Asiatic Breezes Part 31

At daylight the next morning the Guardian-Mother hauled out of the basin, and started on her voyage for the other extremity of the Red Sea.

CHAPTER XXVII

THE CONFERENCE ON THE PROMENADE

The promenade did not wholly change its name after it became Conference Hall, and had been enlarged and improved. It was as popular a resort as it had ever been when the s.h.i.+p was under way and there was anything to be seen. The place was occupied when the s.h.i.+p hauled out of the basin in the early morning of January 19; for the pa.s.sengers had all asked to be called at five o'clock.

It seemed a little strange to go to sea without the Maud astern, and with the princ.i.p.al members of her s.h.i.+p's company seated with the others on the promenade. The commander had engaged a pilot for the whole length of the Red Sea; for it is full of rocks and reefs, making the navigation difficult and dangerous, though it has been thoroughly surveyed, and the chart is speckled with small islands and coral reefs.

"I could give you the Arabic names of some of the surroundings as we proceed," said the captain, who had taken a position where he could observe the movements of the vessel, and it enabled him to look into the pilot-house through the after windows when he desired to do so.

"Please don't, Captain Ringgold!" exclaimed Mrs. Belgrave. "It makes my jaws ache even to hear them."

"But there are some things which have no other names, and they must sometimes be used. That buoy on the starboard has no English name; but it is of no consequence, and I will not try to speak it. On the opposite sh.o.r.e is the Gebel Ataka, which you have noticed before. By this time you have learned that gebel is a mountain, and _jebel_, as you will find it on your map of the Peninsula of Sinai, means the same thing. _Ras_ is a cape. Formerly I knew many more words than now; for it is very easy to forget a foreign language."

"There is a lights.h.i.+p on the starboard," said Louis, who was seated between his mother and Miss Blanche.

"That is the Zen.o.bia, on Newport Rock," added the captain. "Now look to the sh.o.r.e on the left, which is called Abu Darraj. Perhaps you had better write it down and remember it; for the people in this vicinity believe the Israelites crossed the Red Sea where the s.h.i.+p is at this moment. The water was formerly very shallow here, and a pa.s.sage for vessels had to be dredged through it. Napoleon and some of his generals were here, and tried to cross over on horseback; but the sea served him as it did Pharaoh and his army; the wind changed, and the tide rolled in so that he was compelled to retreat."

There was nothing more to be explained, and the commander went to the pilot-house; but the air was delightfully pleasant, and the sun rising over the mountains of the peninsula was a beautiful sight. The ladies were in raptures, and some of the gentlemen shared the enthusiasm. The boys left their seats, and walked about the upper deck. Then Miss Blanche thought she had better walk for a time before breakfast, and very soon the whole party were occupied in the same manner. The commander had appointed a conference at nine o'clock, and several interesting subjects were to be considered.

Captain Ringgold was not disposed to drive his s.h.i.+p at her best speed, which was over sixteen knots an hour; but he had instructed Mr. Shafter, the chief engineer, to give her about fourteen knots, for she was more comfortable at this rate than when forced to do her utmost, to say nothing of the saving of coal. At this rate she would arrive at Bombay in ten days, including a stop of one day at Aden. In this time he expected to accomplish a great deal in the school of the conference.

The weather was fortunately all that could be desired, though the Red Sea sometimes behaves very badly; and at the time appointed the members of the party were all in their places on the promenade. The little table, with its vase of flowers brought from the gardens of the Terreplein, was in position. Mr. Woolridge was one of the first to take his arm-chair. He had at first been rather indifferent in regard to the instruction element of the s.h.i.+p, but had become quite interested since he had been called to the platform as a speaker.

The commander was the first to take the platform; and he appeared with a rose in the lappel of his coat, which probably would not have been there if Mrs. Belgrave had not placed it there. She was very fond of flowers, and had arranged quite a collection of potted plants, as well as filled all the vases on board with cut flowers from the village.

"The subject first in order seems to be the Red Sea; and we have not yet spoken of it in detail, though we have had considerable to say about it.

