Page:Twenty Thousand Verne Frith 1876.pdf/309

 “Very much indeed.”

“This writer pretends that the name was bestowed upon it after the passage of the Israelites, when Pharaoh perished at the closing in of the waters:

“As sign of miracle so dread,

The waves became a rosy red.

And since by ages handed down,

As the Red Sea the gulf is known.”

“A poetical explanation, captain,” I replied, “but I cannot accept that reason. I should like your own opinion.”

“You shall have it. In my opinion, M. Aronnax, the name Red Sea is a translation from the Hebrew word ‘Edrom,’ and if the ancients gave it that name, it was in consequence of the peculiar colouring of its waters.”

“Till now, nevertheless, I have observed nothing but clear water, without any peculiar tint whatever.”

“No doubt, but towards the end of this gulf, you will perceive this singular appearance. I remember having seen it in the Bay of Tor, perfectly red, like a lake of blood.”

“And this colour you attribute to the presence of microscopic algæ?”

“Yes—it is a purple mucilaginous seaweed, produced by the plants known as trichodesmia, and of which it requires forty thousand to occupy a space of a surface about