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Before the establishment of the Overland Route, Suez, though a place of considerable transit trade between Egypt and the East, was a small, ill-built, wretched-looking town. Since that time it has been much improved, and has become there sidence of many merchants and agents. The country around it is desert, and provisions and water have to be brought from great distances.
苏伊士运河如今虽然是埃及和东方国家之间的一个重要的贸易中转站，然而在陆路建立之前，它仅仅是一个建设不良且破败的小城镇，陆路建立之后条件才大有改善，成为许多商人和代理商的居住地。其周围的国家都很贫瘠，粮食和水资源都需要从很远的地方运过去。
Reembarking at Suez, we pass down the gulf of the same name, which is the western of the two arms at the head of the Red Sea. The Gulf of Suez is 190 miles in length; and near the head of it is believed by many to be the place at which the Israelites crossed the Red Sea in their exodus from Egypt. As, however, the gulf is known to have receded many miles from its ancient head, even since the Christian era, it is more probable that the scene of the passage is now in the sandy waste of the isthmus.
再次回到苏伊士运河时，我们从一支同名的海湾经过，该海湾在红海尽头两条支流的西边。苏伊士湾总长190英里，很多人认为以色列人在从埃及迁徙出来、跨越红海时就曾经过红海尽头附近。然而，众所周知，苏伊士湾已经自那古老的源头后退了很多英里，甚至从基督教时代开始，这条通道现在的地点更可能是在地峡那荒凉的沙地之上。
The eastern arm of the Red Sea is the Gulf of Akaba, which is 100 miles in length. On the triangular tongue of land between the two gulfs are the mountains of Horeb-Sinai, in whose midst there appeared to Moses "an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush;" and on whose "secret top" he received from God the "lively oracles" to give to the people.
红海的东部是阿卡巴湾，长100英里。两个海湾之间的三角地带是霍利伯西奈群山，群山中间是摩西，即“荆棘火焰中上帝的使者”，他在群山那“神秘的顶部”接收了上帝给人们下达的“神谕”。
Half way down the Red Sea, the navigation of which is rendered difficult by sudden changes of wind and heavy gales, we reach Jedda, one of the most active sea-ports in Arabia. Here thousands of pilgrims land every year on their way to Mecca, the birth-place of Mohammed and the cradle of the Mussulman faith.
在去往红海的中途，由于骤然间狂风大作，我们的航行变得十分地艰难。之后我们到达了阿拉伯半岛最繁忙的海港之一——吉达，在这里每年都有成千上万的朝圣者踏上前往麦加的旅途。而麦加既是穆罕默德的出生地，也是穆斯林信仰的摇篮。
Near the southern extremity of the sea, on the margin of a sandy plain on the Arabian coast, is Mocha, a fortified sea-port, from which thousands of tons of the finest coffee are annually exported. Passing through the Straits of Bab-elmandeb, we reach Aden, where the sign-board of "The Prince of Wales Hotel" reminds us that we are once more in a British possession. Like Gibraltar and Valetta, Aden is considered an impregnable fortress. Like Gibraltar, too, it stands on a rocky peninsula, connected with the mainland by a narrow isthmus. Its harbour is the best in Arabia; and the town abounds in mosques and Mohammedan remains, which testify to its former magnificence. From Aden we steam through the Gulf of Aden and across the Arabian Sea; and before many days pass we are at anchor in the spacious harbour of Bombay.
穆哈靠近红海的最南边，位于阿拉伯海岸沙质平原的边缘，它是防御性海港，每年都有成千上万吨极品咖啡从这里被出口到其他地区。穿过曼德海峡之后我们到达了亚丁，一个写着“威尔士王子酒店”的广告牌提醒我们，我们再一次到达了英国境内。亚丁和直布罗陀以及瓦莱塔一样被认为是一座坚不可摧的堡垒，同时它和直布罗陀一样坐落在一个多石的半岛上并通过一条狭窄的地峡与大陆相连。那里的海港是阿拉伯半岛最好的港口。城镇里有大量的清真寺以及伊斯兰教徒的遗迹，这些无不印证了它曾经的辉煌。从亚丁出发，我们穿过了亚丁海峡和阿拉伯海。之后的许多天，我们一直停泊在孟买宽阔的海港。