I shall purposely omit some things which will be explained when we come to them. I am glad to see that you have brought your diaries or note-books with you, as I suggested, and you can write down the names of notable sights and the figures I shall give. I wish to say that I have always prepared myself for these occasions, and do not talk to you at random.

"The Red Sea is an arm of the Indian Ocean, with the Gulf of Aden, about 800 miles long, as a connection between them. The Persian Gulf, with the Gulf of Oman, forms a similar body of water, and they will probably render the same service to England and India that the Red Sea does at the present time. Arabia lies between them. The sea on which we are now sailing is 1,200 miles long."

"Badaeker gives the length as 1,400 miles," said Louis.

"He gives it in English miles," replied the commander. "A degree of a great circle is 69.07 English, or statute miles as we call them, or 60 geographical sea miles or knots. This distinction has been fully explained to you before. For ordinary purposes the number of sea miles is to the number of statute miles in the ratio of six to seven. In other words, there will be six-sevenths as many knots as statute miles, and conversely, seven-sixths as many statute as sea miles. Six-sevenths of 1,400 is 1,200; and thus we agree.

"The Red Sea varies in width from 100 to 200 miles, and in the broadest part it is 205 sea miles. We are still in the Gulf of Suez, and shall be till about five this afternoon. On the African side you will see mountains all the way to the strait, with only sand between them and the water. There is nothing that can be called a town between Suez and Koser, over 300 statute miles. All around the sea are coral-reefs; and we shall pa.s.s a lighthouse on one right in the middle of it. Not a single river flows into the Red Sea, for there are no rains in Egypt; and if there were on either side, the desert would absorb all the water.

"This sea has the reputation of being a hot region. The thermometer ranges from 70 to 94, and sometimes the mercury mounts to over 100, always in the daytime, and it may fall to the freezing point at night, though rarely. As on the Nile, the rule is hot days and cool nights, though you may find some of the latter uncomfortable farther south, for the water has shown a temperature of 100.

"The water is somewhat salter than the ocean, because no rivers empty into it, and because of excessive evaporation. It has been said by some scientists that, if the Red Sea were entirely enclosed, it would become a solid body of salt in less than two thousand years. I suppose they mean that all the fluid would evaporate, and the salt in it would remain at the bottom. We will not worry about it.

"The average depth of this sea is 2,250 feet, and the greatest 7,200. I have nothing more to say about it; but while I am up I will say a few words about the new route to India of which I have spoken before. The Gulf of Iskanderun, sometimes called Scanderoon, is the north-east corner of the Mediterranean. Its eastern sh.o.r.e is within a hundred miles of the headwaters of the Euphrates River, which is navigable for small craft to Bir. Sixty years ago some preferred it to the Suez route. A grant of money was made by Parliament, two iron steamers of small size were put into the river; and though one of them was sunk, the other went through to the Persian Gulf.

"It was shown that this route was about a thousand miles less in distance than any other to Kurrachee, the nearest port in India. But political influences were at work against it, first from Egypt, and then from some of the Powers, in the belief that it would give England an advantage in the affairs of Asia, and the scheme was dropped. Now we will take a walk of half an hour about the s.h.i.+p; for school-children need rest and recreation.

"But I wish to remind you again that you are now near the ancient world; for Arabia is in sight all the time, and a.s.syria, Babylonia, Syria are beyond it. The professor will have the floor after the intermission."

During the recess the party walked about the deck and observed the mountains, which were still in sight on both sides. Four bells, or ten o'clock, was the signal for them to come together again. Whatever might be antic.i.p.ated farther south, the air was soft and pleasant, and not over warm, about 70 in the shade.

"My excellent friend, Mr. Woolridge, has just reminded me of the promise made by the commander that certain ancient travellers over the world should be taken up, as we have frequent occasion to quote them,"

Professor Giroud began. "There are only three of them of any especial note, the first of whom is Herodotus, 'the Father of History,' as he is often called, and was worthy of the t.i.tle.

