noon
But I did n't see a thing , not even Perim Island where the British government built fortifications to strengthen Aden 's position . There were many English and French steamers plowing this narrow passageway , liners going from Suez to Bombay , Calcutta , Melbourne , RΘunion Island , and Mauritius ; far too much traffic for the Nautilus to make an appearance on the surface . So it wisely stayed in midwater . Finally , at noon , we were plowing the waves of the Red Sea . The Red Sea : that great lake so famous in biblical traditions , seldom replenished by rains , fed by no important rivers , continually drained by a high rate of evaporation , its water level dropping a meter and a half every year ! If it were fully landlocked like a lake , this odd gulf might dry up completely ; on this score it 's inferior to its neighbors , the Caspian Sea and the Dead Sea , whose levels lower only to the point where their evaporation exactly equals the amounts of water they take to their hearts . This Red Sea is 2,600 kilometers long with an average width of 240 .