paffengers, who are bound for England as well as myfelf.. We were accompanied by our fer- vants in a fifher-boat, and about the middle of the harbor, were ‘met by the old fhaik, the Abyflinian} and others of the vizier’s train, who had been fent to conduct us afhore. As we pafled a decayed caftle on an angle ‘of the fort, .a very laughable incident occurred. A gun was-fired from thence to welcome us to Yam-= bo; but fuch a quantity of rubbifh fell down from the ‘fhock, and fuch a duft obfcured the place, as immediately interiupted ai tiitbs . , the tf :
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