"He was born about 485 years before the time of Christ, at Helicarna.s.sus, a Greek colony of Asia. This was about the time the Persians were invading Greece. When this city obtained its freedom, there was a dispute about the method of government, in which he was involved, and which caused him to leave his native place. For the ancient time, over two thousand years ago, when they had no railroads and steamboats, his travels are remarkable for their extent. He went all over Asia Minor and Greece proper, as well as the islands of the aegean Sea. He visited Macedonia, Thrace, and the coasts of the Black Sea.

"What was more remarkable, he penetrated to the Persian Empire and Babylon, and toured Egypt more thoroughly than most modern travellers.

Then he extended his wanderings to Sicily and lower Italy. He was alive at the first of the Peloponnesian War; but what became of him, when or where he died, is not known.

"He spent the greater part of his life in travel, though not for pleasure, but in acquiring knowledge which he intended to make useful to the world. He was the most eminent geographer of his time, and he may father that science as appropriately as that of history. But he treated many other branches of knowledge, like the races of men and their peculiarities, mythology, archaeology, and, in fact, everything that came within the range of his observation. He was a man of a high order of intellect, a philosopher in his criticism of governments. Modern scholars are greatly indebted to him, and his works are still extant. He did not have the highest style of composition; but he was an honest man, and he wrote as he talked. You can understand the frequent references to him in modern books of travel.

"Not as favorable a notice can be given of Strabo, who was an ancient geographer. He was born about sixty-four years before Christ, at Amasia in Pontus."

"Where was that?" asked the magnate, who was taking the deepest interest in the exercise.

"It is a name given to a country in the north-eastern corner of Asia Minor, on the Black Sea, the ancient name of which was Pontus Euxinus, or Euxine Sea, from which it got its name. His mother was of Greek descent, and nothing is known of his father. I suppose you all know what strabismus means."

"I am sure I don't," replied Mrs. Blossom; and probably she was the only one who could answer in the negative.

"In plain terms, it means cross-eyed; and doubtless Strabo obtained his name from having this defect in his eyes. Whether any of his family were called so before him is not known. He studied with various learned men in Greece, Rome, and Alexandria. It does not appear that he had any occupation, but devoted all his time to study and travel. He wrote forty-seven books, and those on geography were very valuable; for he wrote from his own observation, though sometimes he is very full, at others very meagre. He is regarded as by no means the equal of Herodotus.

"The third of whom I am to speak is Diodorus Siculus."

"You have put a tail on his name, Professor," added the magnate.

"That is as much a part of his name as the rest of it, as used by scholars. It means that he was born in Sicily. Very little is known about him beyond what he told himself. He lived in the time of Julius Caesar and Augustus, and for a long time in Rome. He travelled in Europe and Asia for material. He wrote a history of the world from the creation to the time of Julius Caesar. Some of the volumes are lost, and some of them are still read.

"Diodorus was deficient in the qualifications of a historian; and about all that is valuable in his writings is the ma.s.s of facts he gives, from which he was not competent to make the proper deductions. The material he gathered is valuable; but the thirty years he spent in the composition of his works have not purchased for him the literary reputation of Herodotus, or even of Strabo."

"I am very much obliged to you for your lecture, and I hope others besides myself have profited by it," said Mr. Woolridge.

The professor bowed, and took some ma.n.u.script from his pocket.

CHAPTER XXVIII

THE ANCIENT KINGDOMS OF THE WORLD

When the promenade had been transformed into Conference Hall, the arrangement for the maps had not been forgotten, and the frame had been set up against the after end of the pilot-house. It covered the two windows; but they were not needed when the s.h.i.+p was at sea. When the professor made his bow, Mr. Gaskette exposed to the view of the audience a map which had been completed before the steamer arrived at Port Said; and all the way through the ca.n.a.l he and his a.s.sistants had been busy upon others.

"Perhaps I ought to apologize for this map, Captain Ringgold," said Mr.

Gaskette, when he had unrolled the huge sheet; "for the boundaries of these ancient countries are so indefinite in the great atlas that I have not been able to lay down all of them."