Asiatic Breezes Part 36

"I shall be happy to take your orders for whatever you may need at this port, including coal and water, as well as provisions and other supplies," continued the agent.

The commander ordered both coal and water; for he knew about the Pa.r.s.ee merchants, and referred Mr. Gaskill, as he gave his name, to Mr.

Melancthon Sage, the chief steward.

"What sort of goods do you furnish here, Mr. Gaskill?" asked the commander.

"Every sort, Captain Ringgold. This steamer does not belong to any regular line, I think," said the agent.

"It does not to any line, regular or irregular; and yet she is not a tramp," replied the commander with a smile.

"Is she a man-of-war?" inquired the visitor, opening wide his big eyes.

"She is not; she is a yacht, with a pleasure party on board who are making a voyage around the world."

"Ah, yes, Captain; I understand. There is another steam-yacht in the roads, over beyond the P. & O. steamer nearest to you. Perhaps you have seen her; she is painted white all over."

"I did not notice her. What flag does she carry?"

"She sails under the British flag. But you suggested that you might need other supplies. We can furnish your party with all the English goods they want, and there are first-cla.s.s tailors and dressmakers here."

"My pa.s.sengers must speak for themselves," answered the captain. "I fear you cannot furnish the supplies I need."

"We can furnish everything that can be named," persisted the agent of the Pa.r.s.ee merchants. "What do you require?"

"Two twenty-four pounders, bra.s.s, naval carriages, and all the ammunition needed for their use," replied the commander; and he felt as though he had made an impossible demand.

"We can furnish anything and everything you may desire in this line; in fact, we can fit out your s.h.i.+p as a man-of-war. But do you need only two such guns as you describe, Captain Ringgold?" asked the business-driving Mr. Gaskill. "We have a lot of four of them, and we should like to dispose of them together."

"I will see the guns before I say anything more about the matter. When can you fill our water-tanks and coal-bunkers?" inquired the commander.

"We are very busy to-day, for we have several steamers to supply; but it shall be done before to-morrow noon."

"Now I will introduce you to our chief steward."

Mr. Sage insisted upon seeing his supplies before he named the quant.i.ty needed, and made an appointment on sh.o.r.e.

CHAPTER x.x.xIII

A DISAPPOINTMENT TO CAPTAIN SCOTT

Captain Ringgold knew something about Aden before he decided to make a stopping-place of it, and it was certainly a more agreeable location than Perim. The town--or towns, for there appear to be several of them--is described by a former resident as a sort of crater like that of a volcano, formed by a circular chain of steep hills, the highest of which is 1,775 feet above the sea level. The slope outside of them reaching to the waters of the Arabian Gulf, or the Gulf of Aden as it is now called, has several strings of hills in that direction, with valleys between them, radiating from the group to the sh.o.r.e.

Aden is a peninsula connected with Hadramaut, the southern section of Arabia, by a narrow isthmus, covered at the spring tides by the surrounding waters. Over it is a causeway conveying an aqueduct which is always above the sea level. The region looks as though it might have been subject to volcanic convulsions at some remote period. Within the circle of hills are the town and a portion of the military works. In its natural location, as well as in the strength of its defences, it bears some resemblance to Gibraltar.

This was the substance of what the commander told his pa.s.sengers before they landed, and proceeded to give points in the history of the peninsula, which he had studied up, as he always did when approaching a new locality; and though he was a walking encyclopaedia, he had not obtained this reputation without much study and labor in addition to his extensive voyages and travels "all over the world."

"A learned biblical scholar of the last century, who studied Oriental history in connection with the sacred record, identifies Aden as the Eden mentioned by Ezekiel in describing the wealth of Tyrus," continued the commander.

"But who was Tyrus, Captain?" asked Mrs. Blossom, who was wide awake when any scriptural name was used.

"He wasn't anybody, Mrs. Blossom; and when Ezekiel and some other of the prophets used the word Tyrus, they meant Tyre; and doubtless you have read about Tyre and Sidon."

"I never heard it called by that name before," added the worthy lady with a blush.

