Page:A voyage to Abyssinia (Salt).djvu/89

 large size, and of several different species, chiefly of the genera sparus, labrus, and tetrodon. They bore the appearance of not having been long killed, from the freshness of their colour and the redness of their gills. The atmosphere continued hazy, and a heavy dew fell in the night. September 27th.—Lat. 10° 13′ 30″ N. at noon; long. 51° 19′, therm. 80° var. 4.33. The wind blew fresh from the south-west during the night, and in the morning land of considerable height appeared at no great distance, which proved to be Cape Delaqua, and soon afterwards we came in sight of Cape d'Orfui. The bay between these two Capes is so deep, that we could not discern the land at the bottom as we passed across it. The form of Cape d'Orfui resembles that of an island with a bluff point towards the sea, and it is backed by lofty and singular-shaped mountains. Admiral Beaulieu anchored under this Cape during a heavy storm, in July 1620, and attempted, but in vain, to have communication with the natives. The anchorage he describes to be in latitude 10° 1′. The variation of the needle was at that time 17⅔ west, which is 13° more west than we found it to be.

This part of the coast is inhabited by the Mijertayne Somauli, commanded by a chief, styled Sultaun Hussan. The Imaum of Muscat some time ago sent presents of considerable value to this tribe, and solicited permission to build a small fort on the promontory of d'Orfui (called by the natives Hafoon;) but a compliance with his request was very prudently declined, and the presents rejected. This anecdote was communicated to me by a member of the tribe. By a good observation at noon, we ascertained the lat. of d'Orfui to be 10° 30′ 30″ N., its long. 51° 12′ E. In the evening we passed another shoal of dead fish, which had become white and putrid. An occurrence of this nature is extremely rare, especially in deep water, and I cannot in any way pretend to account for it.

At ten in the evening we came abreast of the land behind Gardafui, which, owing to a slight haze in the atmosphere, appeared prodigiously high. Sailing on with a fresh breeze, we came up at midnight with the Cape itself, and passed within half a mile of it. The moon