First Book [Egypt to Cambay]

Asia is separated from Africa on the Mediterranean side by Alexandria, and on the eastern side by the River Nile JL JLand from ocean by the south, according to this division, it is separated from the Abyssinian Ethiopia by it and Arabia Felix. Abyssinia is bounded on the Red Sea side by Arabia Felix; on the African side by the deserts and by part of Ethiopia; on the ocean side from Guardafui to Sofala it is sixty leagues away from the sea. From the entrance to this strait up to Suez this sea is bordered by four provinces: on the eastern side lies Arabia Petrea, on the Abyssinian side Arabia Felix. The strait is entirely surrounded by the above-mentioned lands which are almost all desert and uninhabited and bare without fruit anywhere. There are some islands in the strait with a few inhabitants, like Kamaran, Dahlak, and Suakin, which are there.