"Read Ezekiel xxvii. and you will find it. This place was known before the time of Christ, and was the centre of an extensive commerce with India, though it was also carried on by the Indus and the Oxus, the latter formerly flowing into the Caspian Sea. In the fourth century after Christ, the son of the Emperor Constantine established a Christian church here. In more modern history Aden has been a part of Yemen, along whose sh.o.r.es we sailed for more than a day on the Red Sea. The lines from Milton's 'Paradise Lost,' partly quoted before,

"'As when to them who sail Beyond the Cape of Hope, and now are past Mozambic, off at sea north-east winds blow Sabaean odors from the spicy sh.o.r.e Of Arabie the blest,'

alludes to this country. The Sabaeans were the ancient people of Yemen, called Sheba in the Book of Genesis. They were a wealthy and powerful people, and it was probably the queen of this region who made a celebrated visit to King Solomon. But we cannot follow them now.

"Yemen changed hands several times, belonging to Abyssinia, Persia, and the caliphs of Arabia, and has been fought for by Portuguese, Turks, and Egyptians; but now it is a Turkish province. England had reason to demand satisfaction from the Arab authorities for injuries done to her Indian subjects. The negotiations failed, and there was evident treachery. England does her work thoroughly in such cases; and Aden was promptly bombarded, and then seized by a naval and military force in 1839. This is said to be the first territory acquired during the reign of Queen Victoria; and the nation's record is not so bad as sometimes stated.

"Aden was made a free port in 1850; and it has since had a large trade, increasing it from half a million dollars to sixteen millions. It is governed by English civil officers, and the military is in command of a brigadier-general. The troops are British and East Indian, and are of all arms of the service, including a troop of native cavalry, to which Arabs mounted on camels are attached. Now we are ready to go on sh.o.r.e,"

the commander concluded.

"How are we to go on sh.o.r.e, sir?" asked Scott.

"We have plenty of boats,--the barge, the first and second cutters, and the dingy," replied Captain Ringgold with a pleasant smile; for he understood what the captain of the Maud was driving at.

"Are you not going to put the little steamer into the water again, sir?"

inquired the young captain. "She would be very convenient in going about this place, which is nearly surrounded by water."

"She would be indeed; but we shall probably leave Aden by to-morrow afternoon, and it would hardly pay to lower her into the water, for you know that it requires a great deal of hard work to do so," said the commander, who was really very sorry to disoblige the young man, and he kept more than his usual smile on his face all the time.

"I think we could make the voyage very comfortably in her from here to Bombay, or wherever you are going," suggested Captain Scott.

"I do not consider a voyage of that length in such a small craft quite prudent, even if there were no other question to be considered. But it would take us at least half a day to put the Maud into the water, and as long to coal and water her, and otherwise fit her out. Then it is ordinarily a seven days' voyage from Aden to Bombay, and the Maud would get out of coal in half that time."

"But for the next five hundred miles the voyage is along the coast of Arabia."

"There are no coal stations except at Aden and Perim, so far as I know, unless you run up to Muscat, and I am not sure that there is any there,"

answered the captain of the s.h.i.+p. "I learned from Mr. Gaskill, the Pa.r.s.ee agent here, after I told him who and what we were, that he had heard of us before. Stories exaggerated beyond all decent limits have been told about us. Louis's million and a half have been stretched to hundreds of millions, and the Guardian-Mother has been regarded as a floating mine of wealth. I suspect that Mazagan spread such stories in Egypt, and they have travelled to this port."

"What have these stories to do with a voyage to Bombay by the Maud?"

asked Scott, with something like a laugh; for he could see no connection.

"Mr. Gaskill asked me about the little steamer that was sailing with the s.h.i.+p; so that he had heard of her, for she came through the ca.n.a.l with us. I have thought of this matter before; and the little steamer would be a great temptation to the half-civilized Arabs that inhabit these sh.o.r.es, and they are sailors after their own fas.h.i.+on. I know you are not afraid of them, Captain Scott; but it would be easy enough for these pirates to fall upon you, capture the little steamer, and make an end of all on board of her."

"Where should we be while they were doing all this?" asked Scott with a smile of incredulity.

"You would be treated to some treachery at first probably; but even in a square, stand-up fight your chances against fifty or a hundred of these savages would be very small. In fact, I came to the conclusion, after your battle at Khrysoko, that the armament of the s.h.i.+p was not heavy enough for possible contingencies, though the saluting-guns on the top-gallant forecastle are well enough for ordinary occasions."

"As your mind seems to be made up, Captain Ringgold, I will say no more about the matter," added Scott; and it was plain enough that he was sorely disappointed.

"I am very confident that Mrs. Belgrave and Mrs. Woolridge, since the trouble in the Cyprus bay, and after all that has been said since that event, would not permit their sons to go to sea again in the Maud; and I must say that their prudence is perfectly justifiable."