Yambo, or at least the present town of that name, I found, by many observations of the sun and stars, to be in latitude 24° 3´ 35´´ north, and in long. 38° 16´ 3´´ east from the meridian of Greenwich. The barometer, at its highest, on the 23d of April, was 27° 8´, and, the lowest on the 27th, was 26° 11´. The thermometer, on the 24th of April, at two o’clock in the afternoon, stood at 91°, and the lowest was 66° in the morning of the 26th of same month. Yambo is reputed very unwholesome, but there were no epidemical diseases when I was there.
The many delays of loading the wheat, the desire of _doubling_ the quantity I had permitted, in which both the Rais and my friend the cadi conspired for their mutual interest, detained me at Yambo all the 27th of April, very much against my inclination. For I was not a little uneasy at thinking among what banditti I lived, whose daily wish was to rob and murder me, from which they were restrained by fear only; and this, a fit of drunkenness, or a piece of bad news, such as a report of Ali Bey’s death, might remove in a moment. Indeed we were allowed to want nothing. A sheep, some bad beer, and some very good wheat-bread, were delivered to us every day from the Aga, which, with dates and honey, and a variety of presents from those that I attended as a physician, made us pass our time comfortably enough; we went frequently in the boats to fish at sea, and, as I had brought with me three fizgigs of different sizes, with the proper lines, I seldom returned without killing four or five dolphins. The sport with the line was likewise excellent. We caught a number of beautiful fish from the very house where we lodged, and some few good ones. We had vinegar in plenty at Yambo; onions, and several other greens, from Raddua; and, being all cooks, we lived well.
On the 28th of April, in the morning, I sailed with a cargo of wheat that did not belong to me, and three passengers, instead of one, for whom only I had undertaken. The wind was fair, and I saw one advantage of allowing the Rais to load, was, that he was determined to carry sail to make amends for the delay. There was a tumbling, disagreeable swell, and the wind seemed dying away. One of our passengers was very sick. At his request we anchored at Djar, a round small port, whose entrance is at the north-east. It is about three fathoms deep throughout, unless just upon the south side, and perfectly sheltered from every wind. We saw here, for the first time, several plants of rack tree, growing considerably within the sea-mark, in some places with two feet of water upon the trunk. I found the latitude of Djar to be 23° 36´ 9´´ north. The mountains of Beder Hunein were S. S. W. of us.