3-017-323 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Isle of Mussowah, in the Red Sea, the head-quarters of the Abyssinian Relief Mission, 1865. Engraving from a sketch by Lieutenant S. S. Jacob, of the Bombay Staff Corps, Assistant Engineer at Aden, of '...the head-quarters, at present, of the Special Mission sent to effect the release of the Abyssinian captives and the place where Consul Cameron used to reside...Mussowah,...belonging now to the dominions of the Pacha of Egypt, is an island, about half a mile long and a quarter of a mile broad, only a few hundred yards from the African coast. Like many other islands in the Red Sea, it is of coral formation, and elevated from 12 to 20 ft. above the level of the sea. There is not a spring of water to be found in the island; not a tree or blade of grass for the eye to rest on. Half the island is used as a Mussulman burying-ground, near which is the Roman Catholic chapel, shown to the left (the east). Christians are not allowed to bury on the island, but find a resting-place for their dead in another island (Tawil Oude) shown at the extreme right...The other half of Mussowah is inhabited, but the few miserable houses and mat huts comprise the whole town...Turkish steamers run from Suez to Jeddah, whence native boats come across to Mussowah'. From "Illustrated London News", 1865.